Benefits
The use of hydrotherapy applications in both wellness and health care spas increases clients’ enjoyment of sessions, offers soothing comfort, ensures that clients stay warm, and provides a useful means of empowering clients to manage many conditions through self-care practices.
A recent study suggests that feelings of warmth are associated with a sense of relaxation and well-being. Researchers have found that sensations of warmth alter neural circuits controlling cognitive function and mood, influencing serotonin levels. So, whether you are lying on a warm beach in the Caribbean, sitting in a sauna or hot bath, or even working up a sweat through exercise, your brain chemistry changes and your mood is enhanced.(7)
Many clients begin to feel cold as a spa session progresses. A warm hydrocollator pack on the feet or low back can warm the client and increase the client’s enjoyment of the session. A hydrotherapy tub immersion (bath) with soothing additives such as essential oils or herbs after a massage or body wrap boosts the benefits of the treatment and prolongs the pleasure the client experienced during the session. At the same time, dead skin cells desquamated during the massage or body wrap and impurities released from the skin are removed, leaving the client feeling clean and revitalized.
In both wellness and health care spas, therapists often suggest that clients use hydrotherapy applications at home for self-care. Use of hot packs on tight shoulder muscles at the end of a workday can help the client maintain the lengthening effects achieved through a massage session. Regular Epsom salt baths help reduce stress, decrease muscle soreness, and improve sleep. Cold packs are applied during the early stages of inflammation to reduce swelling and heat in the tissue and speed the healing process. The simple act of taking a warm bath at night can serve as part of a stress reduction regimen. These general benefits complement the significant physiological and psychological effects of hydrotherapy applications.