Hydrotherapy Schools and the Healing Values that they Teach

Some individuals assume that hydrotherapy is just a rehabilitative treatment for patients suffering from sports and other injuries; but hydrotherapy schools aim to change that notion: In a hydrotherapy program, students are taught how water-based therapies can have a relaxing and rejuvenating effect on people. As a complementary medicine, hydrotherapy can help to improve blood circulation, reduce pain, ease muscle tension, help with weight loss, and bring about an overall sense of well being.

Used for centuries, hydrotherapy is not just simply comprised of whirlpools and pools. Students who attend a hydrotherapy courses quickly learn that hydrotherapy involves much more than that! Historically, we can probably trace the roots of hydrotherapy back to ancient Egyptian times when Egyptian royalty would bathe in hot spring waters filled with essential oils and flowers. The Native American Indians use a form of hydrotherapy as well to "cleanse" their bodies through "sweat houses." (In a sweat house, water is poured over hot rocks in order to produce steam.) Of course, much more history and philosophy remain to be learned at a hydrotherapy school.

In addition to philosophy, theory and clinical training, hydrotherapy students learn about the assortment of hydrotherapies that are used today to treat and prevent illnesses. Sometimes used in combination with massage therapy, hydrotherapy involves the use of aquatic therapies, cold compresses (e.g., icepacks), hot compresses, colon therapy, hot stones, humidifiers, saunas, sitzbaths, swimming pool rehabilitative exercises, hot tubs, water replenishment, whirlpools, and even sweat houses. Also, in a number of schools for hydrotherapy, students may be given an optional course in essential oils, which can be used in conjunction with massage and hydrotherapy.