(Water on the Outside -Water Treatments)

“Go and wash in the river seven times, and your flesh shall be restored to you and you shall be clean.” (2 Kings 5:10)

History of Bathing

Just as drinking water cleanses the internal organs of the body, so water can keep the outside of the body cleansed. As we wash our hands to clean them, so washing the rest of the body cleanses it and keeps it from becoming diseased. The value of water in preventing disease was recognized by ancient peoples; baths were used then to a far greater extent than in modern times.

Moses taught the children of Israel to be meticulously clean, and Mohammed ordered his people to bathe before each of their five daily prayers. And so we have the saying, “cleanliness is next to godliness.”

The Greeks regarded the bath as a very essential means of securing physical health. Daily baths were practiced by them, from the youngest to the oldest. The Romans also made the bath a luxury.

During the dark ages in Europe, the bath was unknown. Michelet, a noteworthy historian, tells us that in his opinion, this accounted for the terrible plagues and pestilences of that period. Many were afraid to use one of God’s greatest blessings - pure water - because they never experienced its beneficial effects.

Example of Hydrotherapy: Heating Throat Compress

Sore throats are a common ailment that can be easily treated with hydrotherapy. A simple heating throat compress will increase the circulation to the throat, speed healing, and help to alleviate the discomfort.

Supplies:

1. One thin strip of cotton cloth, just long enough to wrap once around the throat. (A strip of cotton sheet or a man’s handkerchief are just right.)
2. A wool strip of cloth wide enough to extend 1/2 inch above and below the cotton fabric strip and long enough to overlap itself for pinning. (A large wool sock works acceptably.)
3. One or two safety pins.
4. Cold tap water.
5. Towel and wash cloth.

Procedure:

1. Explain the process to the person with the sore throat.
2. Wet the cotton fabric in cold water, and wring out tightly.
3. Wrap it around the throat securely but not tightly! Be sure ends overlap a couple of inches.
4. Next, wrap the wool strip around the throat, completely covering the wet cotton strip. Over lap it at least two inches if possible.
5. Secure the wool strip with the safety pin(s). Be sure to place your fingers under the wool strip so as not to stick the person’s neck when pinning.
6. Leave in place several hours, or sleep with it in place overnight. (It is often good to sleep during this treatment.
7. In the morning (or after a period of time), remove the compress in the bathroom. Immedi ately rub the neck briskly with a cold, wet washcloth. (This helps to close the pores of the skin.) Pat the neck dry. This procedure draws the blood (white blood cells) to the throat and enables the body to recover more quickly. It is also soothing and helps eliminate discomfort. The next time you get a sore throat, instead of rushing to the drug store for some medication, why not use a heating throat compress? It really works! (NOTE: There are many other ailments that hydrotherapy helps.)
   

The external use of water for both the sustenance and rejuvenation of health is one of the oldest remedies known. The scriptures contain a number of accounts of healing in which water was involved, and down through the centuries since Roman times, we find different baths were prescribed by physicians for various ailments with hospitals often being built near natural mineral springs, giving rise to what is know today as a spa, which literally means “mineral springs.” During the latter 1880’s Wilhelm Wintermitz of Vienna and J. H. Kellogg, one of his pupils, established hydrotherapy as a scientifically applied and effective medicine. In Battle Creek, Michigan, Kellogg expanded the use of hydrotherapy, a core of nurses was trained in its skillful application, and remarkable results were achieved.

If hydrotherapy was so incredibly successful back then, why doesn’t it enjoy a wide usage now? With the introduction of many new drug medications for the treatment of infectious diseases, degenerative disorders, and emotional disturbances, it was found that it was much simpler, easier, and seemingly more effective to administer these agents than to skillfully administer laborious and time-consuming treatments which often required much patience when it came to achieving results. But, in the long run, are drugs really as safe and effective as hydrotherapy? Is its reduced use really justified, and is it outdated in the field of medicine? Are we in a safe position to largely discard the oldest medicine known? Before we answer this, let’s learn a few basic things about water and how it works.

Cold water applied appropriately to the skin of a fevered patient can withdraw heat from the body as a whole. Controlled steam, such as that given off by moist hot packs, can contribute heat. One reason water is so useful is because it can hold and transport a tremendous amount of heat. For this reason, it is extremely valuable to the body for heating and cooling the skin of different areas, and as a result of nerve reactions, can also be used to treat internal organs by affecting the blood flow to them.

Heat, which may be applied by fomentations, cause dilation or enlargement of the blood vessels of the area it is applied to. This in turn increases the blood circulation inside the specific internal organs linked to that area by the nerves, which cause the blood vessels inside the organs to also enlarge, dramatically increasing the blood supply to it with a generous supply of germ fighting white blood cells, nutrients, and oxygen. The ice or cold water applied right afterward can constrict the vessels in those organs, squeezing out all that blood loaded with disease and waste so it can go scooting back to the heart and lungs to be cleansed and revived.

Many techniques have been devised and equipment invented, to optimally apply water in hydrotherapy treatments. There are specific procedures such as hot baths, cooling sponge applications, contrast baths, wet sheet packs, steam inhalations, compresses, douche massage, and pool therapy for rehabilitation. Naturally, any procedure inducing physiological changes in body processes must be used with caution appropriate to the condition of the patient.

Certainly we can see that water, the oldest remedy known to man, is still scientific and up-to- date. It may be used for healing in elaborate and sophisticated ways, or simple treatments may be effective given the most primitive setting. Far from being discarded, this bounty of nature may still be used with success.