This past April I spent a week in southern Germany touring “water cure” spas with other doctors and medical students. Although water cure has been used for millennia–the Romans used water for health benefits in their ancient baths–it’s not so common in the U.S. However, in Germany and throughout Europe, it is used to prevent and treat disease and improve healing outcomes.
Dr. King with Drs. Tom Matteucci (Santa Barbara) and Chip Halverson (Portland) on the barefoot path in Bad Worishofen.
What is Water Cure?
1950’s movie “The Water Doctor” about Father Kneipp.
Water cure, as the name suggests, involves the application of varying temperatures of water to different parts of the body to stimulate healing. In some cases minerals are added, (i.e. Epsom Salts) to provide additional benefit.
Water cure began in Germany with a Catholic Priest named Father Kneipp. In 1847, Father Kneipp contracted Tuberculosis and despite nearly 100 doctor visits he was no better. He became desperate and grasping at straws, he came upon a book about water cure and began using the treatments on himself. To his surprise, he was eventually cured and became a staunch believer in the healing powers of water. Starting with friends, he began prescribing water treatments. As he perfected them, he used the treatments on his parishioners. Eventually, throngs of people sought his care despite him having no formal medical training. His treatments were so effective even the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria and the Pope requested his services.
Alternating Hot and Cold Therapy
Water cure works by alternating hot and cold water to the entire body or to a particular body part. Warm water dilates blood vessels and increases blood flow to tissues. Cold water constrict blood vessels and decreases blood flow. The alternation of the hot and cold contracts/dilates/contracts/
Begin with warm. End with cold.
When using water cure, never use cold if you are cold. Start with warm water first and warm the body or the body part. Heat receptors are fewer in number and deeper under the skin than cold receptors so warm water should be used for a longer duration than cold. The warm water should be around 100 – 109⁰F. and used until you are sufficiently warm. The cold water should be 61 – 65⁰F and used for a shorter duration.
Water therapies can be extremely powerful and yet so simple. They can be done at home, are inexpensive, safe for nearly everyone and an effective adjunctive treatment for many common ailments. Because they are easy and inexpensive, they can be done daily. I love this because it’s not what you do every once in a while but what you do every day that makes a difference!!
Alternating foot bath
Best done at home, in the evening before bed.
You’ll need 2 – 5 gallon buckets and a bath towel.
- Fill one bucket with enough warm water to cover the mid-calf. Make the water comfortably hot but not burning hot. Fill the other bucket with a similar amount of cold water. If you feel heroic you can add ice!
- Immerse your feet the bucket containing the hot water for 3 minutes.
- After 3 minutes, immerse your feet in the cold bucket for 30 seconds.
- Repeat this 3 times.
- Dry your feet and go to bed.
This treatment helps with sleep and increases circulation to the pelvic area so is great for intestinal/digestion issues, menstrual cramps, enlarged prostate and bladder issues.
