What is the therapeutic effect of water?

“The color of your face makes me anxious! Isn't it time to go to the waters, improve your health? A typical scene for the 19th century, when water and mud treatments were in vogue among high society.

What is the therapeutic effect of water? The thing is that the body in the aquatic environment tolerates temperature fluctuations in a completely different way. First, water has a high thermal conductivity. Secondly, the sweat glands of our skin in the aquatic environment no longer evaporate moisture, as a result of which all parts of the body warm up well and evenly. Water pressure changes the nature of blood circulation, and its chemical composition affects the skin.

If the water is cold, then at the first moment there is a spasm of small vessels of the skin. In response, the metabolism in the tissues increases and the temperature of the internal organs rises. Through a chain of regulatory mechanisms, this leads to an improvement in blood circulation in the small vessels of the skin. They expand, the skin turns red, we feel warm and cheerful. Therefore, water therapy is useful both for improving the general condition of the body and for treating diseases.

What are water procedures for?

One of the causes of female infertility may be the insufficient functioning of the ovaries and, as a result, the immaturity of the egg. Sometimes it is possible to make the ovary "work" by improving its blood supply. Carbon dioxide baths do an excellent job with this task. Carbon dioxide mixed with steam turns into carbonic acid and is absorbed by human skin. As a result, the speed of blood flow through the peripheral vessels increases, and the work of the circulatory system and other internal organs improves.

In diseases of the abdominal organs, an underwater shower-massage with a rotary sprayer is effective, which relieves pain in the area of scars on the peritoneum, with chronic gastritis, diseases of the gallbladder in 5-7 sessions. In the nozzle, the holes are not located straight, but at an angle of 45 °. Water, coming out of them, creates a reactive effect, and the nozzle begins to spin. You have probably seen something similar at fountains and remember that this creates a water cone. It is this cone that has a suction effect when the nozzle is brought close to the body. It does not create discomfort and, at the same time, due to strong pressure, it acts deeper than the usual straight jet.

Many, probably, experienced painful sensations in the muscles after an intense load. They are caused by the accumulation of lactic acid, which the body does not have time to break down and “utilize” due to oxygen starvation. In this case, there is a feeling of a fossil of the muscles of the arms, legs, back, neck. It is not easy to remove congestion in the deepest muscles - you need to bring the body into a state of complete relaxation. This is possible only in water, when the force of gravity does not act on the body, and it is in a state similar to weightlessness. In such cases, the technique of underwater shower-massage with water jets is used. Muscles in warm water relax as much as possible, and the jet has a deep effect.

The so-called pearl baths have a similar effect. Nozzles are built into the walls of the tank, filling the water with millions of air bubbles, which help to relax and calm the nervous system.

Electrogalvanic baths are similar in their effect to a cold shower or exposure to the sun: blood flow in tissues improves, oxygen supply to them, inflammation in muscles and joints is relieved, blood pressure normalizes, hemoglobin levels increase, and the percentage of sugar in blood and urine decreases.

One of the most popular types of hydrotherapy are showers: ordinary rain and needle, Charcot shower, Scottish. Water is supplied under low pressure. The impact of the shower produces a slight irritant effect, it is prescribed mainly as a refreshing and tonic procedure.

Shower "Charcot"

During the “Charcot” shower, the patient, standing at a distance of 3-3.5 m from the control panel, is first poured over from all sides with a fan jet of water (fan shower), then with a compact jet they affect parts of the body with muscle layers or with a bone base (limbs, back, lateral surfaces of the chest). It is necessary to avoid hitting the jet in the face, head, mammary glands and genitals. The first procedure is carried out at a water temperature of 35-32°C, daily or every other time it is lowered to GS and by the end of treatment it is brought to 20-15°C. Shower "Charcot" is prescribed mainly for functional diseases of the nervous system, metabolic diseases, especially obesity.

Scottish shower

The effect of the Scottish shower is that the patient is alternately directed first with a jet of hot (37-45 ° C) water for 30-40 seconds, and then cold (20-10 ° C) for 15-20 seconds. This is repeated 4-6 times. As a local procedure is prescribed for obesity, constipation associated with a decrease in intestinal tone (on the stomach); with myositis of the lumbar muscles, sciatica (on the lower back).

Circular shower

A circular shower has a significant irritating effect on the nerve endings of the skin. The water temperature at the beginning of the course of treatment is usually 36-34°C, and by the end of the course it is gradually reduced to 25°C.

Underwater shower massage

The patient is massaged under water with a jet of water supplied from a hose under pressure. Thermal and mechanical irritation of the skin improves blood and lymph circulation, and thus the nutrition of tissues, stimulates metabolism, and contributes to faster resorption of inflammatory foci.

Indications for the appointment of a shower-massage are: obesity, gout, the consequences of an injury to the musculoskeletal system, diseases of the joints (except tuberculosis), muscles and tendons, the consequences of injuries and diseases of the peripheral nervous system, residual effects after suffering poliomyelitis with symptoms of muscle paresis, sluggishly healing trophic ulcers (without thrombophlebitis), etc.

With a general underwater shower-massage, the whole body is affected. During local massage, a stream of water from a hose with a tip is directed to a specific area of the body (joint area, lumbar region, etc.), while the water temperature is 36-38 ° C. With a general underwater shower-massage, the water temperature can be gradually raised to 40 ° C, with a local one - up to 42 ° C. The course of treatment is 15-20 procedures.

General underwater massage cannot be combined with other water and thermal procedures, ultraviolet radiation, etc.

Contraindications

Souls as hydrotherapy procedures are contraindicated in acute inflammatory processes and exacerbation of chronic hypertension stage II and III, severe angina pectoris, myocardial infarction, heart aneurysm, chronic cardiovascular insufficiency, condition after a recent stroke (6-8 months), malignant neoplasms, benign tumors with their tendency to grow, bleeding, tuberculosis in certain phases of the disease, infectious diseases, weeping eczema, pustular skin diseases, etc.

Hydrolaser shower is a mechanical massage with a water jet combined with red laser radiation.

Application: improves immunity; has a stimulating effect on the circulatory organs, increases the content of hemoglobin in the blood and thereby prevents the occurrence of anemia; normalizes arterial and venous pressure, strengthens the vessels of the lower extremities; gives a cosmetic effect: improves blood circulation in "tired" and problem skin, contributes to its regeneration;

Hydrolaser shower promotes weight loss and cellulite resorption; stimulates sexual activity; has an antidepressant and anti-stress effect.

Application is most effective in the treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome and latent depression; vegetovascular dystonia; hypertension; frigidity and reduced potency; withdrawal syndrome; weight correction; regeneration of problem skin; cellulite and body shaping; diseases of the musculoskeletal system.

Water is life, it is health. And remember the winged words of Pliny the Elder: Invinoveritas, inaquasanitas (lat.) - "truth is in wine, health is in water."

Anna Criss