Any vessel sufficiently large to receive the feet, and enough water to
cover them to the ankles, is suitable for this bath. The feet should be
rubbed during the bath. If the temperature is cool, only an inch or two
of water should be employed.
The _walking foot bath_ is an excellent remedy for cold feet. It
consists in walking in shallow water five or ten minutes.
The alternate hot and cold _foot bath_ is another valuable remedy for
cold feet, and is a certain remedy for chilblains. It is given thus:
Place the feet in hot water—100° to 110°—three or four minutes. Then
withdraw them and plunge them quickly into a bath of cold water—60° or
less. After two or three minutes, restore them to the hot bath. Thus
alternate three or four times, and conclude by dipping the feet quickly
into cold water and wiping dry. This bath produces most powerful
reaction.
The foot bath is applicable in the treatment of headache, neuralgia,
toothache, catarrh, congestion of abdominal and pelvic organs, colds,
and cold feet. It is very useful as a preparatory for other baths, and
as an accompaniment of other local applications.