Steam Shower and Spa Resource

Kneipp’s Water Healing History, Philosophy, & Tradition

As mentioned briefly in a previous blog, Father Sebastian Kneipp, a poor Bavarian with the dream of becoming a priest developed a popular water treatment program and tradition leading to healings, books, and an international association. As a child, Kneipp learned his father’s weaving trade, but his priestly aspirations led him to Munich University at the age of 27 to study theology.

After five wearing years of study he became too ill from pulmonary tuberculosis to carry on as treatment for this illness was not available and often met with certain death. In Kneipp’s desperate search to heal himself he came across an 18^th century book written by Sigmund Hahn entitled Cold Water Treatments. Kneipp became fascinated with the healing ideas presented in this book and began to develop a treatment system for himself.

Stationed in, Woerishofen (close to Munich), a small Bavarian village, Kneipp perfected his water treatment program and assisted thousands of poor individuals for free who had little if any access to medical care. Not much unlike today. Over the course of time he integrated various applications to his water cure including various water temperatures, herbs, steam, clay, wrappings, simple healthy foods, prayer, exercise, and so forth.

As he worked with more and more people, he astutely diagnosis medical problems and developed individualized treatment programs. Kneipp’s success drew the attention of medical professionals from all over and the once small town of Woerishofen is now the world’s première spa destination. Today, Germany’s medical insurance program recognizes and covers spa treatments up to 3 or 4 weeks when prescribed by Physicians for various ailments.

                Kneipp’s healing methodology has five principals to understand, perform, and benefit from. The central concept of Kneipp’s holistic approach is a balanced, synergistic, and harmonious emotional, spiritual, and physical lifestyle built on nature’s gifts.

1.    Hydrotherapy-the use of water applied in various fashions including hot baths, steam, cold/hot water alternating temperature treatments, wet bandages, foot bathes, water stepping, drinking water, and so on. Please refer below to the link with samples of Kneipp’s techniques.

2.    Kinesitherapy- the use of regular massage, movement, and preferable outdoor exercise.

3.    Phytotherapy – the use of herbs, essential oils, plants, tree, seaweed, and so on in massage, steam baths, teas, etc.

4.    Nutrition – a balanced whole foods diet crafted to your metabolisms needs.

5.    Lifestyle – an emotionally and spiritually balanced life incorporating these five principals as listed here.

For a more in-depth look at Kneipp’s 5 principals please click here.

Resources

·         The Healing Power of Water written by Dr. Reinhard Bergel provides you with a few of the water treatment processes. To access the article click here

·         To visit Woerishofen where Kneipp perfected his water cures click here for more information.

·         To visit the Kneipp Museum click here.

·         The International Kneipp Association started by Kneipp in 1894 click here.

·         My Water Cure (Published in 1894) by Sebastian Kneipp

·         The Natures Garden of Sebastian Kneipp by Dr. Hans Horst Frohlich

·         Healing with Water-Kneipp Hydrotherapy at Home by Giselle Roeder 

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Understanding Deep Vein Thrombosis

There is a common and preventable problem involving your circulatory system which claims more lives than Aids and Breast Cancer combined each year, According to DVT.net, and you may be at risk.  Deep veins inside the calf or thigh utilize the strength of the muscles surrounding them to pump blood rapidly back to the heart.  However, when blood flow is stagnate or allowed to pool due to inactivity which could be as simple as sitting for too long on a plane or car ride or sitting at a desk during the day and being sedentary at night.  Injury to blood vessels or injuries which lead to immobility and/or hospitalization may be equally lethal. 

Other risk factors include obesity, smoking, cancer, inherited blood clot disorders as well as inflections and inflammatory diseases. While most cases of death from DVT happens to persons 60 years and older it can strike anyone at any age if any of the above risk factors are included in a personal or medical history.

Regular Infrared Sauna Therapy not only promotes a healthy immune system but also penetrates and manipulates soft tissue keeping blood flowing through out the entire body.  While enjoying all the other benefits offered by Far Infrared Saunas you may also significantly reduce your chances of encountering DVT during your lifetime.   

            For a complete and informative list of symptoms and signs of DVT please visit www.dvt.net to check to see if you’re at risk.  While upwards of 50% of all cases of Deep Vein Thrombosis go without warning symptoms completely or simply not enough to make the person take notice and seek medical advice, it is still possible to safe-guard yourself from DVT by taking measures to make sure you are constantly keeping your circulation, circulating.   

Hot Water Healing (Part 2)

The previous blog I wrote on cold water healing provided me a new technique to help with waking up in the morning, which is no easy task. For the past four mornings, I have started bathing in warm/hot water and ended with a cold shower, which is quit a shocker at 6:30 in the morning. I will say however that I have been much more alert and my muscles haven’t felt as weighted down as they normally do. It is like drinking a cup of coffee. Now let’s turn to hot/warm water bathing to explore its health and healing benefits.

Ancient civilizations recognized the numerous health benefits of bathing. The father of medicine, Hippocrates, a fourth century BC Greek Physician recommended bathing for its therapeutic benefits and treatment of various illnesses. Rome, Greece, Japan, and other great cultures built extensive bath facilities utilizing them up to three times a day. Roman bath houses were central to daily life and the gathering place for community news updates. Have we become too busy, bought in to marketed medicine, or simply just uninformed that we have fallen away from historically effective healing practices? Let’s take a look at the therapeutic benefits of hot water therapy. Hot baths are calming, relaxing, and eases a myriad of health concerns from muscular pain to healing wounds.

There are a number of groups, organizations, and societies who recommend and treat those suffering from various illnesses with hot water bathing. The chief function of hot water bathing is to stimulate blood circulation nourishing and healing tissue as well as removing harmful toxins from the body. The following are reports on illnesses aided with hot water therapy.

Pressure Ulcers

An article written by Teresa Miller published in Physical Therapy reports on a collaborative hospital research project finding “daily use of whirlpool treatment along with conservative treatment improved the healing rate of pressure ulcers.”

Child Birth & Labor: Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania Health System reviewed the use of hydrotherapy during labor and reported its effectiveness to low risk women as a safe nonpharmacological alternative to cope with labor pains. Their findings reveal several other benefits including “increased relaxation, increased satisfaction, lower blood pressure, and increased diuresis with women who bathe during labor.”-Marilyn Stringer PhD, CRNP, RDMS, Lisa Hanes RN, MSN, CNM (1999) Hydrotherapy Use During Labor: An Integrative Review Worldviews on Evidence-Based Nursing e6 (1), 3–9. doi:10.1111/j.1524-475X.1999.00003.x

Lower back pain: A website for Spine Professional reports heat therapy like taking a hot bath is an effective and inexpensive treatment for those suffering from lower back pain. Check out their treatment recommendations by clicking here.

Menstruation: An article published by the Mayo Clinic on menstruation recommends hot water baths for easing discomfort.

Night Leg Cramps: Ohio Health recommends several treatment options for those who experience leg cramps at night including taking a hot bath. For more information on what causes leg cramps and how you can prevent them click here

Other Ailments: Muscle strain/spasms; hemorrhoids; arthritis; chronic rheumatic manifestations in joints, fibrous tissue, and muscles; colic in the gastric, intestinal, gall bladder, or urinary tracts; slight increase in metabolism; colds/flu; anxiety/stress; and so on click below

·         Women’s Health Care Topic Article

·         50plus Article

·         Readers Digest Article

That wraps up today's hot water blog. For a good deal on Hydrotherapy products please check out Mybath.biz for all your needs.

Burr: Cold Water Healing (Part 1)

As mentioned briefly in an earlier blog, Having Trouble Sleeping, hydrotherapy can help with sleep. Today were going to explore how water temperatures can help your body with various other conditions. Many of us shower or bath rather quickly either in the morning or in the evening just for the simple task of cleaning ourselves. However, water can be used for so much more and with a little information we can all take advantage of the healing, soothing, and healthy properties of water.

Water is an instrument stimulating chemical and mechanical reactions in our body. Water temperatures can affect the flow of blood and thereby affect our blood pressure and circulation. Knowing how to use water’s capabilities effectively can help with muscle stiffness, hot flashes, wake/sleep cycles, and various other concerns. Let’s first take a look at the application of cold water.

If you’re having trouble staying wake in a company meeting or listening to a rambling friend try taking a break and putting your wrists under or submerging you arms up to your elbows in cold water for a few minutes. This simple process can reinvigorate you and is as effective as drinking a cup of coffee according to Giselle Roeder writer for Alive Magazine. Roeder also recommends filling the bath tub with cold water and lifting each leg in and out of the water for several minutes to help with hot flashes, muscle soreness, and sleep.

Cold water has been used throughout the centuries to help boost immune system functioning. One well known example is Father Sebastian Kneipp, a promoter of hydrotherapy in the 1800’s, who suffered from Tuberculosis which went into remission when he began taking dips several times a week in the icy Danube River. Cold water bathing has also been found helpful for itchy skin, sunburn, asthma, stimulating metabolism, and increasing sperm counts. Cold water stimulates your body, boosts your immune system, and invigorates your whole being.

Part 2 will explore the benefits of warm/hot water bathing.

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Alternative therapies for Arthritis

    Arthritis affects more than 23 million people in the United States according to the American Arthritis Foundation; only factoring in three main types of Arthritis- Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis and Juvenile Arthritis -not including a multitude of related or associated symptoms and disorders.      Traditional Western Medicine has many therapies which include prescription medicine and home treatments such as electric heating pads, warm compresses and alternating ice packs and gold compresses to treat pain which is more sharp and/or intense.
    Alternative therapies which may provide greater relief for those with Arthritis are available.  Some of the treatments- such as those centered around Hydrotherapy -are treatments for the symptoms with the addition of the use of water at specific temperatures to make better and already effective and established treatment of Arthritis. 
    According to John Abruzzo, M.D., director of the Rheumatology and Osteoporosis Center at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia Osteoarthritis patients receive  "better results with moist warm treatments such as moist heat packs, than with dry applications such as electric heating pads."  Heating a body of water to approximately 85 degrees Fahrenheit can be more effective  so long as the the affected part of the body is immersed in the water.  It is also suggested to participate in water activities such as wading, swimming and wading to maximize the therapeutic effects of Hydrotherapy on the symptoms of Arthritis. 
    An estimated 85% of Dr. (PhD.) Eve Campanelli's patients- a holistic practitioner in California -achieve partial relief from two glasses of Black Cherry Juice everyday.  Massage is an option which provides relief for many Arthritis sufferer's according to the American Massage Therapy Association.  And stretch based relaxation for 20 minutes twice a day can can help manage arthritic pain, according to a professor of psychology, Charles Carlson, Ph.D at the University of Kentucky. 
    Please visit the American Arthritis Association for more information or contact your primary care physician if you believe your Arthritic condition is not improved by any of the suggestions proposed by the above cited doctors and experts. 
   

Do You Having Trouble Sleeping?

Ah, sleep the cherished prize at the end of a hard day of work and play. This mentally and physically restful state refreshes our minds and rejuvenates our bodies to begin anew. The importance of this seemingly innocent endeavor is paramount when we discuss its affects on health and well-being. Some of us tend to have no problem falling asleep at the end of the day while others of us struggle night after night, which can lead to some serious health conditions like obesity, depression, heart disease, and diabetes to name a few.

The National Sleep Foundation (NSF) reports while insomnia is linked to health, mood, cognitive performance, and memory problems, sleeplessness is under-recognized and therefore not often discussed by physicians and patients alike. This is not cool as there are more than 40 million people suffering with chronic sleep disorders as well as 30 million more with occasional sleep problems in the United States according to NSF.

Why is this a concern? Well, the NSF reports sleeplessness costs us around 16 billion dollars a year in medical expenses and billions more in driving accidents, work problems, and social activities. The NSF conducted a 2005 poll of American adult drivers finding 168 million people drove while feeling drowsy in the last year with 103 million reporting they actually feel asleep. Pretty scary when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports, “drowsy driving causes more than 100,000 crashes a year, resulting in 40,000 injuries and 1,550 deaths.” The NHTSA believes the numbers are much higher as driving drowsy is frequently underreported. So what can those of us with insomnia and other sleeping disorders do?

Take action by first consulting with a Sleeping Disorder Physician as there are a few severe sleeping disorders like sleep apnea which may need medical intervention. Several treatment approaches to managing sleep disorders are available which include some life style modifications. A few changes, tweaks, and adjustments to your daily life can aid tremendously in your sleep state. The following suggestions are ways you can help your body, mind, and spirit get the rest it needs to live your best life.

·         Establish a routine daily exercise program, which ends no later than 2-3 hours before bedtime.

·         Eat a wide variety of fresh whole foods including fruits, veggies, fiber, dairy, and meat. Make sure to finish eating approximately 3 hours and drinking liquids 2 hours before bedtime.

·         Reduce/avoid caffeine and alcohol especially close to bedtime. For some individuals, caffeine stays in the body for up to 12 hours.

·         Stop smoking especially close to bedtime as nicotine is a stimulant.

·         Maintain a bedtime and awake time routine as your body’s internal clock functions better.

·         Create a cozy bedroom favorable to sleep which is comfortable, cool, noiseless, and dark. I find a fan blowing in the background helps with periodic noises from outside.

·         Association Technique: If you awake easily during the night or have trouble falling asleep, try getting out of bed and sitting in the other room doing nothing until you become drowse. Also, avoid using your bedroom for watching television, reading, and eating so your mind associates your bedroom with sleep.

·         Progressive Muscle Relaxation Technique: This works well for me and is simply lying in bed, focusing on your breathing, progressively tightening and releasing each muscle group starting with your feet ending with your scalp, and repeating until you drift to sleep. You can also focus on each muscle group going loose and limp as you relax the muscle group.

·         Aromatherapy: Use essential oils as part of your bedtime routine like rubbing on lavender to assist with relaxing.

·         Hydrotherapy: Soaking in hot water an hour or two before bedtime can also help with sleep as hot water can raise the body’s temperature increasing circulation. Taking a hot bath too close to bedtime can actually keep you awake, so make sure to fit in this relaxing activity early in the evening. Check out the new 2008 HydrOasis Hot Tub with 103 Jets available to you from Mybath.biz!

Many of the above suggestions can be found on the NSF’s website by clicking here. Hopefully, these techniques can aid you in getting the sleep your body needs. Thank you for reading the MyBath.biz blog and please send in your questions and comments on this article or topics you would like more information on.

Aromatherapy

In the last year, I’ve been increasingly interested in learning new ways to heal my body’s ailments through non-traditional medicine. I’m not sure about others, but my health insurance seems to continue raising the deductible before they’ll help pay for any medical visit or prescription. The continual increase has set off a desire, not to mention a financial need to look at alternative ways to prevent illness, strengthen cognitive functioning, and stay healthy. Through this process, I’ve cultivated new ways to live a more active, balanced, and healthy lifestyle. The two areas I’ve explored thus far include the benefits of using a Far Infrared Sauna to detoxifying the body and easing muscle pain with hydrotherapy. Now I want to take a look at Aromatherapy, which has always intrigued me.

When I think of Aromatherapy, I smell fresh baked chocolate chip cookies, wild flowers, and a cup of hazelnut coffee, which wake up the senses and sooth my soul. We all like to smell beautiful, fresh, and rich aromas reminding us of life’s pleasantries. So are these aromas therapeutic? Well, more than the psychological comfort favorite scents can provide, not all aromas are created equal. The good news is mounting research like presented in the International Journal of Clinical Aromatherapy suggest essential oils found in plants, trees, shrubs, flowers, and herbs can have therapeutic value for those wrestling with physical or psychological concerns. So how does aromatherapy work?

Aromatherapy utilizes essential oils as mentioned above verses fragrances or perfumes to assist individuals with healing, alertness, relaxation, and other human desires. There are hundreds of essential oil recipes, products, and services to provide one with therapeutic effects. Inhalation and skin application of these essential oils are the two most effective ways to derive the most benefits verses digestion according to Valerie Ann Worwood author of The Complete Book of Essential Oils and Aromatherapy. Some people have these oils massaged into their skin while others allow the oils to permeate the air through steam/heating equipment. Other product options include essential oil salts, lotions, candles, and tablets.

There is a lot of information about aromatherapy on the web. I found the following two links helpful. The first link provides a listing of Research Abstracts on different conditions: http://www6.miami.edu/touch-research/Aromatherapy.htm  The second link provides profiles on about 90 essential oils, which helps to identify the ones needed for specific issues: http://www.aromaweb.com/essentialoils/default.asp

Several of MyBath.biz products offer steam boxes for aromatherapy tablets to be used in conjunction with hydrotherapy in several of our steam showers. The most notable unit using this feature is the Rainforest 78, which is one of our hottest selling items. For more information on this and other MyBath.biz products please check us out. Thank you for choosing MyBath.biz for all your bathroom needs!

Hydrotherapy Inside-Out

    My bath is committed to sustaining the healthy lifestyle of both the readers of our blog entires as well as the people who have chosen to invest in the high quality Rainforest Steam Showers, Far Infrared Saunas, Vanity sets and- as they're being installed all over the U.S. and Canada right now -the brand new HydrOasis Hot Tub.
    It is a well accepted fact inside the health community that it cannot be one thing alone upon which we base our individual states of health.  While our Luxury Steam Showers and Far Infrared Saunas aid in your healthy lifestyle it is imperative that you understand knowledge is the true remedy and your greatest ally in combating disease, deficiencies and illness.
    According to Fereydoon Batmanghelidj, M.D. and author of Your Body's Many Cries for Water, "the parts of the body that suffer the most from a shortage of water are those without direct vascular circulation, especially the joint cartilage in Fingers, Knees and the Spinal Vertebrae." 
    Further, according to Dr.Batmanghelidj, "Chronic pains are often indicators of Chronic Dehydration." 
    Alternative Medicine, the definitive guide states, "when any of your joints begin to signal pains that come and go, the first thought that should occur to you is that your body is severely short of water."  Many of these pains would generally be reported to a health care professional prematurely and result in medication being prescribed and not addressing the actual cause of the pain- only dulling and managing it.  This line of thought stretches to include Rheumatoid joint pain which is a direct signal of local water deficiency. Gone untreated and misdiagnosed can possibly lead to permanent cartilage damage. 
    It is important as you embark, or continue on your quest for health and participate in activities which result in perspiration and dehydration that you take your overall hydration very seriously.  Those of our customers who utilize Steam Inhalation as a therapy or use Far Infrared Saunas for everything from Endometriosis to Fibromyalgia please monitor your intake of water diligently to stay healthy and happy. 
      

Spas, Health, and Convenience

So what drives people to use spas? According to the 2004 International Spa Association (ISPA) consumer report, people use spas for work, escape, and indulgence. Further, the report reveals a core group of spa goers use these services to boost their health and well-being lifestyle (work) whereas occasional spa goers often seek life changing/altering experiences. The spa environment plays a central role in the overall experience spa goers seek as well as their likelihood of return.

In today’s fast paced world, Americans are seeking more avenues like the spa for achieving balanced lives. In 2005, approximately 32.2 million American adults visited a spa to “relieve stress, reduce stress, sooth aching joints/muscles, and feel better” according to the ISPA. As of August 2006, there were 13,757 spas in the United States, which is up from 10,128 in 2004 representing an annual growth of approximately 16%. The top benefits spa goers seek, value, and enjoy include: “relaxation, calm/quite/peacefulness, pampering, time out for themselves, and refreshment”.

So what gets in the way of more frequent spa use? The two infamous reasons spa goers don’t utilize spas more frequently according to the ISPA include: time and money. In an effort to overcome these two obstacles, Mybath.biz offers consumers the opportunity to create, customize, and enjoy spa products and equipment in the comfort of their own home. Creating a spa environment specific to your desires, tastes, and needs provides you with a cost and time effective way to reduce stress, sooth your aches and pains, and rejuvenating your soul at anytime you choose and for a one time reasonable price. With the average spa packages costing $500-$1,500 for an overnight/weekend, you can purchase many of Mybath.biz’s products in just a few trips to the spa.

To create your ideal home spa refuge consider what atmosphere encourages solace, retreat, and healing in your life. To create a home spa, some individuals take an area of their home like the basement to include a small workout room, sauna spot for detoxifying, and steam shower and/or hot tub room for hydrotherapy. This all encompassing spa room allows users to have all the equipment they need to treat, calm, and refresh themselves at anytime they choose. Some items to consider when designing, setting up, and creating a home spa include lighting, paint color, aromas, music, water-friendly furniture, and food/drink keepers. Spas are showing more and more importance to maintain balance, health, and well-being in a hectic world. So what are you waiting for? Jump in!

A Run Cut Short

“Shin splints” is a blanket term used by laypeople such as myself to describe any type of pain affecting the lower leg- particularly pain which is focused on or near the shin bone. My first run in with this side-lining pain came at the age of 15 after an 8 kilometer race. I won my age division and was thoroughly convinced it was a race well run. As the next day’s sun broke over the horizon and I was waddling out the door of my house like a duck to board a school bus I was more confused than hurt. My first encounter with shin splints was more annoying in its cramping nature than it was painful. A light touch on the inner shin bone would bring enough pain to make me smile- only at the very idea pain could come from something as innocuous as running a finger over a bone.

My Gym coach in high school was a marathon runner and I reported to him to let him know how I’d done with the race that weekend. After a quick congratulations and handshake he quickly asked, “Why are you limping?” When I told him that I felt a cramping on the “shin bone” of my leg, not the muscles he asked if it was painful to the touch. When I said yes he said it was most likely shin splints. He went to his office and retrieved an Ice Pack and wouldn’t let me participate in anything for two weeks- I had to sit all the sports out. My experience with shin splints were most likely further enabled by the fact that I was 15 years old and had logged all my training miles in one pair of shoes and two days before the race decided I needed a new pair of running shoes. Thinking their manufacture date and lack of use would positively affect my performance I didn’t even bother wearing them once to break them in.

Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (MTSS) is the accepted term for what is known as shin splints. The medical community distinguishes between MTSS symptoms and Stress Fractures, an injury which may present with similar pain. The difference, according the New International Medical and Health Encyclopedia is the pain of Medial Tibial Stress Syndrome (Shin Splints) is encountered on the inside of the shin bone- middle of the lower leg -as a result of micro trauma caused by repeated impact and stress on the calf muscle at its point of origin on the shin bone; whereas the pain of a Stress Fracture will be felt on the upper outside portion of the shin bone- just below the knee. The pain of Shin Splints will subside a bit after the offending exercise is stopped; though it may be triggered by certain activities such as ascending and descending stairs, continued exercise and actually the pain may follow you to bed and agitate your sleep. If someone is suffering from a stress fracture there will be no refuge from the pain and any type of stress, impact activity or touch will elevate the severity of the pain.   

Shin splints can sideline anyone in any sport, vocation or even leisurely walking around in a bad pair of shoes. I’ve had many cases of shin splints over the years. They do not affect me as bad as they once did. After a few bad cases while in the Army I learned the best way to treat shin splints is to do everything you can to prevent them. This includes always stretching the calf muscle before, intermittently during and after exercise. During any workout program that involves high impact cardio exercise you should look forward to stretching as much as you look forward to a shower and a change of clothes.

Shin Splints may be treated with rest, ice-treatment, stretching 3-4 times a day and using the heat of a Shower, Sauna or Hot Tub to relax the soft tissue and aid in the recovery. If you have any questions as to whether or not you’re dealing with Shin Splints or a Stress Fracture My Bath strongly encourages you to cease the exercise which is exacerbating the problem and seek professional medical care.