Whirlpool baths are undoubtedly a very enjoyable way to spend your time, but there’s a whole lot more to them than just the physical and emotional pleasure of being surrounded by warm water and bubbles. They have a whole range of health benefits too. Here are three of them.
Stress treatment
These days this may be the most important function of whirlpool baths for many people. Our lives are just getting busier and busier and it can be only too easy to wind up doing everything and anything as quickly as we possibly can just so we can get it all done, in fact we can get so busy doing stuff that we forget to stop and ask ourselves if the stuff is actually worth doing in the first place. Having a whirlpool bath, forces you to take time out, relax and, basically, get some perspective. The calming and soothing nature of whirlpool baths is also great for resolving sleep issues. Another plus point about baths in general and whirlpool baths in particular is that there are a whole range of treatments available which take advantage of the fact that you’ll be lying still in hot water for a fairly lengthy period of time (as compared to a shower) which gives them ample time to get to work. Many of them will offer more than one benefit for example stress relief plus skin conditioning. You can also enhance the stress-relieving experience of whirlpool baths with affordable accessories such as scented candles.
Effective pain treatment
When it comes to taking steps to protect our bodies from physical aches and pains, many of us probably know the theory, but aren’t necessarily all that great at putting it into practice. For example, we’ve probably all had health and safety briefings which include information on setting up a desk so that it’s ergonomically correct and the importance of maintaining correct posture and taking regular breaks. How many of us actually put this into practice all day, every day? We suspect the answer to that question is “very few” and even if we do, there’s little we can do about everyday challenges such as hanging on tightly to a support loop on a crowded bus or train because it’s that or falling over. That’s even before we get to the minor strains and muscle injuries, which are pretty inevitable if you’re getting plenty of exercise. Hot water and massage are both great treatments for muscle and joint pains and can really help arthritis too, so put these two treatments together in a whirlpool bath and you can enjoy some truly wonderful pain relief.
Increased circulation
Heat and massage both increase our circulation so having a whirlpool bath can give a real boost to your body’s internal systems, some benefits you’ll feel, others you’ll actually be able to see (and so will those around you).
Detoxification
Your blood basically serves two functions, firstly it carries nutrients around the body and secondly it carries waste out of the body, or more accurately blood carries waste to the organs which process it and send it out of the body. Living a healthy lifestyle can vastly reduce the level of toxins which get into your body in the first place, but we all need to breathe and that means that even if we only eat and drink the purest of natural foods and liquids, we are going to be exposed to a certain level of toxins and ideally, we want those toxins to be removed from our body as quickly as possible. Therefore anything (with reason) which speeds up the removal process is to be welcomed.
Hot baths are particularly beneficial in winter when a combination of the festive season and the post-festive winter blues which often follow can see us turning to comfort (read junk) food, packed with sugar and/or salt, along with copious amounts of caffeine, often coupled with more alcohol and less sleep than usual. To make matters worse, it’s only too tempting to stay indoors and to avoid taking exercise, even indoors. Basically, the lifestyle many of us lead in winter can actually do far more damage to our skin condition than the cold wind and central heating, which are commonly blamed for drying out our skin. Certainly these are a factor, but it’s relatively easy to protect against them with effective moisturizers. The only treatment for issues caused by slow circulation is to improve your circulation, which is why whirlpool baths are so beneficial.
Boost the body’s systems
As previously mentioned, the blood is what carries nutrients around your body (basically food and oxygen).around your body and those nutrients are what your body needs to work, so the faster those nutrients can get around your body, the faster your body’s systems can work. In particular, having a whirlpool bath can help to boost your immune system, which again is especially beneficial in winter, but even in summer there are coughs and colds doing the rounds and it’s arguably even more annoying to be ill in summer than in winter because in summer you want to be out and about making the most of the weather, whereas in winter just staying indoors is a whole lot more appealing!
Whirlpool baths are also good news for the respiratory system. Basically the heat from the water creates a comfortable level of steam, which you breathe in as you lie in your bath. The steam gets into all the tiny crevices in your lungs and gives them a deep but gentle clean. It also unblocks your sinuses. While this has obvious benefits in winter, it’s actually very useful in summer too, especially to people who live in cities which have high levels of air-borne pollution. Whether or not we notice it, most of us breathe in some pollutants every time we step outdoors, from car exhaust fumes to pollen. Even if we’re not actually allergic to them, they can still irritate our lungs, leading to coughing or at worst making us feel mildly unwell often without quite realizing why.
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