What is Constitutional Hydrotherapy?
Perhaps the most powerful and useful of all hydrotherapy treatments, the constitutional is a special technique that can greatly improve recovery from a wide variety of acute and chronic illnesses. Constitutional hydrotherapy is a treatment that uses hot and cold applications with low-volt electrical sine-wave stimulation.
It has been used countless time by many naturopaths as part of a treatment plan for such conditions as cancer, AIDS, arthritis, fibromyalgia, heart disease, migraines, environmental toxicity, and many others. This treatment is helpful in any case where detoxification, immune stimulation, and digestion enhancement are needed.
Constitutional hydrotherapy is used to increase the delivery of oxygen, nutrients and immune system elements tot the major organs of the body. At the same time, it speeds the removal of metabolic wastes, inflammatory substances, and environmental toxins by enhancing venous and lymphatic flow away from the major organs.
This treatment is best when prescribed by a trained physician, who is well versed in the theory and practice of naturopathic hydrotherapy.
However, a modification of the treatment, which is still very powerful, can be performed by yourself, or with the help of someone else, in your home. The instructions for this home version are as follows.
Directions:
- While lying on your back, cover the bared chest and abdomen with two thicknesses of a terrycloth towel wrung out in hot water that is tolerable to touch. Cover the entire body with a wool or Velux blanket. Leave the hot towels in place for five minutes.
- Replace the hot towels with a single thickness of towel wrung out in cold water. Cover again with wool or Velux blanket. Leave cold towel in place for 10 minutes. DO NOT remove the towel until it becomes warm, or 12 minutes have gone by. If the towel is not warmed within 12 minutes, remove it.
- Roll over and repeat the same treatment on the back.
- The treatment should take about a half hour.
- If you have no one to help you, please follow these directions: Take a hot shower for five minutes. Get out and dry quickly. Take a towel wrung out in cold water and wrap it all around the trunk of the body, from armpit to groin. Cover entire body with wool or Velux blanket. Leave cold towel in place for at least 20 minutes, or longer, until the towel is warmed up.
The constitutional hydrotherapy treatment will help with digestion, stress relief and depression.
By Daniel H. Chong, N.D.