Hydrotherapy: Influenza

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           Influenza is a contagious viral disease.  It can strike any one, rich or poor, weak or strong, usually hitting hard.  It is usually a self-limited disease lasting two to seven days.  Symptoms include very rapid onset of a high fever, chills, loss of appetite, nasal discharge, severe muscle aching, painful joints, cough, chest pain, and prostration in severely ill people.

How can a person best care for someone who is coming down with the “flu”?  First of all, they should start hydrotherapy measures immediately if at all possible, and if the patient has no contraindications.* There are several treatment options, depending on the facilities and help available.

Hydrotherapy

One of the easiest treatments, and one that requires very little assistance, is a hot tub bath.  The temperature of the water may be 104º F or above to suit each individual’s need.  Stay in the hot bath 10 to 15 minutes and rub the skin all over vigorously with a friction mitt or coarse towel.  Finish the bath by pouring cold water from a suitable container over the entire body, or a cold mitten friction rub to the entire body.  This is done by quickly and briskly rubbing the skin with a course towel or friction mitts partially wrung from chilled water.  It would be better for someone else to do this for the patient, but one can do it for himself/herself.  Keep warm and rest for at least one hour.  Giving this treatment twice daily is even more effective.  Someone should monitor the bath to make certain that the patient does not faint, slip under the water, and drown.

Another easy plan would be to take a short, very hot shower followed by a quick dash of very cold to finish off.  One author makes an interesting comment on this.  “Sir Alexander Fleming discovered a natural antiseptic, lysozyme, in the secretions of the nose and throat.  This substance is active against invading germs and thus helps to prevent colds when the secretions of the throat are slightly acid in reaction.  The surest way to keep these secretions slightly acid and thus to maintain an effective lysozyme defense against colds, is the daily morning use of a quick cold shower.”

The above two suggestions may sound good, but if the illness has progressed beyond the initial warning symptoms, the patient may be too ill to attempt them.  Then what?  There is another treatment which works very well for most people with influenza.  It is known as a Hot Wet Blanket Wrap.

This means exactly what it says.  Prepare the patient by giving a glass or two of hot water to drink, and keep him/her warm.  Wet two wool blankets in a tub of cold water, then ring the water out completely.  Put them into a garbage bag and place them into a microwave oven for ten minutes or more, until steaming hot.*  Quickly remove the blankets from the oven and spread the first blanket over the treatment table or a bed and then spread the second blanket over the first hot blanket.  One blanket is not enough—it cools off too quickly, so the treatment is not very effective.  The temperature of the blankets quickly drops to a comfortable zone.  At that point the patient lies on the hot blankets and is wrapped in them firmly and completely up to the neck.  A towel wrapped around the neck will avoid the wool irritating the neck.  You may place a dry blanket over the whole body to keep the heat from the blanket in.  Make sure the feet are wrapped well and no cool air seeps in around the neck.

Within a couple of minutes the patient’s face and body should be covered with beads of perspiration, and the face should be sponged continuously with a cold wet washcloth.  He/she should be kept in the blankets not more than ten minutes and then quickly cooled with a cold mitten friction.  The mitts should be wrung out from a basin of cold water.  Gently wipe the face and neck first.  Then the patient should be placed in a warm bed to rest undisturbed as long as possible.

Frequently, further development of influenza can be aborted by giving the patient a hot bath, a hot blanket pack, or fomentations, followed immediately by putting them to bed for a long sleep at the very first intimation of symptoms.

The administration of fomentations is very effective as soon as possible after one recognizes the onset of symptoms and uses them twice daily thereafter until the fever is gone.  During the killer pandemic (world-wide occurrence) of 1918, in which 20 million lives were lost, very few people who were treated with fomentations succumbed to death.

General Measures

After the initial hydrotherapy treatment put the patient in a warm bed in a well-ventilated room, but make sure there is no draft of air flowing through.  Maintain the room temperature at 65º F or above at night.  Keep the body warm all the time.  From the beginning, encourage drinking of ample fresh soft water until the urine is clear.  Diet should be carefully regulated, light but carefully prepared.  Fresh fruits, warm tasty barley or lentil soups, zwieback or toast are some suggestions.  Warm drinks such as Roma®, Pero®, or one’s favorite herb drink may meet the needs of some.  Eliminating sugar from the diet will help the white blood cells to be healthy and active.  The patient should maintain a positive attitude for a quick recovery, and dismiss worry and anxiety from the mind.  He/she should take as much rest as possible and look upward with thankful hearts for God’s loving care.

Elimination may be maintained by giving two or three glasses of warm water 30 minutes before breakfast.  Some prunes eaten for breakfast usually help.  Cooked oatmeal with dates, tofu with toast, along with some citrus fruit may make a delicious, adequate, hearty breakfast.  If one follows the pattern of eating “nothing between meals,” keeping five to six hours between meals, and always drinking warm water before but not with meals, the good habit of daily bowel movements will usually soon become established.  This will substantially promote recovery.

Treatment and care are excellent to do, but as always, prevention should be the key word when you think of influenza.  Proper diet, regular exercise, early hours to rest, good personal hygiene and keeping one’s arms and legs warm is the way to maintain or gain good health.  A physician should be consulted regarding the advisability of influenza vaccination for persons at high risk, especially the elderly, and persons with cardiac and respiratory disease.*

References

Margolis, S., Prepared by the editors of The Johns Hopkins Medical Letter, “Health After 50”, Johns Hopkins Symptoms and Remedies. Rebus, New York, 1995.

Bennet, J.C., Plum, F. et al., eds. Cedil Textbook of Medicine, Vol. 2, 20^th ed. W.B. Saunders Co., Philadelphia, PA, 1755, 1996.

Lonergan, L.H., The Wheel of Health. The School of Health, Loma Linda University, Loma Linda, CA.

Abbott, G.D., Moor, F.B., and Jensen-Nelson, K.L. Physical Therapy in Nursing Care, Review and Herald Publishing Association, Takoma Park, MD, 1941.

*Of course, a physician should be consulted if there is any indication of further need. Ed.