HYDROTHERAPY

HYDROTHERAPY

Hydrotherapy is a complementary healing technique that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term encompasses a broad range of methods that take advantage of the physical properties of water, such as mineral composition, temperature, and pressure to stimulate blood circulation, regulate functions of the vegetative nervous system, supply minerals, and restore the inner balance of the organism.

Various therapies used in present-day hydrotherapy employ water jets, underwater massage, mineral baths, steam baths, hot baths, jacuzzis, and cold plunges.

Thermalism is based on the therapeutic use of hot springs. Thermal waters are used to cure or eliminate the symptoms of some musculoskeletal, respiratory, gynecological, and digestive illnesses.

Hydrotherapy Dates Back to Hippocrates (460 – 370 BC)

Interestingly, natural therapy is still often dismissed by conventional medical practitioners, although it was promoted already by Hippocrates, who is considered the father of modern medicine.

During the time of Hippocrates, baths were used for cleansing and medicinal purposes and a combination of hot and cold water was used to bring harmony to the human body.

Hippocrates dedicated a large section to thermal water in his work “De is, a quiz at loci,” where he described the various water features and the effects of hot and cold baths on the human body. The physician proposed that all human diseases start with an imbalance of bodily fluids. To restore the balance, changes in habits and environment were advised, including bathing, perspiration, walking, and massages. For this reason, baths were often associated with gyms. After the bath, an oil body massage was introduced to restore the skin properties and relax the patient.

 

In the modern era, hydrotherapy was mostly promoted by two healers of the 19th century:

VINZENZ PRIESSNITZ and SEBASTIAN KNEIPP

Vincenz Priessnitz (1799 –1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg (nowadays Lázně Jeseník in Czechia), who is generally considered the founder of hydrotherapy. Priessnitz promoted a holistic natural healing approach including vegetarian food, fresh air, exercise, rest and water therapy.

A story tells that small child Vinzenz once watched a deer doe with a wounded limb coming to a spring to heal its wound. This experience inspired him so he tried to apply water therapy to his own injuries. He healed his injured finger with water wraps or relieved pain after spraining his wrist by applying wet bandages. At the age of 17, he broke his ribs in an accident with a cart and the doctor claimed the injury was fatal or crippling. Priessnitz refused to accept the unfavorable diagnosis and healed himself with cold compresses and water, straightening his broken ribs on the back of a chair. News of the young villager’s miraculous cure spread across the country. He first began to heal the animals of his neighbors and later the inhabitants of Gräfenberg and the surrounding area.

Vinzenz applied various types of baths and focused on healing different body parts and afflictions, including gout, rheumatism, tuberculosis, melancholy, indigestion, paralysis, insanity, and poisoning.

He realized a relationship exists between skin and internal organs and the thermal and other sensory receptors are interconnected with the inner regulatory systems of the body.

Vincenz Priessnitz applied a holistic approach including musicotherapy, psychotherapy, work, and other physical activities in his cures.

Soon queues of people were coming to Gräfenberg, so Priessnitz decided to reconstruct his father’s house, building part of it as a sanatorium and spa, which later became the famous Priessnitz Spa in Jeseník.

However, Priessnitz’s achievements were subject to harsh criticism from some doctors and healers of his time. They claimed he was not a physician and disliked that he healed for free, which lowered their income.

Despite this, in 1837 Vinzenz Priessnitz received a certificate from the Imperial Commission, although he had no medical training. The commission declared his hydrotherapy to be „a new remarkable phenomenon in the field of health care„. At that time, the spa treated up to 1500 patients a year and doctors from all over Europe came to study Priessnitz’s methods of treatment.

The spa currently keeps on promoting the complementary natural cure giving opportunities for various types of hydrotherapy, outdoor exercise, sun baths, barefoot walking, earthing, vegetarian food, and forest therapy.

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Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897) was a German Catholic priest and one of the forefathers of the naturopathic medicine movement in the 19th century.

Kneipp hydrotherapy is a complementary non-pharmacological and non-invasive approach and is mainly known for its form of alternate cold and warm, upper or lower limbs water affusions. It has an active effect on the vessels causing alternative vasoconstriction and vasodilation. Modulation of adrenergic hormones production has also been demonstrated in association with this therapeutic method.

Immunologically, hydrotherapy increases serum concentrations of the immunomodulators. The use of alternate cold and warm back affusions has been found to have positive effects on the immunoregulation.

Serial cold and warm water stimulation hydrotherapy for osteoarthritis of the hip or knee joint showed improvement of restricted joint mobility, along with significant pain reduction and increase in quality of life over a period of up to three months.

Kneipp hydrotherapy applied over 6 weeks to the upper extremities in children aged 3-6 years reduced incidence of the lower respiratory tract infections.

The Kneipp Cure rested on five main pillars: hydrotherapy, exercise, nutrition, herbalism, and the balance of mind and body. 

The holistic health and wellness Kneipp concept has a long European tradition demonstrating health benefits. Kindergartens in and around Germany are used to certify „Kneipp Kindergartens“ that practice regular Kneipp applications and activities.

Author of the review: Kristina Höschlová