Millions of hot tub owners from around the world have discovered the multitude of benefits associated with hot tub ownership. Because the benefits are many and vary so greatly, D1 places them into the following three broad categories: Play, Heal and Relax. This page explores the various “Relax” or psychological and physiological benefits associated with owning and using a hot tub.
People have received relaxation benefits from the use of natural hot water springs since the dawn of civilization.
Plus for generations, hot water has been corralled and used therapeutically by hospitals, physical therapists and health practitioners around the world.
For stress relief today, spending time in your own hot tub is the modern equivalent to spending time at an ancient Greek or Roman hot water bath or hospital-based physical therapy pool.
For a natural and cost-effective solution to easing away the stresses of the day, soak in a hot tub’s hot water (temperature-controlled by you) while being gently roiled by massaging jets (also controlled by you). And, for maximum results, do it at home, in private.
It’s no secret that many people today throughout the world suffer from some form of stress-related condition such as anxiety or insomnia. Here’s how hot tubs can help:
Hot Water + Jet Massage = Relaxation
How would you like to have a convenient way to:
- Escape the craziness of everyday life
- Get away from it all
- Help clear your mind and settle down
- Reduce mental and physical stress
- Calm down and reconnect with yourself
- In a nutshell (no pun intended) RELAX
The secret to how a hot tub de-stresses you is through heat, buoyancy and jet massage.
Immersing in hot water increases your body’s internal core temperature, which causes your blood vessels to dilate (widen), which, in turn, increases your blood circulation.
Buoyancy created by the water reduces your body weight by almost 90%, which relieves pressure on your joints and muscles, and creates the relaxing sensation of weightlessness.
The jet massaging action is created by combining hot water with air bubbles and moving the mixture at high speeds through jet nozzles. These “energized” streams of water loosen tight muscles and stimulate the release of endorphins, the body's natural painkillers, helping to melt away any aches and pains.
The overall effect leaves you feeling physically, mentally and emotionally relaxed and refreshed.
The relaxation effect also helps deaden muscle pain by easing any pinched nerves and helps muscles rid themselves of lactic acid or other metabolic wastes.
In addition, your warmed blood travels even deeper into your body, bringing in even more oxygen. You body thus becomes more efficient at removing carbon dioxide and your immune system kicks in as well, increasing antibody production.
Think about it: Our first months of life are spent in water...in the warm watery world of the womb. Indeed we are mostly water and our bodies are naturally tuned to it!
Maybe that’s another reason why we relax whenever we get into a hot tub!
Stress comes with life. But you have a right and obligation to counter its effects. A hot tub represents a natural and healthy solution.
New Scientific Studies on Hot Water Immersion Offer Proof
Exciting new hot water immersion studies conducted by the National Swimming & Pool Foundation, or NSPF, are revealing even more benefits of hot water immersion.
The head of the study, Dr. Bruce Becker, is fascinated by the mental as well as physical benefits of water immersion.
Becker first became excited about aquatic health benefits when he worked in Eugene, Oregon, and saw how much it helped injured Olympic runners. But he was dismayed that there had been little research into water’s beneficial effects. “Immersion is as close to weightlessness as there is on Earth,” he said.
"While there is a great deal of work underway on the Hot Tub Immersion Study and other NSPF sponsored research, some of the findings show that warm-water immersion seems to have a significant effect on the autonomic nervous system. That effect seems to enhance the balance between parasympathetic (relaxation) and sympathetic components of the system.”
Dr. Becker feels that it is very likely that that these nervous system effects have positive health-related implications. “To be able to obtain such a profound relaxation effect so quickly and so consistently was quite amazing to our research group.”
Click Hot Water & Healthy Living Booklet if you’re interested in learning more about the science behind hot tub health benefits.
Also click Download 2007 Immersion Study Update for a status report on the research completed to date and planned.
