Water cure (therapy)
Encyclopedia
A water cure in the therapeutic sense is a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy
.
, Greek
and Roman
civilizations.
Two seminal publications preceded the populist revival of the 19th century. Firstly, Sir John Floyer
, a physician of Lichfield, was struck by the remedial use of certain springs by the neighbouring peasantry, investigated the history of cold bathing and published a book on the subject in 1702. The book ran through six editions within a few years and the translation was largely drawn upon by Dr J. S. Hahn (1696–1773) of Silesia in a work published in 1738.
Secondly, a 1797 publication by Dr James Currie of Liverpool on the use of hot and cold water in the treatment of fever and other illness, with a fourth edition published in 1805, not long before his death. It was also translated into German by Michaelis (1801) and Hegewisch
(1807). It was highly popular and first placed the subject on a scientific basis. Hahn's writings had meanwhile created much enthusiasm among his countrymen, societies having been everywhere formed to promote the medicinal and dietetic use of water; and in 1804 Professor E.F.C. Oertel of Anspach republished them and quickened the popular movement by unqualified commendation of water drinking as a remedy for all diseases.
In the 19th century, a popular revival followed the application of hydrotherapy around 1829, by Vincent Priessnitz, a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg
, then part of the Austrian Empire
. This revival was continued by others such as Captain R. T. Claridge
, who introduced hydropathy into England in the early 1840s via writings and lectures, Sir William James Erasmus Wilson
(1809–1884), James Manby Gully
and Edward Johnson
, and Sebastian Kneipp
,
Other popular forms of water therapy included the sea-water treatment of Richard Russell
, the contemporary version of which is thalassotherapy
. This however was never known or marketed as water cure in the sense that became synonymous with hydropathy, now hydrotherapy. Rather, Russell's efforts have been credited with playing a role, along with broader social movements, in the populist "sea side mania of the second half of the eighteenth century", which itself was of some significance, with some activities reminiscent of modern day of modern day spa
s. Indeed,
The spa movement itself became especially popular during the 19th century when health spas devoted to the “cure” were well-known medical institutions for the upper-class, especially those with lingering or chronic illness. Spas and other therapeutic baths are somewhat synonymous with the term balneotherapy
. Many scientific studies into the effectiveness of balneotherapy are said to suffer from methodological flaws, admitting no firm conclusions.
Water cure practitioners ranged from qualified doctors to self-taught enthusiasts. For example, a famous water cure in Malvern, Worcestershire
was begun in 1842 by Dr James Manby Gully using Malvern water
. Famous patients of Gully included Charles Darwin
, Charles Dickens
, Thomas Carlyle
, Florence Nightingale
, Lord Tennyson and Samuel Wilberforce
. Conversely, Henry Wirz
, the only Confederate soldier executed in the aftermath of the American Civil War for war crimes, was said to have been a self-taught water-cure specialist. After emigrating to America from Switzerland, he is reported to have worked as a water-cure practitioner throughout New England.
proponents, is the consuming of a gutful of water upon waking in order to 'cleanse the bowel'. A litre
to a litre and half is the common amount ingested. This water therapy, also known as Indian, Chinese, or Japanese Water Therapy, is claimed to have a wide range of health benefits; or at least no adverse effects. Advocates of water therapy claim that application of water therapy at first will cause multiple bowel movements until the body adjusts to the increased amount of fluid. While ingesting about a litre-and-a-half of water is generally considered harmless, excessive consumption of water can lead to water intoxication
, an urgent and dangerous medical condition.
Hydrotherapy
Hydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
.
Overview
In the mid-19th century there was a popular revival of the water cure in Europe, the United Kingdom, and the United States. During this time the term water cure was used synonymously with hydropathy, the term by which hydrotherapy was known in the 19th century and early 20th century. However, the therapeutic use of water precedes this popular revival. Its use has been recorded in ancient EgyptianAncient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
, Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
civilizations.
Two seminal publications preceded the populist revival of the 19th century. Firstly, Sir John Floyer
John Floyer
Sir John Floyer , English physician and author, was the third child and second son of Elizabeth Babington and Richard Floyer, of Hints Hall, a since demolished country house. Hints is a quiet village lying a short distance from Lichfield in Staffordshire...
, a physician of Lichfield, was struck by the remedial use of certain springs by the neighbouring peasantry, investigated the history of cold bathing and published a book on the subject in 1702. The book ran through six editions within a few years and the translation was largely drawn upon by Dr J. S. Hahn (1696–1773) of Silesia in a work published in 1738.
Secondly, a 1797 publication by Dr James Currie of Liverpool on the use of hot and cold water in the treatment of fever and other illness, with a fourth edition published in 1805, not long before his death. It was also translated into German by Michaelis (1801) and Hegewisch
Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch
Dietrich Hermann Hegewisch was a German historian who was a native of Quakenbrück. He was the father of political publicist Franz Hermann Hegewisch ....
(1807). It was highly popular and first placed the subject on a scientific basis. Hahn's writings had meanwhile created much enthusiasm among his countrymen, societies having been everywhere formed to promote the medicinal and dietetic use of water; and in 1804 Professor E.F.C. Oertel of Anspach republished them and quickened the popular movement by unqualified commendation of water drinking as a remedy for all diseases.
In the 19th century, a popular revival followed the application of hydrotherapy around 1829, by Vincent Priessnitz, a peasant farmer in Gräfenberg
Lázne Jeseník
Lázně Jeseník is a small village in the Olomouc Region of the Czech Republic. It is administratively part of the city of Jeseník ....
, then part of the Austrian Empire
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire was a modern era successor empire, which was centered on what is today's Austria and which officially lasted from 1804 to 1867. It was followed by the Empire of Austria-Hungary, whose proclamation was a diplomatic move that elevated Hungary's status within the Austrian Empire...
. This revival was continued by others such as Captain R. T. Claridge
Captain R. T. Claridge
Captain Richard Tappin Claridge, F.S.A. , was a prominent asphalt contractor and captain in the Middlesex Militia, who became best known for his prominent promotion of hydropathy, now known as hydrotherapy, in the 1840s. It was also known as the Cold Water system or Cold Water cure...
, who introduced hydropathy into England in the early 1840s via writings and lectures, Sir William James Erasmus Wilson
William James Erasmus Wilson
Sir William James Erasmus 'Orgasmus' Wilson FRCS FRS , generally known as Sir Erasmus Wilson, was an English surgeon and dermatologist.-Biography:...
(1809–1884), James Manby Gully
James Manby Gully
Dr James Manby Gully , was a Victorian medical doctor, well known for practising hydrotherapy, or the "water cure". Along with his partner James Wilson, he founded a very successful "hydropathy" clinic in Malvern, Worcestershire, which had many notable Victorians, including such figures as Charles...
and Edward Johnson
Edward Johnson
-Politicians:* Edward Johnson * Edward Johnson , former mayor of Baltimore* Edward A. Johnson , first African American elected to New York state legislature...
, and Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp
Sebastian Kneipp was a Bavarian priest and one of the founders of the Naturopathic medicine movement...
,
Other popular forms of water therapy included the sea-water treatment of Richard Russell
Richard Russell (doctor)
Richard Russell was an 18th century British Physician who encouraged his patients to use a form of water therapy that involved the submersion or bathing in, and drinking of, seawater...
, the contemporary version of which is thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy
Thalassotherapy is the unproven medical use of seawater as a form of therapy. The properties of seawater are believed to have beneficial effects upon the pores of the skin. Thalassotherapy was developed in seaside towns in Brittany, France during the 19th century...
. This however was never known or marketed as water cure in the sense that became synonymous with hydropathy, now hydrotherapy. Rather, Russell's efforts have been credited with playing a role, along with broader social movements, in the populist "sea side mania of the second half of the eighteenth century", which itself was of some significance, with some activities reminiscent of modern day of modern day spa
Day spa
A day spa is a business establishment which people visit for professionally administered personal care treatments such as massages and facials. It is similar to a beauty salon in that it is only visited for the duration of the treatment. Day spas sited in airport terminals are often called airport...
s. Indeed,
in Europe, the application of water in the treatment of fevers and other maladies had, since the seventeenth century, been consistently promoted by a number of medical writers. In the eighteenth century, taking to the waters became a fashionable pastime for the wealthy classes who decamped to resorts around Britain and Europe to cure the ills of over-consumption. In the main, treatment in the heyday of the British spa consisted of sense and sociability: promenading, bathing, and the repetitive quaffing of foul-tasting mineral waters.
The spa movement itself became especially popular during the 19th century when health spas devoted to the “cure” were well-known medical institutions for the upper-class, especially those with lingering or chronic illness. Spas and other therapeutic baths are somewhat synonymous with the term balneotherapy
Balneotherapy
Balneotherapy is the treatment of disease by bathing, usually practiced at spas. While it is considered distinct from hydrotherapy, there are some overlaps in practice and in underlying principles. Balneotherapy may involve hot or cold water, massage through moving water, relaxation or stimulation...
. Many scientific studies into the effectiveness of balneotherapy are said to suffer from methodological flaws, admitting no firm conclusions.
Water cure practitioners ranged from qualified doctors to self-taught enthusiasts. For example, a famous water cure in Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern, Worcestershire
Malvern is a town and civil parish in Worcestershire, England, governed by Malvern Town Council. As of the 2001 census it has a population of 28,749, and includes the historical settlement and commercial centre of Great Malvern on the steep eastern flank of the Malvern Hills, and the former...
was begun in 1842 by Dr James Manby Gully using Malvern water
Malvern Water
Malvern water is a natural spring water from the Malvern Hills on the border of the counties of Herefordshire and Worcestershire in England. The Hills consist of very hard granite and limestone rock. Fissures in the rock retain rain water, which slowly permeates through, escaping at the springs...
. Famous patients of Gully included Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin's illness
For much of his adult life, Charles Darwin's health was repeatedly compromised by an uncommon combination of symptoms, leaving him severely debilitated for long periods of time...
, Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle
Thomas Carlyle was a Scottish satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher during the Victorian era.He called economics "the dismal science", wrote articles for the Edinburgh Encyclopedia, and became a controversial social commentator.Coming from a strict Calvinist family, Carlyle was...
, Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale
Florence Nightingale OM, RRC was a celebrated English nurse, writer and statistician. She came to prominence for her pioneering work in nursing during the Crimean War, where she tended to wounded soldiers. She was dubbed "The Lady with the Lamp" after her habit of making rounds at night...
, Lord Tennyson and Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce
Samuel Wilberforce was an English bishop in the Church of England, third son of William Wilberforce. Known as "Soapy Sam", Wilberforce was one of the greatest public speakers of his time and place...
. Conversely, Henry Wirz
Henry Wirz
Heinrich Hartmann Wirz better known as Henry Wirz was a Confederate officer in the American Civil War...
, the only Confederate soldier executed in the aftermath of the American Civil War for war crimes, was said to have been a self-taught water-cure specialist. After emigrating to America from Switzerland, he is reported to have worked as a water-cure practitioner throughout New England.
Water cure therapies and caveats
One form of water therapy advocated by some alternative medicineAlternative medicine
Alternative medicine is any healing practice, "that does not fall within the realm of conventional medicine." It is based on historical or cultural traditions, rather than on scientific evidence....
proponents, is the consuming of a gutful of water upon waking in order to 'cleanse the bowel'. A litre
Litre
pic|200px|right|thumb|One litre is equivalent to this cubeEach side is 10 cm1 litre water = 1 kilogram water The litre is a metric system unit of volume equal to 1 cubic decimetre , to 1,000 cubic centimetres , and to 1/1,000 cubic metre...
to a litre and half is the common amount ingested. This water therapy, also known as Indian, Chinese, or Japanese Water Therapy, is claimed to have a wide range of health benefits; or at least no adverse effects. Advocates of water therapy claim that application of water therapy at first will cause multiple bowel movements until the body adjusts to the increased amount of fluid. While ingesting about a litre-and-a-half of water is generally considered harmless, excessive consumption of water can lead to water intoxication
Water intoxication
Water intoxication, also known as water poisoning, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water....
, an urgent and dangerous medical condition.
See also
- Contrast showers
- Drinking waterDrinking waterDrinking water or potable water is water pure enough to be consumed or used with low risk of immediate or long term harm. In most developed countries, the water supplied to households, commerce and industry is all of drinking water standard, even though only a very small proportion is actually...
- Fereydoon BatmanghelidjFereydoon BatmanghelidjFereydoon Batmanghelidj was born in Tehran, Iran. He was best known for his book, Your Body's Many Cries for Water, and his writings related to health and wellness. His ideas have not been adopted by the medical community....
- HydrotherapyHydrotherapyHydrotherapy, formerly called hydropathy, involves the use of water for pain-relief and treating illness. The term hydrotherapy itself is synonymous with the term water cure as it was originally marketed by practitioners and promoters in the 19th century...
- Mineral waterMineral waterMineral water is water containing minerals or other dissolved substances that alter its taste or give it therapeutic value, generally obtained from a naturally occurring mineral spring or source. Dissolved substances in the water may include various salts and sulfur compounds...
- Mineral springMineral springMineral springs are naturally occurring springs that produce water containing minerals, or other dissolved substances, that alter its taste or give it a purported therapeutic value...
- ThalassotherapyThalassotherapyThalassotherapy is the unproven medical use of seawater as a form of therapy. The properties of seawater are believed to have beneficial effects upon the pores of the skin. Thalassotherapy was developed in seaside towns in Brittany, France during the 19th century...
- Water intoxicationWater intoxicationWater intoxication, also known as water poisoning, is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water....