The patient should lie upon his back, resting his head in a shallow
basin of cool water. The attendant should bathe the forehead, face, and
temples during the bath. The bath may be continued until the heat is
removed or lessened.
The pouring head bath is often preferable to the preceding. The patient
should lie upon a bed or sofa, face downward, allowing his head to
extend outward over a tub or other wide vessel, while the water is
poured upon the head from a little height, by an assistant. The water
may be either hot or cold, according to existing conditions. Very cold
water is not usually advisable, as its application soon becomes painful,
and produces powerful reaction. It should be tepid or temperate. Some
cases require very hot water for a few minutes, followed by a slight
affusion of tepid water.
In hysteria, epilepsy, apoplexy, sun-stroke, acute mania, delirium
tremens, and cerebral congestion from any cause, the head bath is a
promptly efficacious remedy.