The theologian and naturopath Sebastian Kneipp is considered a pioneer of hydrotherapy. Water is used to alleviate certain symptoms. Cold-warm stimuli should strengthen vessels and immune system as well as improve temperature regulation. Does that really work? And if so, how? The doctor Heinz Leuchtgens explains it. He is a specialist in general medicine, balneology (bathing medicine) and naturopathic process.
In many parks or outdoor pools there are Kneipp basins through which you can wade - a wonderful refreshment. What actually happens when I snip?
Heinz Leuchtgens: That's where we already have the big problem: Kneipp and a basin with cold water – these are completely different things. Kneipp is not a basin, but a concept.
It is difficult to say whether he was really the first. I don't want to reduce his success. But the insight that cold water can do people well existed earlier. Kneipp has formulated the connections. But there are naturopathic processes all over the world. If you take a closer look at traditional Chinese medicine or Ayurveda, you will find many similarities. No wonder. Man follows the same laws all over the world. Every body reacts to warmth and cold. This can be used therapeutically.
How does this work exactly?
Applications with hot or cold water ultimately act on the vessels. Mainly on the arteries, but also on the veins and lymphs. When measuring blood pressure, we determine the pressure that prevails in the arteries. It changes when the cross -section of the vessel changes, for example because it suddenly cools down. The ring muscles are responsible for this, which are arranged around the vascular wall.
So Kneipp treatments can affect blood pressure?
Exactly. Many people have too high blood pressure, for others it is too low. In both cases, there is a regulatory disorder: the body can no longer adjust the blood pressure correctly. This can be trained by warm-cold stimuli.
Are there any studies that prove this?
A lot. A few years ago we carried out a large -scale study ourselves. More than 350 test subjects with different diseases of the cardiovascular system took part in a three to four-week Kneipp cure, which included hydrotherapy. After that they felt much better. They had less pain, were able to reduce their medication consumption and had to be sick less often.
Does kneipping also help with other diseases?
Yes. Many of our subjects also had problems with the musculoskeletal system, which also improved. There are also studies that indicate that hydrotherapy can work against osteoarthritis. In addition, hydrotherapeutic applications stimulate the vegetative nervous system and can help with sleep disorders, depressed moods or nervousness. The problem with Kneipp is: we can do a lot - and that somehow sounds unbelievable. The positive effects are quite difficult to prove purely methodically.
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You can not proceed according to the normal study criteria, give about half of the subjects a tablet with active substance and the other half a placebo. We also can not blind, so that neither the doctor nor the patient knows who got what. Of course, people notice whether they are currently taking a cure or not. So we need other statistical methods. A so-called quasi-experimental study design is used.
Let's go back to the Kneipp basin again. I put my foot into the water - what happens?
The blood vessel cools down and contracts. In addition, hydrostatic pressure works: the water presses against the vessel from the outside. When I put my foot in the water, I also press my leg and foot muscles. So that they are well supplied with oxygen, vessels run through them. The tense muscle also presses against the vessels, the blood is pumped out. Then I take my foot out of the water. He warms up again, the hydrostatic pressure falls away. If I do it right and put on the leg like a stork, I also reduce the pressure difference between the foot and the heart. It is not particularly large, but can make a difference of 10 to 20 mmHg when it comes to blood pressure. I repeat the same with the other leg. While one relaxes, the other is irritated by cold and pressure. So I wade through the water.
Slow or fast?
As slow as possible. It is not about getting ready as quickly as possible, but getting the optimal effect.
I prefer to go to the Kneipp pool when I have just done sports and have hot feet. Is that correct?
Yes, then it works best. If you have cold feet, you shouldn't go in, your arteries are already narrowed.
How often and for how long can I do this?
Every day. If you want, several times. And always until your legs are cold. For some people, one round or two, others have to go three or four. That depends on the water temperature, but also on your physiology: Are you trained or not how much body fat do you have?
Good keyword: So is it true that people who have less on their ribs freeze faster?
Of course, a layer of fat has an insulating effect. However, the temperature sensation depends on many factors and varies individually. You can not say: with so and so many percent of body fat you freeze exactly at this temperature. The condition of the vessels, for example, also plays a role. Smokers often freeze on their hands and feet because they have poor blood circulation, even if they are overweight.
You can also snip with your arms. Does that have the same effect?
No. Firstly, because there is no weight on it - after all, they don't go on their arms and hands, but only hold them in. On the other hand, the hydrostatic pressure is not that high. You can usually not immerse your arms as deep as your legs, otherwise the water would be up to your neck. However, the exposure time is longer because both arms are constant in the water. Even if you go slowly, there is a foot for a maximum of two seconds in the pool when you step into the water.
Can I also hang my arms and legs in the water at the same time?
That would be too much. If you do that too long, you cool down. Persistent cold means a critical situation for the body. In order to keep the brain and the important organs warm as long as possible, the vessels contract in the periphery, arms and legs are hardly supplied with blood and can die in extreme cases.
Some people go to a cold pool with their whole body, for example, after the sauna. Is that bad?
You probably mean a diving pool. This is about deriving the overheating that was caused by the sauna. After all, the core of the body may not be more than 42 to 43 degrees Celsius, otherwise the proteins will change. Similar to when you hit an egg into the pan. If someone does not put themselves under the cold shower after the sauna or goes into the diving pool, pulse and blood pressure, the body has to sweat more. This is very stressful for him.
Cold water is supposed to stimulate the circulation, so that you sweat even more afterwards. Wouldn't a lukewarm shower be better?
How the body reacts to cold water depends on the duration. He responds to short cold stimuli with reactive overheating, so you may actually sweat more. In the case of long -lasting cold, the vessels contract so that not so much blood flows past the surface of the body and cools down there. It is important to determine the correct duration and water temperature for you. Not too short and too cold so that there is no counter -reaction, but cold and long enough so that your body can cool down well.
So is it okay to jump into the cold water?
Yes, but only circulatory people should do that. If you overheat, i.e. jump into such a diving pool with maximum wide blood vessels, the hydrostatic pressure is very high. The water mass presses on the vessels from the outside, the blood is pressed out. Suddenly a liter of blood flows back into the lungs. A healthy heart can do that. But you shouldn't sit in the water calmly, but move lightly.
Why?
If you jump into the plunge pool after the sauna and look down at your body, you will notice how the water begins to move on the surface of your body: it warms up from contact with your skin.
I am almost a immersion.
That's how you can imagine it (laughs). If you do not move, the water will form a kind of insulation layer on your body. After a short second of fright, it doesn't feel so cold anymore. Count to ten times and then move. It will feel like you jumped in again. The warm water is displaced, there is a second cold stimulus.
After the sauna, many people treat their feet to their feet. How does it work and what does it do?
As a rule, you start with a warm foot bath. The blood vessels dilate, blood circulation is stimulated, and the body warms up a bit. Then you hold your feet in the cold water for a few seconds. The opposite happens: the vessels contract, metabolized blood is carried away. Then you start all over again. Alternating baths, in turn, train the muscles in the blood vessels: with heat it relaxes, with cold it contracts. Similar to when I train my biceps with the help of a dumbbell.
Does that help me when I keep freezing?
Yes. It won't be long and you won't freeze so quickly. This is a matter of training. You can also make an increasing arm: Starting lukewarm, lift the temperature to 39 to 40 degrees Celsius continuously. This leads to a slow opening of the blood vessels on the arms. Interestingly, the effect on the entire body extends. Measurements with special devices have shown that the blood circulation in the legs also improves.
Are there people who shouldn't do hydrotherapy?
As a rule of thumb, acute diseases are a contraindication, chronic ones are not. Those who have acute pneumonia should not do Kneipp procedures. With a chronic lung or heart condition, it looks different. But before you start, you should definitely seek medical advice.
In principle, everyone can benefit from a Kneipp application?
Exactly. We must give the body the right stimuli, otherwise it will unlearn to react correctly. According to the principle: Use it or lose it. In today's world, we have a convenient solution for almost everything unpleasant: there are clothes and a heater against freezing. If it is too warm, we turn on the air conditioner. The body can no longer do the way it once could. If we live in a germ-free environment, we are no longer able to cope with pathogens. Kneipp therapy irritates the body so that it learns all this again. By the way, research has shown that warm or rising foot baths improve blood circulation in the nasal mucous membranes. As a result, the immune cells in the blood can better fight viruses and bacteria located there.
