Are There Health Benefits to a Hot Bath?

I didn’t use to understand bathing. Why would I soak myself in warm water for an unnecessarily long period of time? What was I supposed to do there?

While I understood the concept of prepping for a relaxing bathing session, the bathing itself evaded me until recently.

Many enjoy the rituals associated with a bath – perhaps you use light a candle, use bath salts, foams. Maybe you listen to music or read a magazine. But the bathing experience goes beyond the mindfulness ritual. In fact, warm water can have real health benefits.

Balneotherapy and hydrotherapy are both forms of alternative therapy which involve bathing in water. Balneotherapy involves immersion in mineral waters or mud baths, while hydrotherapy often focuses on alternation between hot and cold water (contrast bath therapy) to revitalise the system.

Can at home baths have the same benefit?

There are studies that suggest baths can indeed have real physical health benefits. Bathing can help the skin, ease chronic pain, and even improve heart health. The heat can help stabilise blood pressure and improves blood flow.

Baths in the afternoon can ease depression

The New Scientist reports that taking a bath can help improve depression. The impact of bathing on depression was as much as, or more than, exercise – physical exercise being one of the recommended therapies for milder forms of depression.

A bath before bed can aid sleep

Seeing as many people find baths relaxing, it does not come as a surprise that taking a bath can also aid sleep. It relaxes us and raises body temperature. Once we leave the bath, body temperature rapidly cools. The rapid cooling induces melatonin production, which makes us feel sleepy.

For best sleeep quality, the bath should not be too hot, or it will put our homeostasis out of balance.

Hot water can benefit the heart

Habitual hot water is associated with benefits for cardiac health. The water pressure shifts blood pressure from the legs and towards the heart, which reduces blood pressure. This helps with prevention of heart attacks and strokes.

Steam helps the skin…

Warm baths open the pores, and steam rinses out toxins. The skin feels more fresh after.

Hot water removes the skin’s natural oils though, and has a drying effect. Bathing is a good time to take care of your skin properly, moisturising well after soaking in the tub.

… and the sinuses too

Hot steam also helps ease congested sinuses, which is good for managing cold winter flus!

Hot baths help with pain management

The bath is a good place to do self massage, release tension and self heal.

A hot bath deep heats the muscles, helping them to relax and easing pain and tension. Sore and tight muscles can feel more rested after a nice soak.

Lower back pain can also be eased by hot baths.

Evidently, taking a hot bath can reap a number of benefits for mind and body alike. It’s important to keep in mind though that the heat is dehydrating. Do remember to drink water to replace any lost fluids during the bath.

Some of us may never be bath people – but at least now we know what we’re missing 😉 Many of these benefits can probably be extrapolated to showering too, so shower people can also have their share!