Self-Care Habits with Hydrotherapy

 Traditionally hydrotherapy refers to the application of water to the body. Water, one of the oldest cures, has a long history of therapeutic uses; such as drinking and soaking in mineral water; healing baths and hot springs, to increase the flexibility of the fascia and warm the tissue up to reduce tension. Cold applications can be traced back to Hippocrates in the treatment of acute or overuse injuries, used to reduce the body's natural inflammatory response.

Hydrotherapy is an easy (and free, as a client recently told me) way to help your aches and pains between treatments. I'm often asked, heat or cold? It is always dependent on your comfort and preference, but here are some things to consider with hydrotherapy self-care:

HEAT

Heat increases the tissue temperature, and blood flow to the skin and muscle, which causes an increase in the body's metabolic response: more oxygen and nutrients to the tissue and more sweating (one way our body removes toxins). Heat also makes joints and muscles more flexible as it warms the collagen tissues which control our muscle and skin elasticity. Spasm is decreased with heat as it slows the rate of firing within the cells that tell our muscles to move, and pain perception is also decreased with heat due to a slower response within the nerves. Heat creates a general sense of sedation and relaxation, everyone loves to use heat!

When to use it: with chronic muscle tightness or tension, spasm, and joint pain. Not recommended for swelling, acute injury, or inflamed joints.

How long: about 10 minutes for heat packs, 15-30 minutes for hot baths.

COLD

Cold reduces the temperature of the skin, decreasing blood flow. Within injured tissue this decreases inflammation, swelling, edema, and bleeding. Pain transmission is blocked with cold application.

When to use it with inflammation, acute injury, or shooting and sharp nerve pain.

How long: 15 to 30 minutes, and never applied directly to the skin.

CONTRAST

This is when we use heat with cold. Starting with heat, apply it for 3-10 minutes, then cold, applying it for 1-5 minutes. Repeat (heat-cold-heat-cold-heat-cold) as long as needed, and always end with cold. This is a great therapy to increase blood flow and promote healing to those lingering injuries.

take five: open those shoulders!

Most of us suffer from internal rotation of the humerus and upward rotation of the scapula (Think: over-stretched shoulders creeping up and forward as you slouch over your computer). Our upper trapezius is tight and tender, our rhomboids are achy, and our pectoral muscles are weakened, and our necks are strained. Some great things to do, take a deep breath and raise your shoulders to your ears, and as you exhale lower your shoulders down and back.

I suffer from frequent and malicious migraines, I have several comforting stretches. Fish Pose is one of them, and one I suggest for anyone who sits too long at a computer, or desk, or book, or suffers from pain due to repetitive motions in the shoulder, arms, and neck.

Fish Pose (matsyasana):
The unsupported version of this pose is lovely. It can be a deep release and stretch.

For a relaxing, more inactive stretch/opening of the shoulders, chest, and throat, try restorative fish pose.

Restorative Fish Pose

Lying on the ground, place a bolster, or two blankets (one rolled under your spine, the other folded under your head -if needed) along your spine and neck.

Bring your arms out to a T, palms facing up.

Lay for 5-10 minutes. Focus on breathing deeply, and smoothly. When you are ready to move, slowly roll to one side. Then use your arms to bring your upper body in to a seated position.

fluid motion

I took a wonderful course this weekend which focused on the fluidity of the spine, evoking our aquatic days. Undulation, a technique for spinal bodywork, is based in structural integration modalities, like Hellerwork and Continuum.

"Undulation, a fluid movement through multiple joints that include waves, bends, and curves, can be used as a tool..." to get through dense myofascial restrictions (stiffness) and revitalize lost range of motion due to our postural habits and repetitive-use injuries. (Anita Boser, LMP, CHP).

There are some common misconceptions when it comes to our bodies, that through idiomatic phrases, our bodies (and minds) believe is true. This class helped to unmask these words, and redefine, or rather, return to the definition via the evolution of our connective tissues and the past uses of the spine. The Spinal Column, evokes a solid, upright, rigid support. However, our spines (and our boney structures, in general) can do incredible things!

video: Emilie Conrad speaking about the fluid connective tissue that is the spine, as a Continuum teacher demonstrate the beautiful and free movement that our bodies, in health, hold.

Another broader cultural habit is to assume that once our bodies are in a state of injury or decreased motion, that we must adjust to or work around this new habit, greatly decreasing our body's entire range of motion. Bodywork and manual therapy (massage) restores our bodies to their highly functioning state, through the movement of fluid (lymph, blood) to the connective tissues (muscle, bone) and, by the breaking up of adhesions (places where the fluid surfaces of the body are no longer simply gliding, but stuck in fricative, decreased motion).  If we continue to encourage limits of our range of motion, we impress into our muscular memory, solidifying our dis-ease, a reduced range of motion that eventually can effect our entire body. With self-care practices and hands-on bodywork encouraging stretching and movement, we could hope that we could create patterns of a little more movement, instead of a little less movement.

So get up, stretch, and let your spine dance. Free your structure with fluid motion!

take five

Don't forget to take a moment for you! Sit comfortably. Close your eyes. Take ten deep breaths -in through your nose, out your mouth- filling your lower abdomen as much as possible. Before you open your eyes set an intention: a goal, a mood, a feeling, a hope.