WATER-CURE
Since air is invisible, we cannot perceive the wonderful way in which it
does its work. But the work of water and its curative effects can be
easily seen and understood.
All people know something of the use of steam as a curative agent. We
often employ it in cases of fever, and very often severe headaches can
be cured only by its application. In cases of rheumatic pain in the
joints, rapid relief is obtained by the use of steam followed by a cold
bath. Boils and ulcers not cured by simple dressing with ointments can
be completely healed by the application of steam.
In case of extreme fatigue, a steam-bath or a hot-water bath immediately
followed by a cold bath will be found very effective. So too, in cases
of sleeplessness, instant relief is often obtained by sleeping in the
open air after a steam-bath followed by a cold bath.
Hot water can always be used as a substitute for steam. When there is
severe pain in the stomach, instant relief is obtained by warming with a
bottle filled with boiling water placed over a thick cloth wrapped round
the waist. Whenever there is a desire to vomit, it can be done by
drinking plenty of hot water. Those who are suffering from constipation
often derive great benefit by drinking a glass of hot water either at
bedtime or soon after rising and cleaning the teeth in the morning. Sir
Gordon Spring attributed his excellent health to the practice of
drinking a glass of hot water every day before going to bed and after
getting up in the morning. The bowels of many people move only after
taking tea in the morning, and they foolishly suppose that it is the tea
which has produced this effect. But, as a matter of fact, tea only does
harm, and it is really the hot water in the tea that moves the bowels.
A special kind of cot is often used for steam-baths, but it is not quite
essential. A spirit or kerosine oil stove, or a wood or coal fire,
should be kept burning under an ordinary cane chair. Over the fire
should be placed a vessel of water with the mouth covered; and over the
chair a sheet or blanket is so spread that it may hang down in the front
and protect the patient from the heat of the fire. Then the patient
should be seated in the chair and wrapped round with sheets or blankets.
Then the vessel should be uncovered, so that the patient may be exposed
to the steam issuing from it. Our common practice of covering the head
also of the patient is a needless precaution. The heat of the steam
presses through the body right up to the head, and gives rise to profuse
perspiration on the face. If the patient is too weak to sit up, he may
be made to lie down on a cot with interstices, taking care to see that
none of the steam escapes. Of course, care should also be taken to see
that the patient's clothes or the blankets used do not catch fire; and
due consideration should be paid to the state of the patient's health,
as an inconsiderate application of steam is fraught with danger. The
patient, indeed, feels weak after a steam bath, but this weakness does
not last long. Too frequent use of steam, however, enfeebles the
constitution, and it is of the highest importance to apply steam with
due deliberation. Steam may also be applied to any single part of the
body; in cases of headache, for instance, there is no need to expose the
whole body to the steam. The head should be held just over a
narrow-mouthed jar of boiling water, and wrapped round with a cloth.
Then the steam should be inhaled through the nose so that it may ascend
into the head. If the nasal passage is blocked, it will also be opened
by this process. Likewise, if there be inflamation in any part of the
body, it alone need be exposed to the steam.
Very few realise the curative value of cold water, in spite of the fact
that it is even more valuable in this respect than hot water, and can be
made use of by even the weakest persons. In fever, small-pox, and
skin-diseases, the application of a sheet dipped in cold water is very
beneficial, and often produces startling results; and anybody may try it
without the least risk. Dizziness or delirium can be instantly relieved
by tying round the head a cloth dipped in melted ice. People suffering
from constipation often derive great benefit by tying round the stomach
for some time a piece of cloth dipped in melted ice. Involuntary seminal
discharges can also be often prevented by the same means. Bleeding in
any part of the body may be stopped by the application of a bandage
dipped in ice-cold water. Bleeding from the nose is stopped by pouring
cold water over the head. Nasal diseases, cold and headache, may be
cured by drawing pure cold water up the nose. The water may be drawn
through one nostril and discharged through the other, or drawn through
both nostrils and discharged through the mouth. There is no harm in the
water going even into the stomach provided the nostrils are clean. And
indeed, this is the best way to keep the nostrils clean. Those who are
unable to draw the water up the nostrils may use a syringe, but after a
few attempts, it can be done quite easily. All should learn to do this,
since it is very simple, and at the same time a most effective remedy
against headaches, bad smells in the nose, as well as dirty
accumulations in the nasal passage.
Many people are afraid of taking an enema, and some even think that the
body is weakened by it; but such fears are baseless. There is no more
effective means of producing an instant evacuation of the bowels. It has
proved effective in many diseases where all other remedies have been
futile; it thoroughly cleans the bowels, and prevents the accumulation
of poisonous matter. If those who suffer from rheumatic complaints or
indigestion or pains caused by an unhealthy condition of the bowels take
an enema of 2 lbs. of water, they would see how instantaneous is its
effect. One writer on this subject says that once he was suffering from
chronic indigestion and, all remedies proving futile; he had grown
emaciated, but the application of the enema at once restored him his
appetite, and altogether cured him of his complaint in a few days. Even
ailments like jaundice can be cured by the application of the enema. If
the enema has to be frequently employed, cold water should be used, for
the repeated use of hot water is likely to enfeeble the constitution.
Dr. Louis Kuhne of Germany has, after repeated experiments, arrived at
the conclusion that water-cure is the best for all diseases. His books
on this subject are so popular that they are now available in almost all
the languages of the world, including those of India. He contends that
the abdomen is the seat of all diseases. When there is too much heat in
the abdomen, it manifests itself in the form of fever, rheumatism,
eruptions on the body, and the like. The efficacy of water-cure had,
indeed, been recognised by several people long before Kuhne, but it was
he who, for the first time, pointed out the common origin of all
diseases. His views need not be accepted by us in their entirety, but it
is an undoubted fact that his principles and methods have proved
effective in many diseases. To give only one instance out of many that
have come within my experience, in a bad case of rheumatism, a thorough
cure was effected by Kuhne's system, after all other remedies had been
tried, and had proved utterly ineffectual.
Dr. Kuhne holds that the heat in the abdomen abates by the application
of cold water, and has, therefore, prescribed the bathing of the abdomen
and the surrounding parts with thoroughly cold water. And for the
greater convenience of bathing, he has devised a special kind of tin
bath. This, however, is not quite indispensable; the tin tubs of an oval
shape and of different sizes to suit people of different heights,
available in our bazaars, will do equally well. The tub should be filled
three-fourths with cold water, and the patient should seat himself in it
in such a fashion that his feet and the upper part of the body remain
outside the water, and the rest of the body up to the hips inside it.
The feet may preferably be placed on a low foot-stool. The patient
should sit in the water quite naked, but, if he feels cold, the feet and
the upper part of the body should be covered with a blanket. If a shirt
is worn, it should be kept entirely outside the water. The bath should
be taken in a room where there is plenty of fresh air and light. The
patient should then slowly rub (or cause to be rubbed) the abdomen with
a small rough towel from 5 to 30 minutes or more. The effect is
instantly felt in most cases. In cases of rheumatism, the wind in the
stomach escapes in the form of eructations and the like, and in cases of
fever, the thermometre falls by one or two degrees. The bowels are
readily cleaned by this process; fatigue disappears; sleeplessness is
removed, and extreme drowsiness gives place to vigour. This contrariness
of result is more apparent than real; for want of sleep, and the excess
of it, are both brought on by the same cause. So too, dysentery and
constipation, which are both the outcome of indigestion, are cured by
this method. Piles of long standing can also be got rid of by this bath,
with proper regulation of diet. Those who are troubled by the necessity
for constant spitting should at once resort to this treatment for a
cure. By its means the weak can become strong; and even chronic
rheumatism has been cured by it. It is also an effective remedy for
haemorrhages, headaches, and blood-poisoning. Kuhne prescribes it as an
invaluable remedy even for diseases like the cancer. A pregnant woman
who takes to it regularly will have an easy child-birth. In short, all
persons, without distinction of age or sex, can take to it with
advantage.
There is another kind of bath, known as the "Wet-Sheet-Pack", which is
an unfailing remedy for various diseases. This bath is taken in the
following manner. A table or chair is placed in the open air, big enough
to allow of the patient lying on it at full length. On it are spread
(hanging on either side) some four blankets, less or more according to
the state of the weather. Over them are spread two white thick sheets
well dipped in cold water, and a pillow is placed under the blankets at
one end. Then the patient is stripped naked (with the exception of a
small waist-cloth, if he so wishes), and made to lie down on the sheets,
with his hands placed in the arm-pits. Then the sheets and blankets are,
one after another, wrapped round his body, taking care that the parts
hanging under the feet are well tucked in so as to cover them. If the
patient is exposed to the sun, a wet cloth is put over his head and
face, keeping the nose always open. At first the patient will
experience some shivering, but this will soon give place to an agreeably
warm sensation. He can lie in this position from 5 minutes to an hour or
more. After a time he begins to perspire, or at times falls asleep. Soon
after coming out of the sheets he should bathe in cold-water. This is an
excellent remedy for small-pox and fever, and skin-diseases like the
itch, the ringworm, and pimples and blotches. Even the worst forms of
chicken-pox and small-pox are completely cured by this process. People
can easily learn to take the "Wet-Sheet-Pack" themselves, and to apply
it to others, and can thus see for themselves its wonderful effect. As
the whole dirt of the body sticks to the sheets in the process of taking
this bath, they ought not to be used again without being well washed in
boiling water.
Needless to say, the full benefit of these baths cannot be derived
unless the rules already mentioned as to diet, exercise and the like are
strictly observed. If a rheumatic patient, for instance, were to take to
Kuhne's bath or to the "Wet-Sheet-Pack," while eating unwholesome food,
living in impure air, and neglecting his exercise, how can he possibly
derive any good out of it? It is only when accompanied by strict
observance of all the laws of health that water-cure can be of any
effect; and when so employed, its effects are sure and immediate.