By Andrea, Contributing Writer
It’s the time of year when its common for most people to start feeling run down and sick. Regularly detoxing our bodies can help boost our immune systems, warding off illness and contributing to our feelings of well being.
For the last two years, I’ve been practicing alternating hot and cold hydrotherapy daily. This is really just a fancy way of saying that I alternate between hot and cold water in the shower each morning.
If the thought of a cold shower has you shivering, I can offer my testimony that alternating hydrotherapy has been one of the major contributors to my good health.
I started practicing alternating hot and cold hydrotherapy as a way to stimulate and help flush my lymphatic system.
What is your lymphatic system?
The lymph system is made up of lymph nodes, lymph ducts, and lymph vessels that make and move white blood cells. Your lymphatic system is a major part of the body’s immune system.
What does your lymphatic system do?
Your lymphatic system is a circulatory system. When it is functioning correctly, your lymphatic system flushes toxins out of the body and carries immune cells throughout the body to help defend against infections.
Unlike the cardiovascular circulatory system which has the heart to pump the blood, the lymphatic system lacks a major organ to pump lymph. Therefore, any action you can take to help stimulate it helps keep the lymphatic system functioning smoothly.
If you feel run down or experience aches and pains, swelling, inflammation, fatty deposits or bloating, employing alternating hot and cold hydrotherapy can help improve, if not eliminate, these conditions by helping flush your lymphatic system.
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Using Hot and Cold Hydrotherapy to Stimulate Your Lymphatic System:
Start with cold water in your morning shower. Cold water constricts the blood vessels shunting the blood to your internal organs. Follow with a blast of hot water. Hot water dilates the blood vessels and helps remove waste from body tissue.
Continue through several cycles to aide your body in stimulating circulation, decreasing inflammation and improving elimination.
That’s it. That’s how easy adding alternating hydrotherapy can be to your wellness routine. I haven’t even mentioned that it is free.
I firmly believe changing this one daily habit has contributed to the fact I haven’t been sick since July of 2009.
Ooh, thank you for sharing this! It certainly sounds easy, especially in a hot country like ours, where we routinely take cold showers. Do you do this to your face too?
I don’t think I’m brave enough to try that. However, what you are suggesting is exactly what the Romans did at the Roman baths. They also used strigels and olive oil to cleanse their skin.
How hot or how cold does the water have to be? I would imagine after icy cold water, your skin couldn’t handle water that was too hot. and how long do you stand under each water change? 1 minute each or 10 seconds?
Wow, starting off with cold water makes me shiver just thinking about it. Especially when it’s 27 degrees outside and I’m already chilled. I don’t think I’m brave enough to do this in the winter. In the summer, I do it a lot.
How long do you keep the cold water on for and how long for the hot water?
I used to do this before I was pregnant. So refreshing! Is it safe when pregnant though? It’s basically intentionally shocking your system….
This is very interesting and I’m going to try it because it works on my hair! When washing your hair, if you end with cold water rinse, it will make it shine more. I took cold showers in the military, we didn’t have any hot/warm water in one of the barracks I lived in for training – so I’m not stranger to cold! lol
It sounds like it would be refreshing in the warmer months. However, I have lately been relying on the shower to get me warm after getting “cold to the bone” by staying up too late at night and not having the heater on.
Can you tell me how long you leave it hot and cold, 10 seconds, 30 seconds ect.
Hi, I also would love to know how long you go from cold to hot. And do you end the shower on hot or cold?
Do you just do this the whole time you are in the shower or do you take some time to just enjoy a warm shower after doing all the alternating between the 2 temps?
Since there was no response to the questions about how long, or how hot or cold to make the water, I did research on my own and found this link which answers those questions.
http://healthfree.com/incurables_program_hydrotherapy.html