Contrast Hydrotherapy
What is it, how is it beneficial, and to whom?
Contrast Hydrotherapy is often used in physical therapy. It is the process of using hot and cold water, alternating the two every couple of minutes. This technique is beneficial for joint pain, swelling, repetitive motions, carpel tunnel, tennis elbow, and other similar issues. The practice of Contrast Hydrotherapy has been used for hundreds of years in homeopathic modalities and by Native Americans.
How is Contract Hydrotherapy Beneficial?
When you apply cold water to your body, your body constricts and pulls the blood to a deeper level within your body to help keep your body temperature stable and prevent hypothermia. When you are hot everything expands and blood moves out toward the skin, and you begin to sweat. The process of alternating hot and cold hydrotherapy helps move the lymphatic system and speed up production of white blood cells. By using contrast hydrotherapy, it also helps improve mitochondrial function within the body.
Hot water- heat in general, relaxes our muscles, thus allowing muscles to stretch easier. Heat reduces fatigue and relieves headaches because it allows for the expansion of the capillaries, resulting in better blood flow. Heat also reduces puffiness of the eyes, eases anxiety by calming the nervous system, relieves congestion in the nasal passages, helps remove toxins through sweating and cleanses our pores. This is why saunas, especially Infared saunas, offer many benefits for most people.
In contrast, cold water stimulates the immune system and because of this, it helps prevent illnesses, increases alertness-giving your body a boost of energy, stimulates your own anti-depressants (like norepinephrine), tightens the skin, and can also help prevent hair loss.
Who does not typically benefit from Cold therapy?
For individuals with adrenal fatigue, those who routinely deal with being in a sympathetic/catabolic state, and those who are prone to high anxiety, often feel worse after contrast hydrotherapy. This is due to the extra stimulation on the nervous system. When a person deals with being in a heightened state of awareness (sympathetic/catabolic) more often than not, you do not want to stimulate the nervous system even more. For this type of individual, it is important to calm the nervous system, allowing it to rest. People that are characterized as having a ectomorph/Vatta body type, benefit more from hot showers and baths.
This is not to say that someone of this type should never do contrast hydrotherapy, but that they should do so sparingly and only when absolutely needed.
Using Contrast Hydrotherapy at Home
If you have carpel tunnel, joint pain, etc., as mentioned above, you can do contrast hydrotherapy from the comfort of your own home. If you have a heating pad and a sink, you’re ready to go! Grab your heating pad, then fill up your bathroom sink or kitchen sink with cold water and add some ice cubes. You will want to apply heat for about 2 minutes, then soak in the ice-cold water for about 1 minute, alternating between the two 5 times in one sitting, ending the final round with cold.
Resources:
Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body - PMC (nih.gov)
Contrast bath therapy - Benefits, Indication, Contraindication (mobilephysiotherapyclinic.in)
The benefits of hydrotherapy to patients with spinal cord injuries - PMC (nih.gov)
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