Alternating shower is a special form of therapeutic water application, hydrotherapy. It is typically applied in the morning after getting up in the form of alternating pours of cold and warm water, and the whole body or only individual extremities, i.e. arms or legs, can be alternately wetted.
What is an alternating shower?
Alternating shower is a special form of therapeutic water application, hydrotherapy. It is typically used in the morning after getting up in the form of alternating pours of cold and warm water. Alternating baths, which include alternating showers, have a long balneological tradition, not only in Western culture. Historically, the use of hydrotherapy has been handed down from the thermal baths of the Roman Empire, as well as from Japan and China. In our culture this form of water application for therapy is better known under the term of Kneipp’s alternating shower. Because the treatment method experienced a renaissance in the 19th century by the priest and naturopath Sebastian Kneipp from Bad Wörishofen. Still today the alternating showers after Pfarrer Kneipp are a firm component of the therapy offer in the Kneipp cure associations, which exist surface covering everywhere in Germany. The water application of the alternating shower according to Kneipp is a somewhat modified form in combination with movement. Kneipp sees hydrotherapy, which includes the alternating shower, as embedded in a higher-level therapy concept, which he called order therapy during his lifetime. According to Father Kneipp’s statements, which are still valid today, alternating showers have a hardening and vascular training effect. Alternating showers can be easily practiced over a longer period of time or as a spa application even at home with little effort.
Function, effect and goals
An alternating shower has an invigorating effect and is therefore particularly suitable as a start to the day. Alternating showers have a stabilizing effect on the circulation, relieve the heart, promote the metabolism, prevent infections and calm the nerves. The application should be practiced immediately after getting up. The body or individual extremities are showered successively and alternately with warm and cold water. The procedure should be repeated at least three times, so that at the end three times cold and three times hot showered. It is important to end the cycle with the cold phase. Traditionally, alternating showers are not done with the shower head, but with a jet of water about the thickness of a thumb. This should bend to the side so that it is not too strong and does not exert a massage effect. When taking an alternating shower, the water jet should always start at the legs. Small, circular movements are made, with the water jet moving from the lower legs over the thighs to the middle of the body and from there on to the upper extremities. Also face and head as well as the belly region may be treated. The alternating shower is primarily a means of prophylaxis. This preventive effect against diseases results from the vascular training, hardening effect as well as from an increase of the unspecific immune defense. Both effects can also be observed, for example, through a sauna bath followed by a cold shower. In order to achieve a significant effect, however, hydrotherapeutic applications must be used regularly and over a longer period of time. The immune-stimulating effect of alternating showers is shown, for example, in such a way that significantly fewer colds occur in the course of the year. Regular alternating showers increase the blood flow to the skin, making it firmer, which can also have a positive effect on cosmetic restrictions such as cellulite. Patients with low blood pressure benefit particularly from alternating showers due to the circulatory stimulating effect. In the case of high blood pressure, hypertension, the doctor should be consulted before using alternating showers. This is because during the cold phase of showering, blood pressure can reach peaks of systolic 200 or more. This phenomenon of a temporary steep rise in blood pressure is also known to occur in the sauna, when a cold dip is taken after leaving the sauna cabin. Alternating showers also serve to speed up the recovery phase of competitive athletes after training. In addition, patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, COPD, seem to particularly benefit from the alternating shower as a therapeutic application due to an increase in lymphocytes in the blood.Mood-lifting effects have also been observed with alternating showers in milder forms of depression. However, alternating showers are generally not assigned to the medical field but to the field of wellness and prophylaxis. Balneological applications are timeless as a household remedy and always current due to the healing effects of water. A direct relative of the alternating shower is ice bathing, an extreme form of balneotherapy, which, originating from Scandinavia, is also increasingly gaining followers in our country.
Risks, side effects and dangers
Alternating showers, as a wellness method for prophylaxis and general hardening, has few side effects. Nevertheless, the extensive circulatory effect, especially in sensitive patients, should not be underestimated. The patient must first get used to the alternating cold and warm shower, which is not easy for many patients, especially at the beginning. That is why alternating showers require discipline and perseverance if they are to be helpful, because sporadic alternating showers have been shown to have no effect. In principle, the method is also suitable for children, but it is not very practical for children because of the cold water. Patients with poor circulation should always seek medical advice before using an alternating shower for the first time. Anyone suffering from low blood pressure, hypotension, should never set the water too hot and should keep the session as short as possible. It is not the duration of an alternating shower, but the regular, daily and above all correct application that leads to therapeutic success. Uncertainties in the use of alternating showers for personal use can be quickly resolved by contacting a local Kneipp association.
