In this blog, I cite a recent study in the North American Journal of Medical Sciences titled, “Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body,” in which many of the claims I’ve previously made about Medical Hydrotherapy® are confirmed by a respected scientific journal.
For many years, decades, in fact, I’ve been an evangelist for Medical Hydrotherapy®. I’ve even gone so far as to make the term, “Medical Hydrotherapy®,” a registered trademark of Bentley Baths.
I’m now very proud to say that many of my own conclusions about the efficacy and safety of such treatments for people of all ages have been confirmed by a respected scientific journal.
In “Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body” in the North American Journal of Medical Sciences (N Am J Med Sci. 2014 May; 6(5): 199–209. doi: 10.4103/1947-2714.132935, PMCID: PMC4049052), Dr. A Mooventhan, L Nivethitha, and their respective research teams independently reviewed the relevant articles in English literature published from 1986-2012 concerning the “effects of hydrotherapy/balneotherapy” on various systems of the body.
Based on the available literature, this review “suggests that hydrotherapy has a scientific evidence-based effect on various systems of the body.”
As stated in the introduction of this article, “The use of water for various treatments (hydrotherapy) is probably as old as mankind.
Hydrotherapy is one of the basic methods of treatment widely used in the system of natural medicine… (and can) can produce different effects on different system of the body.”
The authors concluded (among many other things) that hydrotherapy can decrease tension, fatigue, memory, and mood negative state points; significantly increase vigor-activity scores; relieve pain suffered from rheumatism, fibromyalgia, or asthma; and improve general well-being.
In terms of the cardiovascular system alone, hydrotherapy can reduce free radical plasma levels, raise antioxidant levels, induce peripheral vasodilatation (which in turn can lead to an improvement in microcirculation); decrease tympanic temperature; and increase cutaneous blood flow.
Hydrotherapy may also reduce most of the indirect markers of exercise-induced muscle damage, including muscle soreness, creatine kinase activity in the blood, maximal voluntary contraction force, and jump height.
The takeaway here is that Medical Hydrotherapy® does help alleviate a multitude of ailments at all ages.
Any of our walk-in bathtubs can be outfitted with this (and other) therapies, so call before you fall!
For more information about this and all of our other products, please don’t hesitate to call us at 303-388-8887 or email me personally at George@BentleyBaths.com.
Stay tuned for the next installment of the Bentley Baths blog, in which I continue the discussion of cutting-edge techniques that are used to help rejuvenate both body and mind as we age.
