p. 10 | Practical Hydrotherapy by John Harvey Kellogg

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 20, 1902

Practical Hydrotherapy

By John Harvey Kellogg

Lesson XIV—Simple Baths

J. H. KELLOGG, M. D.

The modes in which water may be applied to the human body therapeutically are almost infinite in form and variety. It is proposed in this article to describe two procedures that are easily employed in the home.

The Immersion Bath

The full bath is administered in an ordinary bath tub, which may be of wood, copper, zinc, porcelain, or enameled iron; or a bath tub may be improvised in a number of ways. Portable tubs convenient for dwellings not provided with plumbing may be easily constructed. The first requisite is a frame of wood resembling in shape the top of an ordinary bath tub. To this support, rubber sheeting is attached in such a way that when the ends of the frame are placed on chairs or other supports, the sagging sheeting just touches the floor. Water may be conducted into the tub by means of a rubber hose attached to the water faucet. Well-oiled or painted ducking may be used in place of the rubber sheeting.

Perhaps, on the whole, the cheapest way, when it is necessary to improvise a tub, is to make one of ordinary lumber—whitewood, basswood, or pine boards, an inch and a half thick, and planed smooth on both sides. The tub should be about six feet in length, two feet in width, and a foot and a half in depth. The cracks may be calked with oakum. Such a tub can be made by a good carpenter in a few hours, and if kept well painted inside, may be used for a long time. When necessary for use for a fever case, the tub may be placed near the bed, and filled with water. The temperature of the water may be regulated by adding either hot or cold as needed. The prolonged cold bath will require the addition of ice or very cold water. The temperature of the hot bath, that is, a bath above the temperature of the body, may be readily maintained by the addition, from time to time, of jugs or bottles filled with boiling water, which does away with the necessity of so much dipping out and in of water. The patient’s head while in the bath should be supported by an air pillow, or other suitable means.

The Sponge or Towel Bath

This is a general hydriatic measure consisting of an application of water to the surface by means of a wet sponge or towel.

The requisites are a basin of water at the proper temperature, a large bath-sponge or coarse towel, Turkish towels, and a foot tub if the patient is able to stand erect.

The foot tub should contain water at a temperature of from 104° to 110°. With the patient standing in the foot bath, bending forward, his head, face, and neck are thoroughly and repeatedly drenched with cold water (50°) by means of a saturated sponge or towel. The attendant then applies the saturated sponge (60° to 70°; average 65°) first across the chest and abdomen, then the back, the arms, and the legs. The sponge should be applied with moderate pressure, and should be re-wet as often as emptied of water. The whole surface of the body should be gone over very rapidly.

The sponging being completed, a dry sheet is thrown about the patient, who steps out of the foot bath, and holds his feet in alternation over the foot bath, each two or three seconds, while cold water is poured over them. The patient is quickly rubbed dry, assisting himself as much as possible in the rubbing, so as to encourage reaction by exercise. After the bath the patient should take moderate exercise, or if unable to do so, dry friction should be applied.

The patient whose strength is at least moderately good may administer this bath to himself by means of a towel, following as nearly as possible the order just indicated as regards the application. The application to the back may be easily made by grasping the towel by its ends, throwing it over the shoulder, and making a seesaw movement.

To a patient who is unable to stand, this bath may be administered in bed. Care should be taken that the feet are not cold, and that the whole surface of the body is warm. The application, when the patient is reclining, is made in essentially the same manner as when in the standing position. A rubber blanket must be placed beneath him on the bed, and so arranged that the surplus water may run away into some proper receptacle, to prevent wetting of the bedclothing. The rubber sheet should be covered by a Turkish sheet, which for simple sponging with a well-wrung sponge may be sufficient. The patient having been undressed and covered in the bed, the attendant begins the application by first sponging the face and neck, then the following parts in succession: one arm, the other arm, the chest and abdomen, the front side of the legs, the back, the backside of the legs. No portion of the body should be exposed to the air except the portion under treatment, and this should be covered as quickly as possible after drying. From three to five seconds, not more, should be employed in the sponging of each part, the same length of time in rubbing the parts with the hands, and five or ten seconds in the drying and rubbing of each part.

The temperature of the bath and its duration depend upon the effect sought. If the desired effect is the reduction of temperature and the stimulation of vital resistance, water at a temperature of 60° or 70° should be employed, and a basin of water should be placed near the bedside, so that as much water as possible may be lifted in the towel or sponge and applied to the patient. Each part should be sponged and rubbed thoroughly, so as to induce good reaction; after the whole surface has been gone over, the application may be repeated as many times as is necessary to secure the effect desired. When employed for tonic effects, the amount of water should be small, the temperature low (50° to 35°), and the rubbing and spatting vigorous.

The whole body should be kept warmly covered, except the part being rubbed, in all cases other than those in which reduction of temperature is the object sought, and even in these cases so much exposure should not be allowed as to prevent reaction by the disturbing effects of evaporation.

The patient, if feeble and with defective circulation, should be prepared for the bath by an accumulation of heat in the skin in any convenient manner, as by the dry pack; that is, wrapping with warm blankets, with a hot bag to the spine and feet; by a hot-water bath; by hot-water drinking; or by a fomentation over the abdomen.

This bath is an excellent one for self-application when the patient is able to administer the treatment to himself at home. It may be employed every morning, on rising, with advantage. As the patient becomes accustomed to the application of cold water, more vigorous measures, such as a cold friction bath or cold immersion may be employed.

Hot sponging is sometimes advantageous in fever as a means of reflexly lessening the tendency to heat production; the water employed should be very hot (130° to 140°), and the application should be very rapidly made.