Hydrotherapy is a well-known and
ancient form of therapy. Many books have been written on the subject, but in my
opinion the form of hydrotherapy suggested by Kuhne is simple and effective.
Kuhne's book on nature cure is very popular in India. Andhra has the greatest
number of Kuhne's followers. He has written a good deal about diet as well, but
here I wish to confine myself to his experiments in hydrotherapy.
Hip bath and sitz bath are the
most important of Kuhne's contribution to hydrotherapy. He has devised a
special tub for use though one can do without it. Any tub thirty to thirty six
inches long according to the patient's height generally serves the purpose.
Experience will indicate the proper size. The tub should be filled with fresh
cold water so that it dose not overflow when the patient sits in it. In summer
the water may be iced, if it is not cold enough, to give a gentle shock to the
patient. Generally, water kept in earthen jars overnight answers the purpose.
Water can also be cooled by putting a piece of cloth on the surface of the
water and then fanning it vigorously. The tub should be kept against the
bathroom wall and a plank put in the tub to serve as back rest. The patient
should sit in the tub keeping his feet outside. Portions of the body outside
the water should be kept well covered so that the patient does not feel cold.
After the patient is comfortably seated in the tub, gentle friction should be
taken for live to thirty minutes. When it is over, the body should be rubbed
dry and the patient put to bed.
Hip bath brings down the
temperature in high fever and given in the manner described above it never does
any harm, and may do much good. It relieves constipation and improves digestion.
The patient feels fresh and active after it. In cases of constipation, Kuhne
advises a brisk walk for half an hour immediately after the bath. It should
never be given on a full stomach.
I have tried hip baths on a
fairly large scale. They have proved efficacious in more than 75 cases out of
100. In case of hyperpyrexia, if the patient's condition permits of his being
seated in the tub, the temperature immediately invariably falls at least by two
to three degrees and, the onset of delirium is averted.
The rationale of the hip bath
according to Kuhne is this. What ever the apparent cause of fever, the real
cause in every case is one and the same, i.e. accumulation of waste matter in
the intestines. The heat generated by the putrefaction of this waste matter is
manifested in the form of fever and several other ailments. Hip bath brings
down this internal fever so that fever and other ailments which are the
external manifestations there of subside automatically. How far this reasoning
is correct, I cannot say. It is for experts to do so. Although the medical
profession have taken up some things from nature cure methods, on the whole
they have given cold shoulder to naturopathy. In my opinion both the parties
are to be blamed for this state of affairs. The medical professions have got
into the habit of confining themselves to whatever is included in their own
curriculum. They present an attitude of indifference, if not that of contempt,
for anything that lies outside their groove. On the other hand, the nature
curists nurse a feeling of grievance against the medicos and, in spite of their
very limited scientific knowledge they make tall claims. They lake the spirit
of organization. Each one is self-satisfied and works by himself instead of all
pooling their recourses for the advancement of their system. No one tries to
work out in a scientific spirit all the implications and possibilities of the
system. No one tries to cultivate humility, (if it is possible to cultivate
humility).
I have not said all this in order
to belittle the work of the naturopaths. As a lay co-worker I wish them to see
things in their true colour so that they may make improvements wherever
possible. It is my conviction that so long as some dynamic personality, from
among the naturopaths themselves, does not come forward with the zeal of
missionary, things will continue as they are. Orthodox medicine has its own
science, medical unions and teaching institutions. It has too a certain measure
of success. The medical profession should not be expected to put faith, all of
a sudden, in things which are yet to be fully tested and scientifically proved.
In the meantime the public should
know that the specialty of nature cure methods lies in the fact that being
natural, they can be safety practiced by laymen. If a man, suffering from
headache, wets a piece of cloth in cold water and wraps it round his head, it
can do no harm. The addition of earth to cold water enhances the utility of the
cold pack.
Now about the size or friction
bath. The organ of reproduction is one of the most sensitive parts of the body.
There is something illusive about the sensitiveness of the glans penis and the
foreskin. Anyone, I know not how to describe it. Kuhne has made use of this
knowledge for therapeutic purposes. He advises application of gentle friction
to the outer end of the external sexual organ by means of a soft wet piece of
cloth, while cold water is being poured. In the case of colour. The sheet used
for these patients, should afterwards be sterilized by soaking it in boiling
water leaving it in it till It cools down sufficiently and then washed with
soap and water.
In cases where circulation has
become sluggish, the leg muscles feel sore and there is a peculiar ache and
feeling of discomfort in the legs, an ice massage does a lot of good. This
treatment is more effective in summer months. Massaging a weak patient with ice
in winter might prove a risky affair.
Now a few words about the
therapeutics of hot water. An intelligent use of hot water gives relief in many
cases. Application of iodine is a very popular remedy for all injuries and the
like. Application of hot water will prove equally effective in most of these
cases. Tincture of iodine is applied on swollen and bruised areas. Hot water
fomentations are likely to give equal relief, if not more. Again, iodine drops
are used in cases of earache. Irrigation of the ear with warm water is likely
to relieve the pain in most of these cases. The use of iodine is attended with
certain risks. The patient may have allergy towards the drug. Iodine mistaken
for something else and taken internally might prove disastrous. But there is no
risk whatsoever in using hot water. Boiling water is as good a disinfectant as
tincture of iodine. I do not mean to belittle the usefulness of iodine is one
of he few drugs which I regard most useful and necessary, but if is an
expensive thing. The poor cannot afford to buy it and moreover its use cannot
be safely entrusted to everybody. But water is available everywhere. We may not
despise its therapeutic value because it is obtained so easily. Knowledge of
common household remedies often proves a godsend in many crisis.
In cases of scorpion bite where
all remedies have failed, immersion of the part in hot water has been found to
relieve the pain to a certain extent.
A shivering fit or a rigor can be
made to subside by putting buckets of hot boiling water all round the patient
who is well wrapped up or by saturating the atmosphere of the room with steam
by some other device. A rubber hot water bag is a most useful thing, but it is
not to found in every household. A glass bottle with a well fitting cork,
filled with hot water and wrapped in a piece of cloth, serves the same purpose.
Care should be taken to choose bottles that will not crack on hot water being
poured into them.
Stream is a more valuable
therapeutic agent. It can be used to make the patient sweat. Steam bath are
most useful incases of rheumatism and other joint-pains. The easiest as well as
the oldest method of taking steam bath is this. Spread a blanket or two on a
sparsely but tightly woven cot and put one or two covered vessels full with
boiling water under it. Make the patient lie flat on the cot and cove him up in
such away that ends of the covering blankets touch the ground and thus prevent
the steam from escaping and the outside air from getting in. After arranging
everything as above, the lid from the vessels containing boiling water is
removed and steam soon gets on to the patient lying between the blankets. It
may necessary to change the water once or twice. Usually in India people keep
an angithi under the pots to keep the water boiling. This ensures continuous
discharge of steam, but is attended with risk of accidents. A single spark
might set fire to the blankets or to the cot and endanger the patient's life.
Therefore, it is advisable to use the method described by me even though it
might seem slow and tedious.
Some people add neem leaves or
other herbs to the water used for generating steam. I do not know If such an
addition increases the efficiency of steam. I do not know if such an addition
increases the efficiency of steam. The object is to induce sweat and that is
attained by mere steam.
In cases of cold feet and legs,
the patient should be made to sit with his fit and legs immersed up to the
knees in as hot water as he can bear. A little mustard powder can be added to
the water. The foot bath should not last for more than fifteen minutes. This
treatment improves the local circulation and gives immediate relief.
In cases of common cold and sore
throat a steam kettle which is very much like an ordinary tea kettle with a
long nozzle can be used for applying steam to the nose or throat. A rubber tube
of required length can be attached to any ordinary kettle for this purposes.
---- By Mahatma Gandhi
