The Ultimate List of Hot Tub Health Benefits
A high-quality hot tub can improve your life in ways you may not have considered before. Sharing a soak can bring your family closer and give you a reason to invite friends and neighbors over for a visit. Whether you're staying up late to watch a meteor shower in the backyard or waking early to watch the sunrise, your hot tub can help you connect with the natural world around you.
Incorporating hot tub usage into your daily routine can also help improve your general well-being. Regular sessions in your spa could help you reduce stress, ease pain, improve the quality of your sleep, and increase your flexibility.
While only your doctor or a qualified medical professional will be able to tell you whether hydrotherapy—the use of water to relieve pain and treat various medical conditions—might be beneficial to you, here are 7 hot tub benefits you can expect from regular soaks:
1. Improved Range of Motion.
As we age, we lose our range of motion. This process is gradual for some and swift for others, depending upon factors such as genetics, activity level, injuries, and the presence of any medical conditions like arthritis.
Through regular usage, your hot tub can help improve flexibility and slow the natural stiffening that comes with age. The warm water of your spa works to create hydrostatic pressure—the pressure caused by the weight of fluids—on the body. The buoyancy experienced in a spa relieves muscle tension, allowing your joints and muscles to relax and become more pliable. While soaking, you can take advantage of your relaxed state and your water-induced buoyancy to gently practice flexibility exercises.*
The below video below offers some suggestions for gentle stretches that may be done in your hot tub*.
2. Reduced Symptoms of Arthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Arthritis is a common, yet painful condition characterized by joint pain and swelling, accompanied by a decreased range of motion. Osteoarthritis, the most prevalent form, results from a loss of cartilage between bones, leading to pain caused by friction. Rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disorder that can cause widespread pain throughout the body, occurs when a person's immune system mistakenly attacks their joints, resulting in swelling and stiffness. These conditions can cause chronic pain and reduce the quality of life.
Fortunately for sufferers of arthritis, spending time in your hot tub may provide temporary relief from arthritic joint pain. In a controlled study examining the effects of spa therapy on patients with severe osteoarthritis, researchers found significant reduction in pain after just two weeks. In fact, patients undergoing spa therapy experienced less pain than those undergoing drug therapy at the same time. Likewise, a study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis demonstrated that hydrotherapy reduced pain, tension, and joint tenderness.
For sufferers of arthritis or rheumatoid arthritis, a hot tub may be a pleasant method of temporarily reducing pain and improving your quality of life.*
3. Relief from Symptoms of Fibromyalgia.
Akin to the way it might help people suffering from arthritis, spending time in your hot tub may also ease some symptoms of fibromyalgia, a disorder involving chronic pain and fatigue throughout the body. This condition often results in disturbed sleep and an impaired ability to focus or concentrate, including at work or home.
As with arthritis, a study on the effects of hydrotherapy on fibromyalgia patients showed demonstrable benefits. Following a course of hydrotherapy treatment, patients reported improvements in physical functionality, sleep quality, and the ability to do their jobs, accompanied by a reduction in pain intensity, fatigue, stiffness, anxiety, and depression.
Of course, these studies are limited in scope and should not be taken as medical advice.*
4. Easing of Lower Back Pain.
According to a U.S. survey, the prevalence of chronic low back pain has increased significantly in recent years. Lower back pain, whether chronic or acute, can severely impact the quality of life. It can make performing everyday activities—going to work, driving, shopping, doing household chores—a difficult and painful challenge. It can also cause sleep loss.
In multiple studies, people living with chronic back pain who underwent hydrotherapy treatment, either on its own or in combination with other treatments, saw a reduction in their symptoms. While these studies do indicate that hydrotherapy may positively impact people suffering from lower back pain, they do not replace the advice of a doctor or qualified medical professional.*
5. Decreased Anxiety and Stress.
Stressed out? It's not surprising. The hectic pace of modern life can be a major source of stress and anxiety. Fortunately, relief is as close as your backyard hot tub, where your cares melt away and nothing matters except how good you feel.
Before you leave for work in the morning, soaking in your spa for 15 or 20 minutes can help you begin your day feeling rested and focused. At night, it can help you unwind and leave the stresses of the long day behind you. The combination of warm water and soothing massage jets helps work the tension out of your muscles. Your water-induced buoyancy also helps relieve muscle strain, allowing your body to relax as you float.
Taking a little time each day to ground yourself in a soothing, comfortable place away from life's many distractions allow you to focus and helps relieve symptoms of your anxiety.
6. Improved Sleep.
A good night's sleep is as important to good health as diet and exercise, but it's not always easy to come by. According to the National Institute of Health, between 50 and 70 million Americans suffer from a sleep disorder or wakefulness. This lack of sleep can increase feelings of stress, anxiety, frustration, and depression while simultaneously reducing the ability to be productive. This can become a vicious cycle, as these same negative feelings can cause or aggravate many sleep disorders.
A hot tub can help. Reducing your stress and anxiety levels makes you more likely to fall asleep without difficulty. Simply soaking for a little while before bed will relax your nerves and muscles, making it easier to sleep. A study of women with insomnia indicated that soaking in hot water before bedtime leads to deeper, more restful, more continuous sleep.
There's a great reason to take a warm soak before bed. Before falling asleep, your body temperature naturally drops. Spending time in a hot tub causes your body temperature to rise, and when you get out your body quickly starts to cool down again. That drop in temperature sends a signal to your body that it is time to sleep, making it easier to drift off naturally.
7. Relief of Sore Muscles.
Are your muscles sore or aching after a long day? Even if you're not playing for the NFL, building houses, or climbing mountains, the busy routine of everyday life is more than enough to wear muscles down. Outside of your day job, you work your muscles when you're at the gym, shooting hoops, or hiking trails. All that physical exertion, whether done for work or for recreation, takes its toll on the body.
A hot tub can help take that pain away. As you soak, hot water and hydromassage jets go to work on tension in muscle fibers, while the water's buoyancy relieves pressure on legs, feet, and back. Just 20 minutes of hydrotherapy after an exercise session or a long day at work can do wonders for muscle recovery.*
Safe Soaking: Considerations for Hot Tub Usage.
To safely enjoy the benefits of hot tubbing, consult your doctor or use caution when the following conditions exist:
- Heart Disease
- Low Blood Pressure
- Infections and Injuries
- Epilepsy
- Pregnancy
- Impairment from Alcohol and Substances
How to Get the Most from Your Daily Soak.
1. Time Your Soak
Hot tubbing is easy to fit into your daily wellness ritual. It only takes about 20 minutes to realize the positive effects of a warm soak. To maximize the hot tub benefits, we recommend scheduling around 15-30 minutes for each session, especially if you're new to hot tub use.
2. Set the Mood
Create a relaxing atmosphere in your hot tub haven. Get creative with soft lighting, calming music, or aromatic candles to enhance your overall experience.
3. Stay Hydrated
Remember to stay hydrated by drinking water before, during, and after your soak to replenish fluids lost through sweating.
4. Use Your Jets
Adjust the jets in your hot tub to target specific areas of tension or soreness, dialing the intensity up and down according to your preference. For total body restoration, try Caldera® Spa's Hot Tub Circuit Therapy®, where you move through each seat for a massage that targets every muscle group!
5. Set the Perfect Temperature
For maximum comfort, be sure your water temperature is set correctly. The ideal temperature is typically between 100-104 °F (37-40 °C). Ask your dealer how you can adjust your spa temperature (as well as jets, lighting and more) from anywhere, with the Caldera Spas Smart Monitoring app.
Can You Use a Hot Tub Every Day?
With all the benefits that a Caldera spa can provide, you'll want to enjoy your hot tub haven as often as possible—and there's no reason not to! In fact, we recommend a 20-minute soak every day for the best results. You can even soak twice. Many of our spa owners greet the day with a stimulating hydrotherapy session before showering and heading to work—then wind down at night with a warm soak under the stars. With a Caldera spa at home, you'll enjoy creating a wellness ritual that transforms your well-being, provides an oasis of calm in your busy day, and brings loved ones closer!
*Consult your doctor about adding a hot tub to your individual wellness routine.
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