Thread: Hot Tub Health Benefits

I am sure there are things that can’t be cured by a good bath but I can’t think of one.
– Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath isn’t alone in her wide-ranging prescription of taking a hot bath. From Egyptians to modern physicians, a nice soak in a hot tub is understood to give a wide-ranging array of benefits. In fact, Egyptians made their own hot tubs using heated stones, while in Ancient Greek, they congregated around naturally occurring hot springs as hospitals. The Romans, too, made their way to hot springs to recover from their wounds, both physical and mental.

Nowadays, we call it hydrotherapy.



A good long soak after a hard day at work or an intense workout is pretty much standard fare in order to soothe aching muscles. But that same hot water can give that same boon to people suffering from arthritis and anyone suffering from lower back pain by stimulating blood flow throughout your body, meaning all those healing nutrients that your blood carries are more efficiently parcelled out to those suffering muscles and aching bones.

And while the hot tub can be a benefit after a workout, it also functions as a workout for the heart, increasing cardiac volume by one-third and giving you that cardiovascular bump. Doubling that, research has found daily use of a hot tub brings down sugar levels.
With that lowering of blood-sugar levels, hot tubs also help the body get rid of other, unwanted chemicals. The sweat from the heat also works in the same way a good workout does, purging toxins from your body.

But what most people love their hot tub for is the relaxation that comes with a good soak. That relaxation also helps you to fall asleep faster and stay more soundly asleep.

That’s just with simple water and heat. Adding a bit of sea salt to your soak can be healthy for your skin, and the addition of eucalyptus oil, or other aromatherapy oils, can compound the benefits with their own healing properties. Lemon, for instance, can stimulate your mind while calming you down, while Clary Sage makes a great mood balancer.

Of course, too much of a good thing is always a risk, so keep your hot tub between 100–104 degrees Fahrenheit and keep your dips between fifteen and third minutes to make sure to get the benefits of the dip without over doing things.