Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure,
is a branch of
alternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any practice that aims to achieve the healing effects of medicine despite lacking biological plausibility, testability, repeatability, or evidence from clinical trials. Complementary medicine (CM), complementary and alt ...
(particularly
naturopathy
Naturopathy, or naturopathic medicine, is a form of alternative medicine. A wide array of pseudoscientific practices branded as "natural", "non-invasive", or promoting "self-healing" are employed by its practitioners, who are known as naturop ...
),
occupational therapy
Occupational therapy (OT) is a global healthcare profession. It involves the use of assessment and intervention to develop, recover, or maintain the meaningful activities, or ''occupations'', of individuals, groups, or communities. The field of ...
, and
physiotherapy
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...
, that involves the use of
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
for
pain relief
Pain management is an aspect of medicine and health care involving relief of pain (pain relief, analgesia, pain control) in various dimensions, from acute and simple to chronic and challenging. Most physicians and other health professionals pr ...
and treatment. The term encompasses a broad range of approaches and therapeutic methods that take advantage of the physical properties of water, such as temperature and pressure, to stimulate blood circulation, and treat the symptoms of certain diseases.
[
Various therapies used in the present-day hydrotherapy employ water jets, underwater massage and ]mineral baths
Mineral spas are spa resorts developed around naturally occurring mineral springs. Like seaside resorts, they are mainly used recreationally although they also figured prominently in prescientific medicine.
Origins
Spas were used for millen ...
(e.g. balneotherapy
Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic eff ...
, Iodine-Grine therapy, Kneipp treatments, Scotch hose, Swiss shower, thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word ''thalassa'', meaning "sea") is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. Note: Thalasso therapy is a sub-definition under the listing for Thalasso. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shore ...
) or whirlpool bath, hot Roman bath, hot tub, Jacuzzi
Jacuzzi Brands LLC (; ), through its subsidiaries, is a global manufacturer and distributor of branded baths, hot tubs, pools, saunas and, formerly, aircraft. Founded in 1915 by the Italian family of the same name, Jacuzzi is a federally regist ...
, and cold plunge.
Uses
Water therapy may be restricted to use as aquatic therapy
Aquatic therapy refers to treatments and exercises performed in water for relaxation, fitness, physical rehabilitation, and other therapeutic benefit. Typically a qualified aquatic therapist gives constant attendance to a person receiving treat ...
, a form of physical therapy
Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patient ...
, and as a cleansing agent. However, it is also used as a medium for delivery of heat and cold to the body, which has long been the basis for its application. Hydrotherapy involves a range of methods and techniques, many of which use water as a medium to facilitate thermoregulatory reactions for therapeutic benefit.
Hydrotherapy is used as an adjunct to therapy, including in nursing, where its use is now long established.[ It continues to be widely used for ]burn
A burn is an injury to skin, or other tissues, caused by heat, cold, electricity, chemicals, friction, or ultraviolet radiation (like sunburn). Most burns are due to heat from hot liquids (called scalding), solids, or fire. Burns occur mainl ...
treatment,[ although shower-based hydrotherapy techniques have been increasingly used in preference to full-immersion methods,][ partly for the ease of cleaning the equipment and reducing infections due to contamination.][ When removal of tissue is necessary for the treatment of wounds, hydrotherapy which performs selective mechanical ]debridement
Debridement is the medical removal of dead, damaged, or infected tissue to improve the healing potential of the remaining healthy tissue. Removal may be surgical, mechanical, chemical, autolytic (self-digestion), and by maggot therapy.
In p ...
can be used. Examples of this include directed wound irrigation and therapeutic irrigation
In medicine, therapeutic irrigation or lavage ( or ) is cleaning or rinsing. Types
Specific types include:
* Antiseptic lavage
* Bronchoalveolar lavage
* Gastric lavage
* Peritoneal lavage
* Arthroscopic lavage
* Ductal lavage
* Nasal irrigati ...
with suction.
Technique
The appliances and arrangements by means of which heat and cold are brought to bear are:
* Packings, general and local (i.e. Liniment
Liniment (from la, linere, meaning "to anoint"), also called embrocation and heat rub, is a medicated topical preparation for application to the skin. Some liniments have viscosity similar to that of water; others are lotion or balm; still other ...
);
* Hot air and steam baths;
* General baths;
* Treadmills
* Sitz (sitting), spinal, head, and foot baths;
* Bandages or compresses, wet and dry; also;
* Fomentations and poultices
A poultice, also called a cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth and placed over the skin to treat an aching, inflammation, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds, such as cut ...
, sinapisms, stupes, rubbings, and water potations.
Hydrotherapy which involves submerging all or part of the body in water can involve several types of equipment:
* Full body immersion tanks (a "Hubbard tank" is a large size)
* Arm, hip, and leg whirlpool
Whirling water movement, provided by mechanical pumps, has been used in water tanks since at least the 1940s. Similar technologies have been marketed for recreational use under the terms " hot tub" or "spa".
In some cases, baths with whirlpool
A whirlpool is a body of rotating water produced by opposing currents or a current running into an obstacle. Small whirlpools form when a bath or a sink is draining. More powerful ones formed in seas or oceans may be called maelstroms ( ). ''Vo ...
water flow are not used to manage wounds, as a whirlpool will not selectively target the tissue to be removed, and can damage all tissue. Whirlpools also create an unwanted risk of bacterial infection, can damage fragile body tissue, and in the case of treating arms and legs, bring risk of complications from edema
Edema, also spelled oedema, and also known as fluid retention, dropsy, hydropsy and swelling, is the build-up of fluid in the body's Tissue (biology), tissue. Most commonly, the legs or arms are affected. Symptoms may include skin which feels t ...
.
History
The therapeutic use of water has been recorded in ancient Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
, Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
and Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...
civilizations.[ Egyptian royalty bathed with ]essential oil
An essential oil is a concentrated hydrophobic liquid containing volatile (easily evaporated at normal temperatures) chemical compounds from plants. Essential oils are also known as volatile oils, ethereal oils, aetheroleum, or simply as the o ...
s and flowers, while Romans had communal public baths for their citizens. Hippocrates
Hippocrates of Kos (; grc-gre, Ἱπποκράτης ὁ Κῷος, Hippokrátēs ho Kôios; ), also known as Hippocrates II, was a Greek physician of the classical period who is considered one of the most outstanding figures in the history of ...
prescribed bathing in spring water for sickness. Other cultures noted for a long history of hydrotherapy include China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
,[ the latter being centred primarily around Japanese hot springs. Many such histories predate the Roman ]thermae
In ancient Rome, (from Greek , "hot") and (from Greek ) were facilities for bathing. usually refers to the large Roman Empire, imperial public bath, bath complexes, while were smaller-scale facilities, public or private, that existed i ...
.
Modern revival
Hydrotherapy became more prominent following the growth and development of modern medical practices in the 18th and 19th century. As traditional medical practice became increasingly professional in terms of how doctors operated, it was felt that medical treatment became increasingly less personalized, the development of hydrotherapy was believed to be a more personal form of medical treatment that did not necessarily present to patients the alienating scientific language that modern developments of medical treatment entailed.
1700–1810
Two English works on the medical uses of water were published in the 18th century that inaugurated the new fashion for hydrotherapy. One of these was by Sir John Floyer, a physician of Lichfield
Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...
, who, struck by the remedial use of certain springs by the neighbouring peasantry, investigated the history of cold bathing and published a book on the subject in 1702. The book ran through six editions within a few years and the translation of this book into German was largely drawn upon by Dr J. S. Hahn of Silesia as the basis for his book called ''On the Healing Virtues of Cold Water, Inwardly and Outwardly Applied, as Proved by Experience'', published in 1738.
The other work was a 1797 publication by Dr James Currie of Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
on the use of hot and cold water in the treatment of fever and other illness, with a fourth edition published in 1805, not long before his death.[ It was also translated into German by Michaelis (1801) and ]Hegewisch
Hegewisch (pronounced "heg-wish" by the locals) is one of the 77 community areas of Chicago, Illinois, located on the city's far south side. It is bordered by the neighborhoods of Riverdale and South Deering to the west, the East Side to the ...
(1807). It was highly popular and first placed the subject on a scientific basis. Hahn's writings had meanwhile created much enthusiasm among his countrymen, societies having been formed everywhere to promote the medicinal and dietetic use of water; and in 1804 Professor E.F.C. Oertel of Anspach republished them and quickened the popular movement by unqualified commendation of water drinking as a remedy for all diseases.[
The general idea behind hydropathy during the 1800s was to be able to induce something called a crisis. The thinking was that water invaded any cracks, wounds, or imperfections in the skin, which were filled with impure fluids. Health was considered to be the natural state of the body, and filling these spaces with pure water, would flush the impurities out, which would rise to the surface of the skin, producing pus. The event of this pus emerging was called a crisis, and was achieved through a multitude of methods. These methods included techniques such as sweating, the plunging bath, the half bath, the head bath, the sitting bath, and the douche bath. All of these were ways to gently expose the patient to cold water in different ways.]
Vincenz Priessnitz (1799–1851)
Vincenz Priessnitz was the son of a peasant farmer who, as a young child, observed a wounded deer bathing a wound in a pond near his home. Over the course of several days, he would see this deer return and eventually the wound was healed. Later as a teenager, Priessnitz was attending to a horse cart, when the cart ran him over, breaking three of his ribs. A physician told him that they would never heal. Priessnitz decided to try his own hand at healing himself, and wrapped his wounds with damp bandages. By daily changing his bandages and drinking large quantities of water, after about a year, his broken ribs had been cured. Priessnitz quickly gained fame in his hometown and became the consulted physician.
Later in life, Priessnitz became the head of a hydropathy clinic in Gräfenberg in 1826. He was extremely successful and by 1840, he had 1600 patients in his clinic including many fellow physicians, as well as important political figures such as nobles and prominent military officials. Treatment length at Priessnitz's clinic varied. Much of his theory was about inducing the above-mentioned crisis, which could happen quickly, or could occur after three to four years. In accordance with the simplistic nature of hydropathy, a large part of the treatment was based on living a simple lifestyle. These lifestyle adjustments included dietary changes such as eating only very coarse food, such as jerky and bread, and of course drinking large quantities of water. Priessnitz's treatments also included a great deal of less strenuous exercise, mostly including walking. Ultimately, Priessnitz's clinic was extremely successful, and he gained fame across the western world. His practice even influenced the hydropathy that took root overseas in America.
Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897)
Sebastian Kneipp was born in Germany and he considered his own role in hydropathy to be that of continuing Priessnitz's work. Kneipp's own practice of hydropathy was even gentler than the norm. He believed that typical hydropathic practices deployed were "too violent or too frequent" and he expressed concern that such techniques would cause emotional or physical trauma to the patient. Kneipp's practice was more all encompassing than Priessnitz's, and his practice involved not only curing the patients' physical woes, but emotional and mental as well.
Kneipp introduced four additional principles to the therapy: medicinal herbs, massages
Massage is the manipulation of the body's soft tissues. Massage techniques are commonly applied with hands, fingers, elbows, knees, forearms, feet or a device. The purpose of massage is generally for the treatment of body stress or pain. In Eu ...
, balanced nutrition, and "regulative therapy to seek inner balance". Kneipp had a very simple view of an already simple practice. For him, hydropathy's primary goals were strengthening the constitution and removing poisons and toxins in the body. These basic interpretations of how hydropathy worked hinted at his complete lack of medical training. Kneipp did have, however, a very successful medical practice in spite of, perhaps even because of, his lack of medical training. As mentioned above, some patients were beginning to feel uncomfortable with traditional doctors because of the elitism of the medical profession. The new terms and techniques that doctors were using were difficult for the average person to understand. Having no formal training, all of his instructions and published works are described in easy to understand language and would have seemed very appealing to a patient who was displeased with the direction traditional medicine was taking.
A significant factor in the popular revival of hydrotherapy was that it could be practised relatively cheaply at home. The growth of hydrotherapy (or 'hydropathy' to use the name of the time), was thus partly derived from two interacting spheres: "the hydro and the home".[
Hydrotherapy as a formal medical tool dates from about 1829 when ]Vincenz Priessnitz
Vincenz Priessnitz, also written Prießnitz (sometimes in German ''Vinzenz'', in English ''Vincent'', in Czech ''Vincenc''; 4 October 1799 – 26 November 1851) was a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg, Austrian Silesia, who is generally considered ...
(1799–1851), a farmer of Gräfenberg in Silesia
Silesia (, also , ) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at around 8,000,000. Silesia is split ...
, then part of the Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central-Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence, ...
, began his public career in the paternal homestead, extended so as to accommodate the increasing numbers attracted by the fame of his cures.
At Gräfenberg, to which the fame of Priessnitz drew people of every rank and many countries, medical men were conspicuous by their numbers, some being attracted by curiosity, others by the desire of knowledge, but the majority by the hope of cure for ailments which had as yet proved incurable. Many records of experiences at Gräfenberg were published, all more or less favorable to the claims of Priessnitz, and some enthusiastic in their estimate of his genius and penetration.
Spread of hydrotherapy
Captain R. T. Claridge
Captain Richard Tappin Claridge, FSA (c. 1797/1799 – 5 August 1857), was a prominent asphalt contractor and captain in the Middlesex UK Militia, who became best known for his prominent promotion of hydropathy, now known as hydrotherapy, in th ...
was responsible for introducing and promoting hydropathy in Britain, first in London in 1842, then with lecture tours in Ireland and Scotland in 1843. His 10-week tour in Ireland included Limerick, Cork, Wexford, Dublin and Belfast, over June, July and August 1843, with two subsequent lectures in Glasgow.
Some other Englishmen preceded Claridge to Graefenberg, although not many. One of these was Dr. James Wilson, who himself, along with Dr James Manby Gully, established and operated a water cure establishment at Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
in 1842. In 1843, Wilson and Gully published a comparison of the efficacy of the water-cure with drug treatments, including accounts of some cases treated at Malvern, combined with a prospectus of their Water Cure Establishment. Then in 1846 Gully published ''The Water Cure in Chronic Disease'', further describing the treatments available at the clinic.
The fame of the water-cure establishment grew, and Gully and Wilson became well-known national figures. Two more clinics were opened at Malvern. Famous patients included Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all species of life have descended fr ...
, Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy.
Born in Ecclefechan, Dum ...
, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale (; 12 May 1820 – 13 August 1910) was an English Reform movement, social reformer, statistician and the founder of modern nursing. Nightingale came to prominence while serving as a manager and trainer of nurses during t ...
, Lord Tennyson
Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom, Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Go ...
and Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 – 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England, and the third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his day.Natural Hi ...
. With his fame he also attracted criticism:
Sir Charles Hastings
Sir Charles Hastings (11 January 1794 – 30 July 1866) was a medical surgeon and a founder of the British Medical Association, the BMA, (then known as the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association) on 19 July 1832.
He was also a notable life ...
, a physician and founder of the British Medical Association
The British Medical Association (BMA) is a registered trade union for doctors in the United Kingdom. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the General Medical Council. The association's headquar ...
, was a forthright critic of hydropathy, and Gully in particular.
From the 1840s, hydropathics were established across Britain. Initially, many of these were small institutions, catering to at most dozens of patients. By the later nineteenth century the typical hydropathic establishment had evolved into a more substantial undertaking, with thousands of patients treated annually for weeks at a time in a large purpose-built building with lavish facilities – baths, recreation rooms and the like – under the supervision of fully trained and qualified medical practitioners and staff.[
]
In Germany, France and America, and in Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
, England, hydropathic establishments multiplied with great rapidity. Antagonism ran high between the old practice and the new. Unsparing condemnation was heaped by each on the other; and a legal prosecution, leading to a royal commission of inquiry, served but to make Priessnitz and his system stand higher in public estimation.
Increasing popularity soon diminished caution whether the new method would help minor ailments and be of benefit to the more seriously injured. Hydropathists occupied themselves mainly with studying chronic invalids well able to bear a rigorous regimen and the severities of unrestricted crisis. The need of a radical adaptation to the former class was first adequately recognized by John Smedley, a manufacturer of Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
, who, impressed in his own person with the severities as well as the benefits of the cold water cure, practised among his workpeople a milder form of hydropathy, and began about 1852 a new era in its history, founding at Matlock a counterpart of the establishment at Gräfenberg.
Ernst Brand
Ernst Brand (2 January 1827 in Feuchtwangen – 7 March 1897 in Stettin) was a German physician, known for his development of hydrotherapy (cold bath treatment) in the treatment of typhoid fever.
From 1845 to 1851 he studied medicine at the U ...
(1827–1897) of Berlin, Raljen and Theodor von Jürgensen of Kiel, and Karl Liebermeister of Basel, between 1860 and 1870, employed the cooling bath in abdominal typhus
Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposure.
...
with striking results, and led to its introduction to England by Dr Wilson Fox
Wilson Fox (2 November 1831 – 3 May 1887) was an English physician.
Education and career
Fox was the son of a manufacturer belonging to a well-known Quaker family in the west of England. He was born at Tone Dale House in Wellington, Somer ...
. In the Franco-German War the cooling bath was largely employed, in conjunction frequently with quinine
Quinine is a medication used to treat malaria and babesiosis. This includes the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum'' that is resistant to chloroquine when artesunate is not available. While sometimes used for nocturnal leg cr ...
; and it was used in the treatment of hyperpyrexia
Fever, also referred to as pyrexia, is defined as having a temperature above the normal range due to an increase in the body's temperature set point. There is not a single agreed-upon upper limit for normal temperature with sources using val ...
.
Hot baths
Hydrotherapy, especially as promoted during the height of its Victorian revival, has often been associated with the use of cold water, as evidenced by many titles from that era. However, not all therapists limited their practice of hydrotherapy to cold water, even during the height of this popular revival.[
The specific use of heat was however often associated with the ]Turkish bath
A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...
. This was introduced by David Urquhart
David Urquhart Jr. (1 July 180516 May 1877) was a Scottish diplomat, writer and politician, serving as a Member of Parliament from 1847 to 1852. He also was an early promotor of the Turkish bath in the United Kingdom.
Early life
Urquhart was bo ...
into England on his return from the East in the 1850s, and ardently adopted by Richard Barter.[ The Turkish bath became a public institution, and, with the morning tub and the general practice of water drinking, is the most noteworthy of the many contributions by hydropathy to public health.]
Spread to the United States
The first U.S. hydropathic facilities were established by Joel Shew
Joel Shew (November 13, 1816 - October 6, 1855)Kelly, Howard A; Burrage, Walter L. (1920)''American Medical Biographies'' Baltimore: The Norman, Remington company. p. 1045 was an American physician, hydrotherapist and natural hygiene advocate.
B ...
and Russell Thacher Trall in the 1840s.[ Dr Charles Munde also established early hydrotherapy facilities in the 1850s.][ Trall also co-edited the ''Water Cure Journal''.][
By 1850, it was said that "there are probably more than one hundred" facilities, along with numerous books and periodicals, including the New York ''Water Cure Journal'', which had "attained an extent of circulation equalled by few monthlies in the world".][ By 1855, there were attempts by some to weigh the evidence of treatments in vogue at that time.][
Following the introduction of hydrotherapy to the U.S., ]John Harvey Kellogg
John Harvey Kellogg (February 26, 1852 – December 14, 1943) was an American medical doctor, nutritionist, inventor, health activist, eugenicist, and businessman. He was the director of the Battle Creek Sanitarium in Battle Creek, Michigan. The ...
employed it at Battle Creek Sanitarium
The Battle Creek Sanitarium was a world-renowned health resort in Battle Creek, Michigan, United States. It started in 1866 on health principles advocated by the Seventh-day Adventist Church and from 1876 to 1943 was managed by Dr. John ...
, which opened in 1866, where he strove to improve the scientific foundation for hydrotherapy.[ Other notable hydropathic centers of the era included the Cleveland Water Cure Establishment, founded in 1848, which operated successfully for two decades, before being sold to an organization which transformed it into an orphanage.][
]
At its height, there were over 200 water-cure establishments in the United States, most located in the northeast. Few of these lasted into the postbellum years, although some survived into the 20th century including institutions in Scott (Cortland County), Elmira, Clifton Springs and Dansville. While none were located in Jefferson County, the Oswego Water Cure operated in the city of Oswego.[
]
Subsequent developments
In November 1881, the ''British Medical Journal'' noted that hydropathy was a specific instance, or "particular case", of general principles of thermodynamics. That is, "the application of heat and cold in general", as it applies to physiology, mediated by hydropathy.[ In 1883, another writer stated "Not, be it observed, that hydropathy is a water treatment after all, but that water is the medium for the application of heat and cold to the body".][
Hydrotherapy was used to treat people with ]mental illness
A mental disorder, also referred to as a mental illness or psychiatric disorder, is a behavioral or mental pattern that causes significant distress or impairment of personal functioning. Such features may be persistent, relapsing and remitti ...
in the 19th and 20th centuries and before World War II, various forms of hydrotherapy were used to treat alcoholism
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
.[ The basic text of the ]Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international mutual aid fellowship of alcoholics dedicated to abstinence-based recovery from alcoholism through its spiritually-inclined Twelve Step program. Following its Twelve Traditions, AA is non-professi ...
fellowship, ''Alcoholics Anonymous'', reports that A.A. co-founder Bill Wilson was treated by hydrotherapy for his alcoholism in the early 1930s.[
]
Recent techniques
A subset of cryotherapy
Cryotherapy, sometimes known as cold therapy, is the local or general use of low temperatures in medical therapy. Cryotherapy may be used to treat a variety of tissue lesions. The most prominent use of the term refers to the surgical treatment, s ...
involves cold water immersion or ice baths, used by physical therapists, sports medicine facilities and rehab clinics. Proponents assert that it results in improved return of blood flow and byproducts of cellular breakdown to the lymphatic system and more efficient recycling.
Alternating the temperatures, either in a shower or complementary tanks, combines the use of hot and cold in the same session. Proponents claim improvement in circulatory system and lymphatic drainage. Experimental evidence suggests that contrast hydrotherapy helps to reduce injury in the acute stages by stimulating blood flow and reducing swelling.
Society and culture
The growth of hydrotherapy, and various forms of hydropathic establishments, resulted in a form of tourism, both in the UK,[ and in Europe. At least one book listed English, Scottish, Irish and European establishments suitable for each specific malady,][ while another focused primarily on German spas and hydropathic establishments, but including other areas.][ While many bathing establishments were open all year round, doctors advised patients not to go before May, "nor to remain after October. English visitors rather prefer cold weather, and they often arrive for the baths in May, and return again in September. Americans come during the whole season, but prefer summer. The most fashionable and crowded time is during July and August".][ In Europe, interest in various forms of hydrotherapy and spa tourism continued unabated through the 19th century and into the 20th century,][ where "in France, Italy and Germany, several million people spend time each year at a spa."][ In 1891, when ]Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
toured Europe and discovered that a bath of spring water at Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains (, ; frp, Èx-los-Bens; la, Aquae Gratianae), locally simply Aix, is a commune in the southeastern French department of Savoie. soothed his rheumatism, he described the experience as "so enjoyable that if I hadn't had a disease I would have borrowed one just to have a pretext for going on".[
This was not the first time such forms of spa tourism had been popular in Europe and the U.K. Indeed,
]
in Europe, the application of water in the treatment of fevers and other maladies had, since the seventeenth century, been consistently promoted by a number of medical writers. In the eighteenth century, taking to the waters became a fashionable pastime for the wealthy classes who decamped to resorts around Britain and Europe to cure the ills of over-consumption. In the main, treatment in the heyday of the British spa consisted of sense and sociability: promenading, bathing, and the repetitive quaffing of foul-tasting mineral waters.[
]
A hydropathic establishment is a place where people receive hydropathic treatment. They are commonly built in spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
s, where mineral-rich or hot water
Water heating is a heat transfer process that uses an energy source to heat water above its initial temperature. Typical domestic uses of hot water include cooking, cleaning, bathing, and space heating. In industry, hot water and water heated t ...
occurs naturally.
Several hydropathic institutions wholly transferred their operations away from therapeutic purposes to become tourist hotel
A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
s in the late 20th century whilst retaining the name 'Hydro'. There are several prominent examples in Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
at Crieff
Crieff (; gd, Craoibh, meaning "tree") is a Scottish market town in Perth and Kinross on the A85 road between Perth and Crianlarich, and the A822 between Greenloaning and Aberfeldy. The A822 joins the A823 to Dunfermline. Crieff has become ...
, Peebles
Peebles ( gd, Na Pùballan) is a town in the Scottish Borders, Scotland. It was historically a royal burgh and the county town of Peeblesshire. According to the 2011 census, the population was 8,376 and the estimated population in June 2018 wa ...
and Seamill
Seamill is a village in North Ayrshire on the west coast of Scotland, about 5 miles north of Ardrossan and 8 miles south of Largs, on the east coast of the Firth of Clyde.
It is sometimes considered part of West Kilbride, and sometimes conside ...
amongst others.
Other animals
Canine hydrotherapy
Canine hydrotherapy is a form of hydrotherapy directed at the treatment of chronic conditions, post-operative recovery, and pre-operative or general fitness in dogs.
Background
A number of conditions in dogs may be aggravated by or may show s ...
is a form of hydrotherapy directed at the treatment of chronic conditions, post-operative recovery, and pre-operative or general fitness in dog
The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
s.
See also
* Balneotherapy
Balneotherapy ( la, balneum "bath") is a method of treating diseases by bathing, a traditional medicine technique usually practiced at spas. Since ancient times, humans have used hot springs, public baths and thermal medicine for therapeutic eff ...
or "bath therapy"
* Colon cleansing
Colon cleansing, also known as colon therapy, or colon hydrotherapy, or a colonic, or colonic irrigation encompasses a number of alternative medical therapies claimed to remove unspecified toxins from the colon and intestinal tract by remov ...
* Destination spa
A destination spa or health resort is a resort centered on a spa, such as a mineral spa. Historically, many such spas were developed at the location of natural hot springs or mineral springs; in the era before modern biochemical knowledge and p ...
* Enema
An enema, also known as a clyster, is an injection of fluid into the lower bowel by way of the rectum.Cullingworth, ''A Manual of Nursing, Medical and Surgical'':155 The word enema can also refer to the liquid injected, as well as to a device ...
* Finnish sauna
The Finnish sauna ( sv, bastu) is a substantial part of Finnish and Estonian culture.
It was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists at the December 17, 2020 meeting of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Committee for the Safeguardi ...
* Halliwick The Halliwick Concept focuses on biophysical principles of motor control in water, in particular developing sense of balance (equilibrioception) and core stability. The Halliwick Ten-Point-Programme implements the concept in a progressive programm ...
* Hot tub
* Mineral spring
Mineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produces hard water, water that contains dissolved minerals. Salts, sulfur compounds, and gases are among the substances that can be dissolved in the spring water during its passage underg ...
* Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp (17 May 1821 – 17 June 1897) was a German Catholic priest and one of the forefathers of the Naturopathy, naturopathic medicine movement. He is most commonly associated with the "Kneipp Cure" form of hydrotherapy (often called ...
* Kneipp facility A Kneipp facility is a construction or devise in a spa or special park that is used for the Kneipp hydrotherapy, also called "Kneipp Cure" or "Kneippism". It was founded and developed by the Bavarian-German priest Sebastian Kneipp in the 19th centur ...
* Spa
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneoth ...
* Spa bath
A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...
* Spa town
A spa town is a resort town based on a mineral spa (a developed mineral spring). Patrons visit spas to "take the waters" for their purported health benefits.
Thomas Guidott set up a medical practice in the English town of Bath in 1668. H ...
* Spotted Lake
Spotted Lake(Kłlil’xᵂ) is a saline endorheic alkali lake located northwest of Osoyoos in the eastern Similkameen Valley of British Columbia, Canada, accessed via Highway 3.
Mineral and salt concentration
Spotted Lake is richly concentrat ...
(''Kliluk'')
* Steam shower
A steam shower is a type of bathing where a humidifying steam generator produces water vapor that is dispersed around a person's body. A steam shower is essentially a steam room that offers the typical features of a bathroom shower. Steam showers ...
* Thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy (from the Greek word ''thalassa'', meaning "sea") is the use of seawater as a form of therapy. Note: Thalasso therapy is a sub-definition under the listing for Thalasso. It also includes the systematic use of sea products and shore ...
* Water aerobics
Water aerobics (waterobics, aquarobics, aquatic fitness, aquafitness, aquafit) is the performance of aerobic exercise in water such as in a swimming pool. It is done mostly vertically and without swimming typically in waist deep or deeper water. W ...
Notes
a. While the second sense, of water as a form of torture is documented back to at least the 15th century,[ the first use of the term ''water cure'' as a torture is indirectly dated to around 1898, by U.S. soldiers in the Spanish–American War,][ after the term had been introduced to America in the mid-19th century in the therapeutic sense, which was in widespread use.][ Indeed, while the torture sense of ''water cure'' was by 1900–1902 established in the American army,][ with a conscious sense of irony,][ this sense was not in widespread use. ''Webster's'' 1913 dictionary cited only the therapeutic sense, ''water cure'' being synonymous with ''hydropathy'',][ the term by which hydrotherapy was known in the 19th century and early 20th century.][
The late 19th century expropriation of the term ''water cure'', already in use in the therapeutic sense, to denote the polar opposite of therapy, namely torture, has the hallmark of arising in the sense of irony. This would be in keeping with some of the reactions to water cure therapy and its promotion, which included not only criticism, but also parody and satire.][
]
References
Further reading
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{{Authority control
Aquatic therapy
Natural environment based therapies
Alternative medical treatments