Publish Date: Sept 5, 2016 10:26 am

Hydrotherapy works on the body two ways: thermally and mechanically. Thermal hydrotherapy means that the temperature of the water plays a role in how chemical reactions take place in your body, and thereby affect injuries or ailments. Mechanical hydrotherapy means that the pressure of water pushing against your skin or tissue, or the sensation of water moving across you skin causes certain reactions in your skin and tissue and effects the way your body reacts to injuries or ailments. Some hydrotherapies make use of both types. Some rely on just one or the other.

Types of Hydrotherapy

Warm Water Hydrotherapy

Hot or warm water baths or soaks result in changes in your body that help lessen pain or discomfort and help accelerate your body’s natural healing processes. Specifically, warm or hot baths cause your capillaries (the smallest blood vessels closest to your tissues) to open up and become larger, which results in increased blood flow and improved circulation. This increased blood flow oxygenates your tissues more fully and removes toxins more efficiently, thereby improving the efficiency of the natural healing process.

When your body is in a warm environment, it redirects blood flow to your skin and extremities in order to stay cool and drop its core temperature. When this happens, the blood flow decreases to your internal organs, and they slow down their operation. This can lead to a decrease in pain associated with the functioning of these organs. Heat also stimulates the immune system and increases the production of beneficial hormones that help calm and relax the body and keep it operating smoothly. Breathing ailments like asthma, bronchitis and emphysema benefit from the moist, hot air that rises off a warm bath, because it helps open up congested or restricted airways in the sinuses, bronchus and lungs and reduces the potency of allergens in the air.

Cold Water Hydrotherapy

Cold water soaks or baths also result in changes in your body that can lead to the relief of symptoms, but they work the opposite way of warm soaks or baths. Cold water causes your capillaries to constrict and become smaller, which results in decreased blood flow and decreased circulation to tissues and extremities. Decreased blood flow lessens the severity of inflammatory reactions in tissues, like the swelling associated with an injury. A reduction in swelling results in less pressure on the nerves located in and around an injured area, so the nerves themselves are less irritated and less sensitive to touch and pressure. This relieves overall pain and discomfort.

Cold water triggers your body to decrease the flow of blood to your skin and extremities and increases the flow of blood to your internal organs so it can maintain a consistent core temperature. Ailments that benefit from increased blood flow to the internal organs will benefit from cold soaks. However, because of the hypothermic risks, especially in elderly patients, it should only be used under the recommendation and supervision of a medical professional.