Hydrotherapy As Therapeutic Treatment

Hydrotherapy is known for its healing and detoxifying practices. It started back in ancient times and has become a treatment that practitioners have carried into our current times. Since it has become such a key therapeutic treatment, people can obtain it by seeking help through their main medical professional along with practicing it at home. The purpose of this practice is to heal and detoxify the patient in a different realm than that of traditional medicine. Overall, it is a safe treatment, however there are contraindications that come with it such as open wounds, impaired healing, and temperature sensitivity. Because of side effects and the possible contraindications, education is key. Letting the patients know that it could influence blood pressure, body weight and other aspects of their wellbeing is important in providing the right therapy to the individual. Hydrotherapy is a useful and safe alternative medicine that could help to benefit a patient both with and without the treatment from traditional medicine and is available in many different locations and settings.

Hydrotherapy, also known as water cure is a common form of alternative medicine that uses water as a way of pain relief and detoxification. There is a copious amount of specified practices that fall under the umbrella term of hydrotherapy, most of which use multiple dimensions of water like temperature, pressure, and the body’s weight submerged in water to allow for some sort of healing and pain relief to happen. The therapeutic approach of hydrotherapy can be beneficial in multiple realms. It can be used in physical therapy, occupational therapy, and physiotherapy. It can be used for increased or decreased pressure, for vasodilation or vasoconstriction, for cleansing both inside and outside, and for thermoregulation. Hydrotherapy is a nursing intervention in many ways. Understanding the history behind the treatment, the types of treatment, and the modernizations of the treatment will help to get a clear picture of the technique of hydrotherapy.

To get a firm grasp of how this has come about, it makes sense to start with the history. Hydrotherapy ages all the way back to the Romans and the Greek civilizations, although it was a premature form with little safety involved. One instance is even rumored to kill people because they were advised to drink gallons of water in quick amounts of time to flush out their system. This, of course, only drowned the person, making their action potentials and their facilitated diffusion not work in their body. Writings about water and its healing affects date back to 1500 BC and even further (Pizzorno, 2013, p. 327-336). However, it was brought to the United States in the mid-nineteenth century, to New York. During the history of hydrotherapy, a branch of it called naturopathy also began to take charge, being studied by intelligent individuals that used it combined with other therapies to treat patients. Around this time was also when people started to document that they were charging fees for such procedures and making a profit from their services. Because of all this popularity and its documented effectiveness, healthcare providers still implement these types of practices in their every day treatments, making it a successful nursing intervention.

Since it has become such an interesting treatment to people, it has become more readily available. Places like spas, therapy offices, and in-home services have treatments that include water. When the doctor at the Emergency Room gives a patient an ice pack, he is practicing a small part of hydrotherapy. Hydrotherapy also affects multiple systems of the body, like the blood, the nerves, the spinal cord, the muscles, and many more. The effects have a more profound adjustment to the movement of blood and body fluids. Because hydrotherapy benefits the patient, it can be used as a nursing intervention; a treatment, based on educated clinical judgement that a nurse preforms to benefit the patient (CNC, 2018). It also can be beneficial for women that are in labor, this being a nursing intervention (Geytenbeek, 2002).

If there are severe labor pain, it can be used as a pain relief treatment, as long as it pertains to the individual patient. Some of the patients can experience bad effects of the therapy, if they are diabetic, they are temperature sensitive, or they have issues with medications they might experience a drop in blood pressure, or a damage due to temperature regulations. Also, the contraindications are open wounds that may or may not be infected, alter sense of sensation, poor balance and coordination, and fear of water. If subjects present any of these symptoms, another treatment option should be considered. Based on all of this, the practice of hydrotherapy should be considered on a patient to patient basis, however it is overall a safe practice in all the different realms.

There are several types of hydrotherapy in this current time, working on people of all ages because of its basic principles. These principles consist of water and its properties, using human manipulation to get the desired effect. Most of them are therapies that society already knows about, and people might use them without thinking they are part of holistic medicine. Some of the therapies are baths, temperature compressions, watsu, saunas, wraps, and pool exercises. Baths work to increase blood flow and rid the body of its toxins through sweating and normal bodily functions. Temperature compressions work because it can either increase blood flow or decrease it to get a certain desired effect. Watsu is a therapeutic massage while you float in a pool used to stop stress and help heal the body. Saunas and wraps are used to help to pull toxins out and push the body to purify itself. Pool exercises are being used more and more to help the body in a different environment to get stronger, being used more and more in physical and occupational therapy (Oeverman, 2009). This is just a different environment that allows people to try something new that might help their aliments.

Many times, the speculation of this therapy stems from how it works and whether or not it is worth people’s time. According to biology, it works from increasing blood flow, stimulating sweat glands, and ridding the body of its toxins when the water temperature is raised. When it is cooled, it works to decrease circulation and decrease inflammation in the body. Because it is not too invasive, it is safe, and it stays effective, with this study stating, “Benefit was maintained over the 40-week study period in patients receiving spa- exercise therapy” (Van de Linden, 2002, p. s-63).

There are always risks associated with every medical and holistic treatment. When considering the nursing intervention of using temperature and water to help a patient, it must consider that there are always complications that might require other alternatives. There can also be other nursing interventions when it comes to giving a patient a hot blanket, a cold wash cloth, an icepack, or even a warm shower to calm their nerves. There are so many ways that a nurse can use water and its properties to help a patient. Some of the cultural considerations stem from the way that hydrotherapy used to work. People were much more closed off to the ways of others, and therefore some people did not believe it worked because their culture lead them to believe that water was not a healing power. Some people believed the opposite, believing that water was one of the major elements and if patients worked at this therapy, it could heal anything. Some of the cultural beliefs around this could be changed with some patient education.

When it comes to educating the patient about hydrotherapy, it is important to tell all of the risks and benefits, so patients are able to make an informed decision about care. Telling them that it is not to be used with open sores if one is going to be entering a body of water could halt a cause of further infection. Do not continue using if it becomes bothersome or a reaction in the body occurs. Do not combine therapies without talking to the healthcare provider first. When considering hydrotherapy as an option it is important to seek all the options. If one is the healthcare provider, consider the cleanliness of the environment for the patient (CDC, 2016). Make sure that patients are able to handle the therapy, and that if they experience a side effect, the patient is able to heal from it. Educating the patient is crucial because hydrotherapy may not be for everyone.

When dealing with all the possible therapies that are available to patients, all options must be considered. Hydrotherapy is one of those options that allows people to be able to take their own health partially into their own hands. Because there are so many different types of this therapy, people are also able to touch the surface or dive deep into the treatment. It is also a beneficial treatment because it can be done at home, in an office, with or without a supervisor, and with different forms as to conform to each patient individually.

REFERENCES:

1. CDC. (2016, May 04). Recommendations for Hydrotherapy Tanks. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.cdc.gov/healthywater/swimming/aquatics-professionals/hydrotherapy-tank-pool-operation.html
2. CNC. (2018). Retrieved September 30, 2018, from https://nursing.uiowa.edu/cncce/nursing-interventions-classification-overview
3. Geytenbeek, J. (2002, September). Evidence for Effective Hydrotherapy. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://waterbirth.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Geytenbeek-Evidence-for-Effective-Hydrotherapy.pdf
4. Oeverman, S. (2009, May 19). Why Aquatic Therapy. Retrieved September 26, 2018, from https://www.brainline.org/article/why-aquatic-therapy
5. Pizzorno, J. E., & Murray, M. T. (2013). Textbook of Natural Medicine (4th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier/Saunders.
6. Van der Linden, S., Van Tubergen, A., & Hidding, A. (2002). Physiotherapy in ankylosing spondylitis: What is the evidence ? Retrieved September 26, 2018, from http://www.clinexprheumatol.org/article.asp?a=1463