Cure Your Chronic Pain with Hydrotherapy

When you think spa, what comes to mind: massage, facials, mani/pedis? Well, if a day spa visit is on your horizon, I recommend you expand your repertoire and consider receiving a hydrotherapy tub treatment.

The therapeutic benefits of hydrotherapy tub treatments include stress reduction, increased circulation, the removal of metabolic waste (causes pain in muscles), and can provide relief from the chronic pain of fibromyalgia, arthritis, and injury due to overexertion. As with any spa service, if it’s performed well, you will be super-satisfied.

As a licensed massage therapist, I was introduced to hydrotherapy tubs at the first spa at which I had the pleasure to work. This tub was basically a very spacious Jacuzzi, featuring around 170 jets. In addition, there was a fire-hose-like attachment that was part of the tub and used during the hydrotherapy tub treatment.

A perk of working at the spa was that we could enjoy body treatments if there was a lull in our schedules. One day I got into the tub, sprinkling the yummy smelling, relaxing salts into the warm water, expecting it to feel basically as good as any hot tub I’d previously been in. The jets were powerful, and because there were so many, I was being happily pelted from all sides. That alone peeled a layer of stress away. But then, I had to try the hose, curious about what my clients would feel when I used it on them. The water pressure that came from the submerged hose was directed and intense, but in a really good way. Having suffered for several years from tendonitis flare-ups in one of my hips, I focused the water on the connective tissue on the side of that leg, as well as on the quadriceps, upper glutes, and lower back muscles on that side of my body. I promise you, I’m not exaggerating when I say that I left that tub feeling ten years younger. Not only was I deeply relaxed, but also I felt not an iota of pain in the afflicted hip. This feel-good lasted for close to a week.

Shortly thereafter, I had a client visiting the spa who had the body of a linebacker – burly and muscular. Yet, when he walked to the treatment room…well, he scuttled more than walked. He had just gone skiing for the first time and he was an aching mess. Have you ever hurt like that…when it hurts to even sit down? Yet, after his hydrotherapy tub treatment, he was able to walk with ease again and lift his arms; his face showed the relief…and I got a really big tip!

Not all spas have the same equipment or perform services the same way (I think the hose is the secret weapon here.) But I know the hunt for a good hydrotherapy tub treatment is well worth it. -Terri Hall-Jackson/care2