Hydro Therapy - Aqautic Therapy for Pain Relief and Exercise

Benefits of Hydro Therapy

Hydro Therapy is simply the use of warm water to help us relax or exercise or both. Hot Tubs, Swimming Pools, Therapy Pools, and even your Home Bathtub can serve as appropriate vehicles for this purpose. Today’s “Hot Tub” contains dozens of jets that can feel wonderful and allow us to release muscle tension and relax. You may have a high end “Whirlpool Tub” or built in Home Spa. Larger bodies of warm water allow us to move from relaxation into exercise, stretching and strengthening. So while passive relaxation has it’s benefit, if you can, try and find a warm water pool large enough to exercise in. Ideally the pool will be no deeper than mid chest level to the bottom of your neck (48″ to 52″) is just about right.

If a pool is too deep it can be dangerous should you become ill. If a pool is too shallow you won’t receive the full benefits of flotation and buoyancy. Water allows us to exercise without stressing the joints. As muscles relax and the forces of gravity are lessened we can enjoy stretching that would not otherwise be possible. An ideal temperature for exercise is 84 to 90 degrees. Much warmer and you’ll become uncomfortable with your movements and begin to sweat a lot. For just relaxation 100 to 102 degrees is wonderful. When the water temperature drops below body temperature and we are not moving it becomes uncomfortable, and water over 104 degrees is very dangerous to our bodies. In fact if your water temperature is above body temperature you should limit your sessions to 20 minutes. Water 104 degrees and higher for periods longer than 20 minutes can damage your internal organs.

Warm water can really help to reduce your stress levels. Often Hydro Therapy is combined with aroma therapy and music to complete the relaxation. It’s hard not to just relax when the pressure is taken off your injury. It’s like an anti-gravity experience where we become weightless.

Some Spas contain special “Neck jets” or “Lumbar jets” that just melt (at least temporarily) away your pain. The warm water dilates the blood vessels promoting healing, and a 20 minute session will help you fall asleep faster

Caveats: You’re skin is an organ and will absorb chemicals in water so ask your dealer about the least chemical solution to keeping the water pure and clean. Tubs will make you sweat and release toxins in the water so be sure to keep your Spa’s water clean. Do not exceed 20 minutes in water over 104 degrees (The limit at which you can set the Spa’s) as your internal proteins will start to cook! If the water feels too hot turn it down, anything over body temperature will make you sweat. Ask your Physician about Hydro Therapy for your condition. Hydro Therapy will not “cure” your condition, but it can go a long ways to making your pain more tolerable and will aid in your recovery most of the time. If prescribed by your Physician you may be able to deduct the expense of a Hydro Therapy Solution from your personal taxes.

Note: Not everyone is comfortable in water. Some people never learn to swim as youngsters, this is okay. That’s why we recommend to find a pool that is not too deep. Find a partner to go with you. Swimming and splashing is fun! Enjoy yourself.

Tips on Purchasing a Hot Tub

There are so many brands available and Hot Tub dealers come and go. Find a local dealer that has been in business a long time with an established track record. The tub is important, but even more important is the warranty and service for that warranty. Tubs require maintenance, you’ll need a source for chemicals. Pumps break, control panels break. Just like purchasing an automobile - think about the “Total Cost of Ownership” not just the up front cost. Be sure to “Wet Test” the tub before you buy! Wet testing is essential, because the tubs feel completely different with and without water. Wet testing means taking your swimsuit to the dealer and sitting in the tub for 10 or 15 minutes. Make sure you can control the jets, make sure the jets are not so powerful that they blow you out of your seat. Try all the seat positions to be sure they are comfortable to your body.

Arthritis Treatment - Research and Options

Drugs do NOT cure Arthritis and may have dangerous side effects. Consider researching alternative anti inflammatory supplements like Glucosamine and Chondroitin for Osteoarthritis and studying the work of Dr. Theo for Rheumatoid Arthritis and other arthritis conditions. Nature offers healing modalities just as powerful as drugs without the side effects. Please understand I know pain and suffering (I have severe Osteoarthritis in my cervical spine). I am not suggesting you cold turkey stop medications. Just phase in natural treatments and phase out or lower your use of drugs for the treatment of arthritis. There is a clinical study showing Ibuprofen actually causes more damage to the cartilage in joints over time. I wish I could reference this study, but like the 1,000’s of other studies I’ve read I can not remember or cite them all.

Arthritis is a Serious Treatable (But so far Incurable) Condition

Before I jump the gun and address alternative therapy I’d like to at least offer a more official (not necessarily better) link to a respected and often quoted resource The Arthritis Foundation.

I have used both Glucosamine alone and Chondroitin from several manufacturers to help treat my neck condition. Unfortunately for me I have noticed little if any effect. I tried 3 brands for several months. My Physiatrist suggested in the research he has read that it works better in larger joints than smaller joints. I have nothing to back this statement up. For me the last brand I used (and I am not suggesting this is more effective than other brands - I just believe it might be) was CosaminDS. Supposedly CosaminDS has the same molecular size nutrients as your body produces naturally and is more bio-available. I also read several clinical studies which used this particular brand and had shown positive results.

Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis is the most common type of arthritis affecting about 5% of the USA population. Osteoarthritis usually rears it’s ugly head in middle aged and older people. Supposedly a noninflammatory (I personally question if osteoarthritis is truly noninflammatory) degenerative joint disease characterized by the breakdown of the joint’s cartilage. Cartilage cushions the bones, eventually allowing the bones to grind or rub together and causing pain and stiffness. A common area of occurrence is in the hip joint and cervical spine. The exact cause of osteoarthritis is not known. Symptoms include joint pain or aching (often after exercise or periods of pressure on weight-bearing joints) and limited or eventual loss of range of motion. This is the condition in my neck. Many physicians refer to it as “wear and tear” as the result of growing old. That’s a cop out - osteoarthritis is much more than simple wear and tear. It’s degeneration of the cartilage in the joint as a result of poor nutrition, poor posture, and poor lifestyle choices. It’s the result of overuse all right but with proper nutrition, bed rest and posture it can be avoided to a large extent. I will write more on this later when I have more time.

What about NASIDS or Cox2 Inhibitors

I have a somewhat negative reaction to a simple naturally occurring sugar like Glucosamine in my stomach. I have horrible reactions to Ibuprofen (Probably the most popular and most prescribed NASID). So from my perspective the more natural and less pharmaceutical the solution the better. You can always take drugs later if you feel the more natural solution is not working for you. Just look at what happened to Celebrex and other Cox2 Inhibitors and the devastating effects and even death they caused. To my knowledge no one has died from taking 1500mg or less of Glucosamine. There are also other naturally occurring substances which may be beneficial in reducing pain and inflammation caused by arthritis. I will let an expert cover those for you in the next section.

My experience with Dr. Theo author of “The Arthritis Cure”

I wrote Dr. Theo for help with my neck condition, and yes he wrote back. I will finish my story about my experience with Dr. Theo in another post another time. For now please visit his site for more information that may help you tame your arthritis. Even Dr. Theo will tell you there is no cure, but there is help and it doesn’t have to come at the expense of your liver or kidneys.

I will also relate to you a case study where a 58 year old man with a herniated lumbar disc took CosaminDS in a clinical study and his disc resorped and not only did it heal itself but there was actually more fluid than before the injury. Weird, amazing? Almost sounds impossible but the doctors had verifiable MRI film to prove it. He was on the natural supplement for a 2 year period.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Pain Relief

Rheumatoid arthritis occurs when the Synovium becomes irritated and thickened. Synovium is the name given to the soft tissue which lines the non-cartilaginous surfaces within joints with cavities. The word synovium comes from a Latin word meaning “with egg,” because the synovial fluid in joints that have a cavity between the bearing surfaces is like egg white. This irritation or inflammation of the Synovium causes chemicals to be released that damage the cartilage and bone of the affected joint. This leads to inflammation of the synovium causing pain and swelling.

While researching my own osteoarthritis problems I came across DoctorYourself.com a site authored by Non Traditional PhD “Doctor” Andrew Saul. There is a very interesting case study on his site about a woman with severe crippling Reumatoid Arthritis who was “cured” (Yes I use this word only in the generic sense as the FDA will come down on you hard for making any kind of claim - true or not - without a $500 million study to back it up). Anyhow this woman had advanced Rheumatoid Arthritis and was ready to die when she met Dr. Saul. For those of you who are still reading and have not yet left to visit his site he is a Nutritional Guru with emphasis on Vitamin C and once taught Nutrition at a well known east coast Chiropractic College. Dr. Saul put the woman on a diet of fresh vegetable juices and got her off all packaged foods and her arthritis cleared itself after a year. You don’t have to believe this, but if you are suffering and have done all the drug therapies you owe it to yourself to try. You can read my review of the Omega 8003 Juicer and the Champion Juicer (I own both) on the Products Page. We do not sell this product and make no commission from listing these juicers here on Health Synergy Rx.