Those who have ever been in a Russian bath and felt its healing steam will surely tell you that after visiting it, a bad mood disappeared somewhere, aching joints disappeared, and other sores, which until recently literally poisoned life. This creates an invariable desire for such pleasure to last as long as possible.
From time immemorial, Russian people went to the bathhouse not only to take water procedures. For him, it was a place for ancient customs and rituals, as well as fortune-telling. Why do people go to baths today? Let's try to understand this issue.
Folk healer
Baths have been around for centuries. And people prefer to wear them not only to have a good wash. There are many adherents of this invention. And all because bath procedures have healing properties that humanity is still familiar with.from ancient times.
For example, Hippocrates often prescribed a steam room for his patients. He believed that toxins and poisons that accumulated in the body and poisoned it during illness would certainly leave the body due to increased sweating. It is worth saying that this ancient Greek doctor himself used the methods of treatment developed by him, which allowed him to live 110 years.
He althy bath procedures were offered to their patients by the doctors of ancient Rome. They rightly believed that water together with steam (both dry and wet) creates real miracles.
In Russia, they also knew that bathing procedures bring he alth benefits. Our ancestors believed that a well-heated steam room can heal any patient, even the seemingly hopeless one. For a long time in Russia, bathing he alth procedures have been used for diseases of the nervous system and the musculoskeletal system. In the steam room they treated gout and colds, adjusted joints and got rid of skin diseases. It was believed that there is no such illness from which a bath could not save.
Respiratory treatment
Steam and hot air are often the only way to get rid of certain diseases. That is why bathing wellness procedures are recommended for the treatment of respiratory organs. During their holding, hot steam gives the person its warmth. At the same time, the lungs warm up, pathogenic microbes lose the ability not only to multiply in the body, but also to penetrate into it.
In the Russian batha so-called heat stroke is created, which greatly enhances the therapeutic effect. This phenomenon occurs at the moment when liquid is poured onto hot stones located in a steam oven. And if you add various healing infusions and decoctions to the water, you can get a wonderful opportunity to inhale healing vapors.
A visit to the bath will help after an attack of bronchial asthma. In this case, it is recommended to use brooms made from tree twigs, densely covered with leaves. After all, it contains healing components that, evaporating, will cleanse the lungs of sputum, produce a powerful anti-inflammatory effect and will contribute to the disinfection of the bronchi.
The benefits of bath procedures in getting rid of pneumonia are great. They will help with bronchitis.
Cramps and muscle spasms
Bath treatments are a great way to get rid of many ailments. They will help with diseases of muscle tissue. And in this case, it is also worth resorting to hot steam and self-massage performed with a broom. Such procedures will help to get rid of sprains and bruises as soon as possible due to the activation of regenerative processes in damaged tissues.
Those people whose muscular system has recently undergone excessive physical activity are recommended to visit the steam room for several self-massage sessions. It is advisable to use special creams that warm the skin deeply. When muscles are stretched, a visit to the steam room should be combined with massage sessions,by hand or with brushes of varying degrees of hardness.
Bath treatments are especially indispensable for the treatment of dislocations and bruises. Hot steam will warm up the muscles well and give them the opportunity to recover faster. The bath will also help those who have frostbite of some part of the body (leg or arm). Of course, rubbing with vodka or alcohol can be used to create a rush of blood to the limbs, but this will require great physical effort and time. A visit to the steam room will quickly and effectively save a person from signs of frostbite. At the same time, it is recommended to pour solutions of mustard or eucalyptus, chamomile or linden, nettle or needles on hot stones.
Get rid of arthritis and rheumatism
The consequences of technological progress have led to the fact that modern man spends less and less physical effort in everyday life. For most people, this has negative consequences in the form of muscle atrophy. Such changes, in turn, lead to various disorders in the joints, which lose their flexibility due to the deposition of various decay products (s alts and acids).
Such processes end with osteochondrosis, sciatica and arthritis. A bath will help get rid of these diseases that bring excruciating pain. Even with a single visit to the steam room, the body partially returns to its former flexibility.
For faster relief from the disease, the use of badger fat is recommended. It is used directly in the steam room after a thorough warming up of the joints. You can use bee honey or bear fat in the same way.
Often, in the treatment of sciatica and arthritis in the bath, hot compresses are used, for which steamed birch buds are used. The effect of this procedure can be enhanced by wrapping it with a dog hair belt.
Strengthening immunity
The use of bath procedures is a wonderful way to preserve human he alth. In order to feel cheerful and full of vitality, we all need good immunity, which can be strengthened by hardening procedures.
Even in ancient times, people paid attention to the fact that contrasting temperatures have a beneficial effect on human he alth. This has been confirmed by modern research. So, if a person heated up by a bath immediately plunges into the snow or into an ice hole, then the body reacts to this by releasing a huge charge of energy. At the same time, the strongest activation of vital forces occurs. Such bath procedures are useful for men and women with an inactive lifestyle. In addition, with regular conduct, such hardening will increase the body's immune forces, protecting it from colds and inflammatory diseases.
Slimming
A woman of any age wants to be slim and beautiful. But do not forget that the appearance of a person is largely influenced by his he alth. After all, many are unhappy with their brittle hair, poor skin condition, ugly complexion and overweight. And these are the components of he alth.
Bath procedures will allow you to get rid of many problems. For womensteam bath is recommended as an effective means to get rid of excess weight. Hot water enhances blood circulation, due to which a deep cleansing of the body occurs and metabolic processes are enhanced.
Bath treatments for weight loss are repeated in courses with a break of 2-3 days. They should be continued until the desired result is achieved. In between visits to the steam room, it is recommended to drink at least two liters of apple juice daily, excluding coffee or sweet tea from the diet. It is worth saying that bath procedures for weight loss are so effective that they allow you to get rid of 300 to 400 g of excess weight in one session in a steam room.
There is another way to make your body beautiful. It involves taking a cool shower after a five-minute stay in the steam room. Next, wrap yourself in a hot towel and return to the bath for another two minutes. This must be repeated at least 4-5 times. The contrasting effect of cold and heat will best destroy fat deposits under the skin, which will be excreted from the body.
However, it should be borne in mind that such bath procedures are recommended for he althy and strong women. For people with heart disease, this way of losing weight is far from the best.
Skincare
Taking a bath or shower is definitely beneficial. However, the tap water in our homes contains chlorine, which has an adverse effect on the skin. A completely different matter is the water in the bath. It is much softer and better. Besidesthe charm of this water lies in the atmosphere itself, saturated with the smell of oak and birch brooms, combined with puffs of steam and hot air.
However, water alone is clearly not enough for the skin. You need to perform this procedure with a bar of soap with the simple name "Bath". This remedy does not have special enchanting aromas, but it is most suitable for a steamed body due to the addition of natural extracts of medicinal herbs contained in it.
Many women believe that bathing is harmful to the skin. And to prevent exposure to hot steam, they rub oily creams into the body. However, this should not be done. A greasy cream will only clog the pores and prevent the skin from breathing normally. Bath air has the opposite effect. It unclogs pores and therefore improves the appearance of the skin.
There is one old folk advice, using which you can get a feeling of unusual freshness. According to him, a little honey should be rubbed into the skin, while performing a massage or self-massage of the body at the same time. Although simple, this procedure is very effective. It will clean the pores, as well as nourish the skin and relieve irritation from them.
Nail and hand care
During the bath procedures, you can not only take a steam bath. Many women use this time to take care of their hands. Of course, in public baths it is difficult to take care of yourself. But the facilities near a village or country house may well replace a small beauty salon.
So, it is recommended to use bath procedures to rejuvenate the skin of the hands, whichoften looks unkempt and rude. At the same time, in addition to moist and hot air, which expands the pores, it is necessary to use exfoliating and softening mixtures and compositions.
One of the simplest recommendations is an oil wrap. To perform this procedure, you will need either a fat cream or vegetable oil. After applying the product to the skin, put on cotton gloves on your hands.
The same procedure is performed for nails. Only in this case, a pinch of s alt must be added to the vegetable oil. A mixture of milk and honey (1:1) applied to their skin will also add beauty to the hands.
One of the anti-aging agents will be ordinary bath brooms. They are pre-soaked in water, into which they then lower their hands.
Footcare
Pleasant trips to the bath can be combined with very useful procedures. And among them there are those that are aimed at foot care. Often, all kinds of corns appear on our feet. Our feet also hurt from calluses formed when wearing uncomfortable shoes. The most suitable place to get rid of these growths is a bath. Here the legs are superbly steamed, which allows you to remove the keratinized layers from their skin.
The bath will also help those who suffer from heel spurs, which bring discomfort when walking. To eliminate such deposits on a sore spot, it is recommended to apply a compress from an alcohol tincture of lilac.
Bath treatments will help get rid of excessive sweating. This process is accompanied byvery pleasant smell coming from the feet. To get rid of the problem after the bath, wipe the feet and skin between the fingers with an ice cube. But at the same time, it is enough to pour cold water over the legs themselves. Also recommended are foot baths with infusion left after soaking an oak or birch broom.
With overwork and muscle strain, coniferous solutions will help the legs. Baths of them will relieve the skin and bruises.
Contraindications
Bath procedures are not useful for everyone and not always. There are also some restrictions regarding general well-being and he alth. So, there are diseases in which visiting the steam room is strictly prohibited, and one of them is hypertension, which has reached the second or third stage. Indeed, in the bath, the body temperature rises to 38-40 degrees, and after it, blood pressure also rises. A similar condition for hypertensive patients can result not only in deterioration of the condition, but also in loss of consciousness, stroke, heart attack, kidney failure, etc.
Steam heartily doctors also forbid those who suffer from certain cardiovascular diseases. After all, everyone knows that when visiting a steam room, the pulse quickens. And this indicates an increase in the load on the heart muscle. So, trips to the bath with endocarditis, pericarditis and myocarditis are prohibited. With such pathologies, sessions in the steam room sometimes end tragically. Hot air baths are also contraindicated for those who have suffered a heart attack. Caution will be required from patients diagnosed with arrhythmia, angina pectoris,"atherosclerosis of the coronary vessels and aorta".
What other bath procedures have contraindications? With bursitis and other inflammatory diseases, you should seek the advice of a doctor. The choice of a specialist will depend on the degree and severity of the disease.
Doctor's recommendations about the possibility of visiting the steam room will be needed for anemia and infectious diseases. But a categorical ban on such trips exists in patients with asthma, dermatitis and eczema.
Falling asleep during bath procedures is also contraindicated. It will not bring he alth benefits and will significantly increase the load on the heart and blood vessels.
