 About Hydrotherapy...
Hydrotherapy is the use of water to maintain health or promote healing. Ice, steam, bubbling, hot, tepid, and cold water are all used in a number of different ways.
Hydrotherapy is used for treating:-
- Swellings and inflammation
- Sprains, strains
- Wounds
- Burns
- Relaxation
- Sciatica
- Fever
- Circulation
- To promote physical recovery and rehabilitation
- Stress management
- Pain management
- Arthritis
- Bruising
- PMS
- Muscle spasm
- Itching skin
The basic properties of water allow this nontoxic and readily available substance to be used in many aspects of patient care. Not only does water keep people hydrated, its universal solvent properties make it useful as a medium for other remedies such as herbal salts or medicines. Water is also useful in its other physical states: Steam can open clogged sinuses; ice packs can relieve swelling.
Hydrotherapy also takes advantage of water's unique ability to store and transmit both cold and heat. Cold-based hydrotherapies, such as ice packs and cold compresses, have what is known as a "depressant" effect: Cold decreases normal activity, constricting blood vessels, numbing nerves, and slowing respiration. On the other hand, heat-based hydrotherapies, such as whirlpools and hot compresses, have the opposite effect. As the body attempts to throw off the excess heat and keep body temperature from rising, dilation of blood vessels occurs, providing increased circulation to the area being treated.
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