Healing benefits of water

Bruce Becker, MD, MS, director of the National Aquatics and Sports Medicine Institute and adjunct professor at Washington State University in Spokane, Washington, and other investigators studied the healing benefits of immersion in different temperatures of water. They discovered that immersion in “cool” (87.9 degrees Fahrenheit, 31.1 degrees Celsius—i.e., lower than body temperature), “neutral” (93.2–96.8 F, 34–36 C) or “warm” (102 F, 39 C) water can benefit healthy individuals by

• lowering blood pressure and increasing cardiac output and stroke volume (all water temperatures);

• strengthening respiratory muscles and thereby improving breathing capacity (all water temperatures);

• enhancing mood and relaxation (warm water).

While preliminary findings are positive, more research is needed. Study authors suggest that these benefits are amplified when water immersion is combined with exercise (Hildenbrand et al. 2010; Naumann et al. 2016).

References

Hildenbrand, K., et al. 2010. Age-dependent autonomic changes following immersion in cool, neutral, and warm temperatures. International Journal of Aquatic Research and Education, 4 (2), 127–46.

Naumann, J., et al. 2016. Outcomes from a three-arm randomized controlled trial of frequent immersion in thermoneutral water on cardiovascular risk factors. BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 16 (250).