A Vital Yet Underused Method for COVID-19 Prevention

I have previously shared immunity-strengthening tips that may help in the fight against COVID-19, including taking vitamin D supplements, improving sleep patterns, and implementing mindfulness meditation. Another evidence-based immunity booster is the use of hot and cold and hydrotherapy.

Hydrotherapy and the use of hot and cold has a long history of use in medicine. Hot and cold water (immersion baths, foot baths) as well as saunas and sweat lodges, known as temazcales in Mexico, may all be ways to enhance the innate immune system.

Is Fever Beneficial?

Raising body temperature can help mitigate viral infections. This is the function of a fever which has always been considered by naturopathic medicine as one of the important symptoms to be managed and not suppressed. Management of temperature up to 102-103 degrees (and not suppression of fever) is generally a safe (patient-specific) approach to enable the body to fight infection. Heat inhibits pathogens, enhances innate and adaptive arms of the immune system, and activation of regulatory processes that dampen inflammatory responses while preventing excessive tissue damage (Evans et al., 2015).

Combining heat with cold may also be beneficial for prevention and immune support. Research suggests that those who undertook hot baths followed by a final brief cold bath had lower viral infection rates and lower mortality rates during the 1918 pandemic. Its application to COVID-19 is just now being explored but it is posited to have similar, positive effects. This physical response to hydrotherapy is theorized to be a result of enhanced immune function in response to hot and cold applications.

Hydrotherapy for Prevention

Hydrotherapy would ideally be used for prevention; it can also be used daily and intensively if one falls ill. Frequent use of sauna has been found to reduce the risk of pneumonia. Regular sauna bathing also enhances cardiovascular, respiratory, and immune function and improves mood (Cohen, M., 2020). Pulmonologist Roger Seheult is working in this area of clinical application. The use of sauna is nearly universal in Finland and may contribute to a lower number of COVID-19 cases and lower mortality there compared to neighboring Nordic countries which have similar stay-at-home and testing strategies. This article discusses the reduction of sick days among people who use cold showering methods and has an excellent review of the physiological and neuroendocrine responses to cold showering (Cohen, M., 2020).

Source: Huum/ Unsplash

You may recall me previously sharing about the practice of applying a hot mustard fomentation to the chest during bronchitis and pneumonia. In my analysis, the differing immune responses of individuals identified in various research papers suggest that, like many natural methods, these hydrotherapy techniques serve to bring balance to the individual’s specific needs, rather than a one-type-response-fits-all. Remember the root word of medicine comes from the ancient Sanskrit MA, which means to measure, to balance. True medicine helps restore balance and sustains resilience to fight off stressors.

Instructions

Hot showers ending in a splash of cold, or saunas followed by jumping in the snow or dipping in icy lakes are all excellent ways to enhance immune health, boost mood and help avoid quarantine-depression.

Click here for more information on hydrotherapy.