Water Wisdom

Transparent, tasteless, and odorless, yet integral to all life, water is at once unremarkable and truly fascinating. We've all heard that water makes up 70 percent of the human body and covers 75 percent of the Earth. But did you know that less than 1 percent of the water on Earth can be used as drinking water? Or that there is more water in the atmosphere than in all rivers combined?

Here are some more interesting facts about water and the therapies that utilize its healing potential.

Water Wise

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, water helps your body:

• Keep its temperature normal
• Lubricate and cushion joints
• Protect your spinal cord and other sensitive tissues
• Get rid of wastes through urination, perspiration, and bowel movements

Ancient Phrase

"Taking the Waters" is used to describe the medicinal philosophy of spa and curative waters, which are meant to cleanse the body, relax the heart, refresh the mind, and purify the soul.

Fact

Water is the only substance to be found naturally on Earth in three forms: solid, liquid, and gas.

Hydrotherapy

Although ancient Greece and Rome both adopted the belief that water had healing properties, it was the Romans who first integrated hydrotherapy into their social life, building temples and baths near natural springs. Father Sebastian Kneipp from Wörishofen, Bavaria, was the father of modern-day hydrotherapy in Germany. Various hydrotherapy massage techniques exist and are generally utilized by massage and bodywork practitioners, physical therapists, physicians, and spa technicians. These include underwater massage, herbal baths, thalassotherapy, Kneipp therapy, Vichy treatments, Scotch hoses, Swiss showers, and Watsu.

Thalassotherapy

This treatment uses the therapeutic benefits of the sea and seawater products to restore health and vitality to the skin and hair. The treatment may include a body wrap using seaweed and algae paste or seawater baths using strong, underwater jets.

Water Therapy for Animals Too

Humans aren't the only ones reaping the benefits of a growing trend to use water as a therapeutic tool. Today, horses and dogs have access to state-of-the-art underwater treadmills, many of them mobile, to help with injury recovery.