Counseling Sheet

Agatha M. Thrash, M.D.
Preventive Medicine
‍

There are hydrotherapeutic measures which, because of their ease and effectiveness, are very useful in the treatment of many different types of disorders. Everyone should become acquainted with the effective and simple uses of moist hot and cold applications. The short cold bath is one such treatment. It is easy to perform and has a wide application in a number of conditions.‍

‍

How to Do the Bath

‍The technique for the short cold bath is very simple. An ordinary bathtub is filled with tap water, which will vary from 35° to 70° depending on the climate and the time of year. The length of time the patient stays in the water is judged by the water temperature: the colder the water, the shorter the time spent in the water. The length of time should vary from 30 seconds to three and a half minutes. Some people find it easier to have their first cold bath at a higher temperature, perhaps around 80° or 88°, and each succeeding one five degrees cooler, until a bath temperature of at least around 50° is achieved. Others find it easier to start the bath at about 80° and gradually reduce the temperature of the water, while applying active friction to the skin with a loofa sponge, a brush, a coarse washcloth, or even a scratching motion of the fingernails. The friction greatly increases the ability to tolerate the cold. Therefore, if one can get settled in the cool tub of water, turn on the cold tap, or add ice to the water while applying vigorous friction to the skin, one can expect to tolerate the cold quite easily. If a brush is used with circular stroking to apply the cold water to other parts of the skin, it usually can be well tolerated.

Use an ordinary kitchen timer or a stop watch. Set it at the appointed length of time and finish the treatment with a coarse towel rubdown. One should immediately wrap in a robe, go promptly to bed, and allow the treatment to "react" for about 30 minutes. After the reaction time, there will be an increase in the circulation to the skin and a hastening of the blood flow through the internal organs.

‍

‍Metabolic Benefits

1. ‍‍Removal of toxins: With the beginning of the bath there is a momentary congestion of the internal organs with blood, and at the time the bath is finished there is an increase in blood flow, somewhat similar to damming up a small stream and then breaking the dam. The water then rushes forth, carrying with it debris, etc., that may have accumulated for some time upstream. A similar reaction can be expected in the short cold bath, a flushing of the system of toxic wastes.
2. Another good reaction of the short cold bath is an enhancement of the immune system. The short exposure to cold in a treatment, in contrast to long exposure to cold when working or sitting in a cold room, actually increases the activity of the immune system. Complement, opsonin, and other blood and tissue weapons are made more ready to fight germs with the use of the short cold bath. The number of white blood cells in the bloodstream is momentarily increased, thereby increasing the vigilance of these cells.
3. The metabolic rate is increased by the short cold bath, which tends to "burn" toxic products of metabolism along with foodstuffs. The digestion is at first slowed, and after an hour or so will be increased. The bath should not be taken immediately before or after a meal.
4. The short cold bath may be used for a large variety of afflictions: colds (both prevention and treatment), influenza, bronchitis, fevers, skin rashes, constipation, overweight, to treat excessive menstrual flow, prevent too many menstrual periods, a number of chronic diseases such as lupus, psoriasis, muscle disorders, multiple sclerosis, reduced circulation, anemia, sluggish digestion, and for diuresis.

One should not take a cold bath if there is acute high blood pressure. One should never take a cold bath when the body is cold or when one is tired. Shock and collapse are nicely treated by bathing the extremities only with cold water, but the trunk should not be bathed. Many skin diseases can be best treated by the short cold bath, as it is one of the best ways to improve circulation to the skin. In hyperthyroidism, avoid cold exposure, as the thyroid may be stimulated by cold; but in hypothyroidism, cold baths are treatments of choice.