Introduction for Massage Therapists

General Introduction

The hydrotherapy education presented in this textbook will allow therapists to develop a new set of therapy skills to help clients attain all of their health and wellness goals. This textbook, which has been created for students and therapists, is intended to provide hydrotherapy education for use in various professional settings, including private practices, health and wellness centers, fitness centers, spas, and skin care centers and schools.

Hydrotherapy education can be easy, enjoyable, and creative and can enhance the skills of any therapist. It is not just learning how to perform a few hydrotherapy treatments, it is also about gaining comprehensive knowledge, skills, and experience to use the full potential of hydrotherapy as a therapeutic modality. Hydrotherapy education can also help therapists develop a greater appreciation and relationship with water that can enhance their ability to work with it as a therapeutic tool. The textbook teaches about the behavior of water in the natural environment, inside the human body, and as it is used in hydrotherapy treatments. A key point is that the basic principles of the behavior of water in each of these three areas are the same—the measurable, predictable way in which water behaves is the same wherever it is found. Thus, there is a natural synergy between water inside the body and water used in hydrotherapy to transform the body. It is this synergy that a therapist learns to work with to produce profound health and wellness transformations in a client.

Human beings have always had a natural relationship with water. We were born in a total water environment, the surface of the Earth is 70% water, and each of us is approximately 60% water. Hydrotherapy education is simply the process of taking this natural relationship with water and transforming it into a remarkable relationship between water, the therapist, the client, and the client’s health and wellness goals. This relationship is not new. Hydrotherapy has been an essential element of all great health and wellness traditions for thousands of years. This tradition continues to the present day because it works in multiple and profound ways. And it will continue to develop in the future, offering even greater applications in the art and science of health and wellness, as well as unfolding a much greater appreciation of this incredible substance that we simply know as “water.”

In this textbook, each chapter provides education on a key element of hydrotherapy. All the chapters, taken together, provide a more complete, holistic knowledge of hydrotherapy, as well as basic treatment skills and training in a wide range of hydrotherapy treatments. The textbook follows the standard teaching format of text explanations, related tables, illustrations, and photographs. Some chapters also provide teaching exercises. There is also an Online Companion Web site that provides additional information for each chapter, color photographs, links to educational Web sites, and teaching demonstrations. These resources can be used by both teacher and students in a classroom setting and for home study. This textbook can also be used by professional therapists who want to learn more about hydrotherapy and its application as a therapeutic modality.

Introduction to Massage Therapists

The textbook has been designed to provide massage therapists with:

• Education on the each of the general types of hydrotherapy treatments, including hydrotub, underwater hydromassage, steam, shower, hydromassage table, hot & cold compresses and misting. Many of the these treatments do not require expensive equipment and are very beneficial, for example the Balanced Hydration Program or the steam inhalation treatment.

• Education on how to perform specific treatments in each of the above categories.

• Education on hydrotherapy treatments (included in the above) that work with and enhance the benefits of traditional forms of massage, for example, a steam therapy treatment before a massage.

• Education on special types of massage that are unique to hydrotherapy, for example, underwater hydromassage.

• Detailed information on the changes in the anatomy & physiology of a client during different types of hydrotherapy treatments, for example, during hydrotub and steam therapy treatments.

• Education on the principles of the behavior of water that allow water to produce therapeutic transformations during hydrotherapy treatments. Examples are provided for the behavior of water in the various types of hydrotherapy treatments, for example evaporatation and heat exchange during steam treatments.

• Education on anatomy & physiology that provides a greater understanding of the relationship between water used in a hydrotherapy treatment and the therapeutic changes that take place in the client. This includes an anatomy & physiology paradigm of the human body as a dynamic fluid cellular structural system, with a focus on the body as approximately 60% water and the heart pumping about 3,600 of blood a day to provide continual circulation to the 100 trillion cells of the human body.

• References to key scientific studies and articles on the benefits of hydrotherapy, for example flotation therapy.

• Links to key educational websites that provide additional information on hydrotherapy topics presented in the textbook.

In summary, the textbook can provide general education on principles of hydrotherapy for massage therapists and also provide education on the performance of specific hydrotherapy treatments in the different categories of hydrotherapy treatments. Most of these hydrotherapy treatments work with and enhance the overall benefits of traditional forms of massage.  There are also special hydrotherapy massage techniques that are introduced, such as underwater hydromassage. It is hoped that the general education on hydrotherapy and instructions in the performance of a variety of hydrotherapy treatments, will make this a valuable part of hydrotherapy education for massage therapists.