Baths for osteochondrosis at home

As you know, taking a bath quite effectively relieves fatigue accumulated throughout the working day. In addition, this is an excellent method that doctors recommend using as a preventive measure for various diseases. This is especially true for people with problems with the musculoskeletal system. In this case, taking a bath can relieve tension from the patient’s muscles, which will significantly reduce pain. Baths for osteochondrosis dilate blood vessels, which helps improve blood circulation.

Before you begin such procedures, you need to know that when taking baths if you have osteochondrosis, you should take into account some very important rules. The temperature of the water for taking a bath must correspond to the state of human health, that is, the temperature of the water depends on the stage of the disease.

Hot baths for wellness

A bath is considered hot if its temperature is 40ºC or higher. It should be borne in mind that this procedure has a strong effect on the body. A hot bath helps increase metabolism, sweating profusely and removing harmful substances. But it is also important to consider that this is a serious burden on the blood vessels and heart. The duration of a hot bath should be no more than 10 minutes; longer procedures are not recommended even for people who do not have health problems. If a person has a compromised cardiovascular system, taking hot baths is contraindicated.

Prevention

To prevent
osteochondrosis or to avoid worsening the situation, we advise you to adhere to the following recommendations:

Try not to overload your spine.
Try to choose a position where the computer is directly in front of you, at eye level if possible.
Try to choose a desk chair that is comfortable, but not soft. It should have the same curve as the spine. If the back is straight, we recommend placing a bolster in the lumbar area to at least artificially create the necessary bend.
Try to change your body position as often as possible, at best every hour, get up and take breaks for some exercise or just to walk.
To watch TV while lying on the couch, the rule is the same: change your body position, take breaks to get up and walk around.
Do exercises to strengthen your back muscles, but don't overdo it, be careful.
Do not lift weights with a jerk; you should carefully and slowly lift the load from a half-squat position (but not more than 5 kg).
For sleeping, we recommend choosing a moderately hard bed without any unnecessary bends; the mattress should be orthopedic and not spring.
Beware of injury.
With the correct position of your back, you should feel complete relaxation. No muscle in your back should be tense or tight.

If you still feel the symptoms described above and there are still problems of this kind, you should not delay, but promptly consult a neurologist
who will understand the situation and prescribe the necessary treatment.

Osteochondrosis and warm baths

A warm bath (temperature from 37 to 39ºC) has an excellent therapeutic and preventive effect. It is recommended to take such procedures for 10 to 15 minutes; this time is quite enough to relieve muscle tension and pain. In addition, taking a warm bath helps calm the nervous system and improve sleep. A gradual increase in water temperature is quite acceptable. After this procedure, you should dry yourself thoroughly, then, covered with a warm blanket, lie down for a while.

Cold and cool baths

Taking cold baths when the water temperature reaches 25ºC is recommended for no more than 2 minutes. The time of procedures with cool baths can be extended to 5 minutes. This helps to harden the body, has a beneficial effect on metabolism and has a tonic effect.

That is why it is very important that the procedures are selected in accordance with the person’s health status. Particular attention should be paid to the selection of bath components, since some of them can cause an allergic reaction.

Important! Before deciding on the choice of bath temperature, you should be aware that during an exacerbation of osteochondrosis, long-term water procedures can significantly increase pain.

Use of salt baths

Salt baths have a very good effect on the treatment of osteochondrosis. In addition, such procedures help improve blood supply and normalize the metabolic process in the body.

To prepare a salt bath, you will need from 3 to 5 kg of sea and table salt (for one treatment and prophylactic procedure). To make the salt dissolve faster, pour it into a gauze bag, then hang it over the bathtub so that a stream of hot water hits it directly. The duration of such a procedure, if the water temperature can be compared with fresh milk, should be no more than 15 minutes.

For people with serious illnesses that are in the acute stage, baths using salts can be dangerous. That is why in such cases doctors advise against such procedures.

Many people are interested in the question of whether salts, which are widely represented in the assortment of a regular perfume store, can have a therapeutic and prophylactic effect. In fact, such salts have practically no medicinal properties. But they can be useful as a cosmetic and sedative.

Herbal baths at home

For osteochondrosis, bath procedures using medicinal herbs are very effective. Preparing such a fragrant bath is quite simple. Such procedures are excellent for not only relieving fatigue and tension from the muscles (which is necessary for patients with osteochondrosis), but also cleansing the skin. Herbal baths have a calming effect on the nervous system, effectively reduce pain and normalize metabolism.

As already mentioned, the method of preparing a herbal bath is not complicated. For one such procedure you will need 1-2 handfuls of medicinal herbs. Pour 1-5 liters of hot water and let it brew for at least an hour. Pour the infusion filtered through a sieve into the bath, then fill it with water.

The types of medicinal herbs that can be used for taking a bath are quite diverse. Despite the fact that their use is considered absolutely harmless, do not forget about precautions and carefully read the method of preparation on the packaging.

Bath with chamomile. To prepare a chamomile bath you will need about 300 g of dried flowers. It is necessary to fill it with 5 liters of water and bring to a boil. For the best effect, leave the decoction for a couple of hours so that it infuses, then pour it into the bath. A bath with chamomile infusion perfectly relieves pain and spasms.

Bath with horse chestnut. In order to prepare such a bath, you will need about a kilogram of fruit. Horse chestnut should be brought to a crushed state, then add water and cook for 30 minutes. Pour the strained solution into the bath and fill it with water at the desired temperature. Taking chestnut baths is recommended for people with impaired peripheral circulation, as well as those suffering from rheumatism.

Bath with juniper. To prepare a juniper bath, 200 g of dry pine needles are enough. Fill it with 1 liter of water, and boiling will take about 30 minutes.

Bark bath. Perfect for preparing such a bath: spruce, pine, aspen, oak or willow bark. Grind 1 kg of dry bark, then add 3 liters of water and boil. Bath procedures using bark decoction are very effective for people with rheumatic diseases, as well as neuralgia.

Cereal baths. In order to prepare such a bath, you will need about 1 kg of cereal flowers. Boiling will take at least 30 minutes, after which the broth should be strained. Cereal baths are very good for relieving pain.

Bath with calamus root. Required:

200-250 g of root;
2-3 liters of water.

To be effective, just boil and let sit for about 30 minutes. For this procedure, it is better to fill the bathtub with warm water.

Sage bath. To prepare a sage bath, 200 g of dried flowers is enough. There is no need to boil; pour in 5 liters of hot water and let it brew for 1.5-2 hours. The bathtub with the strained infusion should be filled with warm water.

Baths with pine needles and its extracts. A collection of pine cones, twigs and needles should be boiled for 30 minutes. To make the infusion as effective as possible, leave the container tightly closed for 10-12 hours. You can determine the degree of its readiness by its rich brown color. For one procedure you will need about 1 kg of pine needles.

A pine bath will be even more beneficial if you add sea or table salt for osteochondrosis. In addition, they are also recommended for people suffering from arthritis and nervous disorders.

Swim but don't dive

On a note

Not long ago, an interesting study was conducted in Germany. Randomly selected 9,263 people from five regions of the country received letters in which they were asked to answer whether they had experienced back pain at the time of the survey, during the last year and throughout their life. 37.1% of respondents answered that their back hurts right now, 76% complained that the pain had occurred in the last year, and 85.5% of respondents had to deal with it during their lives. Russian experts believe that if such a survey were conducted in our country, the results would be approximately the same. This shows how important and relevant this problem is, especially since so many people suffering from back pain are young and want to be active. However, they are quite capable of this if they lead an appropriate lifestyle and take a responsible approach to treatment.

Swimming is one of the most useful types of physical activity for spondyloarthrosis and osteochondrosis. During it, the back muscles relax, reducing the risk of their spasm, which is often the cause of pain. On the other hand, the back muscles are strengthened, which provides better support to the spine.

During active swimming, blood circulation also increases, which means that the intervertebral discs and cartilage tissue of the spinal joints receive more oxygen and nutrients. Thanks to this, restoration processes are activated in them and destructive ones recede.

However, swimming in the sea requires caution. You can only swim in warm water, otherwise you can become hypothermic, and this negatively affects the condition of the muscles and nerves of the back.

Article on the topic

Wellness holiday: you can heal and lose weight in the mountains

You should not jump into the water from all kinds of towers and bridges - this often leads to microtraumas of the spine, which are dangerous even for those who have not had any problems before.

You should also refrain from visiting water parks: having fun down the slide once, you can spend the rest of your vacation lying in bed with another exacerbation.

Visiting baths and saunas for osteochondrosis

People with diseases of the musculoskeletal system, including osteochondrosis, are recommended to periodically visit the bathhouse (sauna). The fact is that heating with hot steam has a beneficial effect on increasing the flow of oxygen and providing access to nutrients, which, in turn, is necessary in the treatment of joints, spine and ligaments. To enhance the effect, massage is very good.

A bathhouse or sauna perfectly relieves fatigue; heating with steam for osteochondrosis relaxes all the muscles of the body and removes toxins from the body. In order to enhance the therapeutic effect, when visiting a bathhouse (sauna), you should consider some tips. First of all, keep in mind that a bath (sauna) is not recommended after a recent meal. In addition, it is worth noting that heating with hot steam while intoxicated can lead to problems with the cardiovascular system, since in this case the bathhouse (sauna) puts a serious strain on the heart.

A bathhouse for osteochondrosis will be much more effective if you use a birch broom for massage. This broom is rich in nutrients, vitamins, essential oils and resins, which are so beneficial for the body.

How to swim safely with osteochondrosis

(Comments)

There is an opinion that swimming is useful for osteochondrosis. In water we become lighter, muscles relax and the distance between the vertebrae increases. Thus, the load on the spine is reduced and even, supposedly, intervertebral hernias can be reduced. And now, when the holiday season has begun, people flocked to the reservoirs to relax, so that at the same time, with health benefits, they could swim to their heart's content. But is swimming really that beneficial? Let's find out!

First, let's remember what osteochondrosis is. This is degradation (drying) of the intervertebral discs, which soften the load on the spine when we walk, sit and, in principle, are in an upright position. Often, with osteochondrosis, hernias form. And if the hernia grows towards the spinal cord, it becomes potentially dangerous, as it can lead to paralysis. An equally common complication of osteochondrosis is pain in the lower back and cervical region, which is popularly called radiculitis.

During the course of the disease, the disc decreases in size and height, which reduces the distance between the vertebrae. And in principle, it would be logical to climb into a pond, thereby reducing body weight, the back muscles will relax and the vertebrae will return to their places. This is in theory. And what happens in practice, let's look at the picture...

When swimming on our stomachs, we try to keep our heads above the water. The legs also tend to the surface of the water. Thus, the lumbar and cervical curves (lordosis) arch even more, rather than relaxing as expected. The load on the intervertebral discs increases and provokes the growth of a hernia. That is, the risk of spinal cord injury increases significantly. What to do?

If you have been diagnosed with a hernia, float on your back. In this case, the back straightens and the load on the vertebrae is reduced. And only in this position will the back muscles relax.

Swimming is good for you! This is a good, gentle workout for the whole body. Swimming will strengthen the muscle frame and reduce pain in the affected areas, but only if you follow this simple rule. During the first days of your vacation, try to go into the water for a short time, gradually increasing the intensity of your movements. On day 3-4, when the back muscles become stronger, you can switch to swimming in a prone position.

The School of Modern Massage wishes everyone excellent health and many years to come!