What is Hydrotherapy?
Hydrotherapy is the use of water, either internally or externally, to maintain health and prevent disease. Although it was the Romans who introduced spas throughout the Roman empire, modern hydrotherapy is commonly attributed to Father Sebastian Kneipp (1821-97), who believed that water would ‘dissolve, remove and strengthen’. Dissolve matter-containing disease, remove diseased matter from the body and strengthen the body by restoring cleansed blood to the tissues and maximizing circulation.
According to its mineral content, water taken internally can have a laxative, diuretic, phlegmatic (phlegm producing) or diaphoretic (perspiration-inducing) effects. Used externally, water has the power to improve blood and lymph circulation, relax tension in the tissues, alleviate pain and calm the nervous system.
In the past, little controlled research had been carried out into hydrotherapy; and what little there had been done, was more often than not, conducted in Germany. However, in recent years some interesting studies have been carried out into the varied forms and applications of hydrotherapy in medicine.
Hydrotherapy for Healing Diseases/Conditions
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