Louis Kuhne (14 March 1835 – 4 April 1901) was a German naturopath primarily known for his cold water

hydrotherapy Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy and also called water cure, is a branch of alternative medicine (particularly naturopathy), occupational therapy, and physiotherapy, that involves the use of water for pain relief and treatment. The term ...

methods that were meant to improve

detoxification Detoxification or detoxication (detox for short) is the physiological or medicinal removal of toxic substances from a living organism, including the human body, which is mainly carried out by the liver. Additionally, it can refer to the period of ...

functions of the body by stimulation of the lower abdomen.

Biography

Kuhne was a strict

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slaughter. Vegetariani ...

and forbade his patients the use of

salt Salt is a mineral composed primarily of sodium chloride (NaCl), a chemical compound belonging to the larger class of salts; salt in the form of a natural crystalline mineral is known as rock salt or halite. Salt is present in vast quant ...

and sugar in the diet. His conceptual view of the cause for disease was that the average human body was overburdened with toxins that eventually led to degenerations of the internal organs. He stressed the importance of proper

digestion Digestion is the breakdown of large insoluble food molecules into small water-soluble food molecules so that they can be absorbed into the watery blood plasma. In certain organisms, these smaller substances are absorbed through the small intest ...

and of avoiding constipation. Kuhne's friction sitz bath and hip baths both involved the patient sitting in a tub filled with relatively cold water (about 10—14

°C The degree Celsius is the unit of temperature on the Celsius scale (originally known as the centigrade scale outside Sweden), one of two temperature scales used in the International System of Units (SI), the other being the Kelvin scale. The ...

for the friction bath in the original instructions, although slightly higher temperatures are preferred today) and rubbing the lower abdomen, hips, or genitals with a rough linen cloth. The resulting nerve stimulation by the cold water was supposed to help eliminate toxins. Immediately after the bath the patient is put to bed to warm him up again. Louis Kuhne created a unique

panacea, including the friction sitz bath, to attempt to heal a wide spectrum of diseases. The late 19th century and early 20th century saw the birth of Neo-Naturopathy, particularly in Germany. Father

Sebastian Kneipp Sebastian Kneipp (17 May 1821 – 17 June 1897) was a German Catholic priest and one of the forefathers of the naturopathic medicine movement. He is most commonly associated with the "Kneipp Cure" form of hydrotherapy (often called "Kneipp ther ...

, Dr Benjamin Lust, Louis Kuhne amongst others, were but a few disappointed with the impotence of modern medicine in the face of serious disease. These men all turned to nature in a quest to heal a diseased body and maintain a lifetime of good health. Inspired by the work of the father of medicine,

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 o ...

(400 BCE) who stated that "Nature is the physician of disease" they started successfully experimenting with various methods using water as a healing agent. Hippocrates is famous for studying the healing powers of water, and subsequently creating

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 shor ...

Books by Kuhne

*''The New Science of Healing'' (1899) — *''The Science of Facial Expression'' (1917) —

References

*Erich Rauch: ''Naturopathic Treatment of Colds and Infectious Diseases'', Thieme (1983), p. 42–46, *Ernest William Cordingley:
Principles and Practice of Naturopathy: A Compendium of Natural Healing
' (1924), chapter 10 — *Gandhi, Mahatma, 1869-1948. (1993). An autobiography : the story of my experiments with truth. Boston :Beacon Press, p 226-229,

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuhne, Louis 1835 births 1901 deaths German nutritionists Hydrotherapists Naturopaths