| Hydrotherapy
Research
Listed below are health
problems for which Hydrotherapy has been shown to help. For full details,
please click on the health problem.
Hydrotherapy
& pain and wound healing
A study at Southeastern Louisiana University,
School of Nursing, USA has found that hydrotherapy can help alleviate pain
and assist in wound healing of patients who have undergone major abdominal
surgery.
Patients who have major
abdominal surgery often experience pain because of
increased tension on muscles and tissues at the abdominal incision site.
Also, pain can be caused by pressure created from trapped anesthesia gases
in the intestines. Both of these consequences can cause increased anxiety
and stress resulting in poor pain management and this, in turn, may affect
tissue regeneration.
An intervention, such
as whirlpool therapy, can enhance relaxation and promote pain relief and
normal wound healing. This study was designed to examine the effects of
whirlpool therapy on pain and surgical wound healing in
adults having major abdominal surgery. Sixty-three
patients (43 female and 20 male), aged between 25-60, participated in the
study of repeated measures of pain and surgical wound
assessments over a 3-day period.
Statistical tests for
repeated measures revealed that the patients in the hydrotherapy group
experienced significantly less pain than the other patients for three
consecutive days. Also, statistical tests for repeated measures of wound
healing revealed less signs of surgical wound
inflammation in the hydrotherapy group over the 3-day period. The report
concluded that the intervention of whirlpool therapy promoted some degree of
comfort and positive signs of wound healing.
Juve Meeker B Whirlpool
therapy on postoperative pain and surgical wound healing: an exploration.
Patient Educ Couns (IRELAND) Jan 1998, 33 (1) p39-48
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Hydrotherapy
improve walking for primary varicose veins
Many naturopaths have traditionally recommended hydrotherapy to aid venous
circulation and alleviate symptoms for patients suffering with varicose veins. A
research study conducted at the Department of Physical Medicine and
Rehabilitation, University of Vienna has found that the traditional wisdom of
naturopaths is correct in that hydrotherapy can play an important role in the
treatment of primary varicose veins.
In the study, sixty-one patients
suffering from primary varicosity were divided into 2 groups, one receiving
regular hydrotherapy, the other no such treatment for 3 1/2 weeks.
Objective evaluation of the
competence of the venous valves showed an apparent benefit in the control group
in respect to light reflex rheographic venous filling time. The leg volume
changes, however, indicated a stronger and more persistent reduction in the
treatment group. The same improvements were found for ankle and calf
circumferences, which were reduced significantly only in patients treated with
hydrotherapy. Furthermore some (although not all) of the subjective symptoms
were found to be more improved in the treatment group.
In conclusion, the researchers
stated that their findings suggest that primary varicose veins can be helped
significantly by hydrotherapy and should be considered as an adjunct to other
forms of treatment.
Ernst F; Saradeth T; Resch KL. A
single blind randomised, controlled trial of hydrotherapy for varicose veins.
Vasa (SWITZERLAND) 1991, 20 (2) p147-52
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Hydrotherapy
and exercise for pulmonary disease
Researchers at
the Division of Rehabilitation, Kusatsu Branch Hospital, Gunma University
Hospital, Japan have found that exercise in hot spring water may be a useful
aid to patients suffering from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Respiratory function
and arterial blood gas were examined before and after a two-month
exercise program performed in a pool filled with hot spring water.
Twenty two patients
(average age 71 years old) with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (12 cases of bronchial asthma and 10 cases of pulmonary emphysema)
were treated between 1991 and 1994.
Breathing was significantly
improved after the exercise combined with hydrotherapy program (P <
0.05), whereas the patients who did not participate in the program showed no
change at all.
The changes in
respiratory function and arterial blood gas were considered attributable
to respiratory muscle training and small airway clearance obtained from the
exercise program in the hot spring water. The report concluded that regular
exercise in a pool filled with hot spring water may be useful in treating
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
Kurabayashi H; Kubota K;
Machida I; Tamura K; Take H; Shirakura T Effective physical therapy for
chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Pilot study of exercise in hot spring
water. Am J Phys Med Rehabil (UNITED STATES) May-Jun 1997, 76 (3) p204-7
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Hydrotherapy
to reduce swollen ankles
Alternating hot and cold showers to the legs are commonly recommended by
Naturopaths to help general circulation in the legs. Researchers at the
University of Lund, Malmo General Hospital, Sweden have found that alternating
cold and hot water therapy does indeed improve on systolic blood pressure and
patients’ walking ability. In a prospective case study with repeated
measurements before and 1, 4 and 12 months after treatment.
Twenty consecutively included
patients, 11 women and 9 men (mean age 73.9 yrs), with intermittent claudication
according to clinical examination and ankle-arm systolic blood pressure
participated in the study.
Alternate hot and cold
hydrotherapy of the legs were given at ten 25-minute treatments during a
three-week period. The outcome measures were maximal walking ability, walking
ability before pain and systolic blood pressures of toe, ankle, arm.
The results revealed that 14
patients (70%) reported reduced pain after treatment and walking. Among those
who reported improved walking ability one year after treatment, systolic blood
pressure in both right and left ankles and toes increased. e.g. right toe
increasing from an average of 72 to 86. Improvements of systolic blood pressure
in left and right leg and changes of walking ability were correlated.
Showering the legs of patients
suffering from swollen ankles and painful walking was therefore found to improve
walking ability and reduce high blood
pressures, and that these
benefits could be sustained up to 1 year later. The re-port recommends that this
form of hydrotherapy should be considered as an additional alternative to
conservative treatment of intermittent claudication.
Elmstahl 5; t.ilja B; Bergqvist
D; Brunkwall J Hydro-therapy of patients with intermittent claudication: a novel
approach to improve systolic ankle pressure and reduce symptoms. mt Angiol
(ITALY) Dec 1995, 14 (4) p389-94
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