💦 The Benefits of Hydrotherapy 💦
What is hydrotherapy, you might ask? Well, hydro- refers to water and therapy means just that, therapy! Hydrotherapy refers to the use of water to treat physical and even mental issues.
Many of you might know that there are many benefits to drinking water such as blood pressure control, organ function, digestive efficiency, reducing brain fog, and so much more. But water is not only good internally…it can be healing externally as well! Hydrotherapy is great for so many different things. One of my favorite hydrotherapy treatments, especially during the winter, is a contrast shower. A contrast shower increases the circulating white blood cells, which boosts the immune system, improves blood flow, may help with depression, prevents delayed onset muscle soreness, increases alertness, and so much more!
Below are the instructions to do a contrast shower, try it out for yourself!
Stand in the shower, turning around so that water sequentially hits all of the different parts of your body. Start out with as hot of water that can be reasonably tolerated. Use a timer or stopwatch time of 3 minutes. After 3 minutes, turn the water to cold for 30 seconds. Then return the water to as hot of a temperature you can tolerate for another 3 minutes. Repeat this cycle for 5-7 exchanges, ending on the cold cycle.
Tip: When giving the contrast shower to yourself, you can focus the spray where you need it the most: on face if you have a sinus infection, on the mid back if you are tired, on sore muscles, on neck if you have a sore throat etc.
Author: Judith C.
Licensed Massage Therapist (LMT) 1/4/2023