hot tub health benefits

HOT TUB HEALTH BENEFITS

Beyond the fun and social aspects of hot tub ownership, many of our customers choose to buy a spa because of the benefits it can provide to their physical and mental health. There are a number of health benefits of hot tubs, which we'll aim to cover in this article

Whether you are fully fit and able, get the occasional aches and pains or suffer with a long term illness, there are a number of proven ways that a hot tub could be your new best friend.

Here are just some of the health benefits of owning or regularly soaking in a hot tub. No time to read? Watch the video highlights below...

 

 

hot tubs help you sleep

1. Improved Sleep

When your body is cold, your sleeping pattern may be disturbed. Whilst the optimum room temperature for sleep is between 15-22°C, If you are warm and comfortable and your body temperature is just right, you will normally fall asleep quicker, and sleep throughout the night wth less disruptions.

It is commonly known that getting good quality REM sleep (rapid eye movements) has loads of positive effects... from your mental alertness to your general mood, even the way your body metabolises food!

So spend some time in your hot tub before bed, and you'll have a much better chance of getting a good night's sleep and it can help aid weight loss (in addition to a healthy diet and exercise, of course.)

As we covered in our other article which looks at how a hot tub can improve your mental health:

Scientific research from Washington State University in the USA looking into whether long-term immersion in hot water was good for your body. Leading researcher Dr Bruce Becker found that soaking in a hot tub for just 15-20 minutes puts your body into a deep relaxation state.

This research also found that the deep relaxation state gives you a better night's sleep, because when you get out of the hot water your body enters a sort of 'cooling' period. This is very similar to the body temperature drop that we naturally experience when falling asleep.

 

hot tub stress

2. Stress & Anxiety Reduction

In addition to making you feel more relaxed, a number of studies have shown that the magic combination of hot water, a great hydrotherapy massage from powerful jets and the weightlessness feeling of floating in water can significantly reduce your mental AND physical stress... and decrease anxiety!

The warm water in the hot tub helps make your blood flow easier and become more oxygenated, allowing you to breathe slower and more deeply. Those actions alone will reduce the levels of stress in your body and improve your overall mood.

Adding music or aromatherapy scents to your hot tub (there are specific ones made for hot tubs) can help set the mood even further and also contribute to the reduction of stress and anxiety.

 

hot tub arthritis

3. Arthritis & Chronic Pains

For those people who unfortunately suffer with ailments like carpal tunnel syndrome, arthritis, tendonitis and various other bodily aches and pains, spending a bit of time in the hot tub will offer some welcome relief. Thanks to the bubbles from a hot tub's jets, you'll enjoy that weightless feeling. Your core body temperature increases, blood circulation increases and your muscles relax, which also reduces inflammation in joints.

For those with arthritic problems, we turned to arthritis.org who state that "soaking in warm water is one of the oldest, cheapest, and safest forms of complementary therapy."

There are many known benefits to switching between hot and cold therapy for joint pain. Cold therapy is generally better for acutely painful or swollen joints. Don't switch between hot and cold immediately - give your body time to adjust.

In this fantastic state, your aching body can experience better flexibility, range of motion and strength. It's little wonder that so many people get some real, significant benefits from hydrotherapy.

 

hot tub diabetes

4. Diabetes

Initial research into the health effects of hot tubs have indicated that a hot tub may actually help to lower your bloody sugar level, epsecially for those suffering with Type 2 diabetes. A USA-based study from the New England Journal of Medicine put subjects with Type 2 Diabetes into a hot tub for 30 minutes, every day for three weeks. By the end of the test, the subjects saw an average drop in their blood glucose levels from 182mg/dl to 159mg/dl. 

Basically, the hot water temperatures simulate some of the effects on the body of physical exercise, which has proven to be an effecive form of treatment for sufferers of Type 2 diabetes.

 

hot tub headache

5. Headache Reductions

If you suffer from chronic headaches or migraines, there aren't many treatments. This can be really frustrating. There is some evidence, however, that regular dips in a hot tub may help to reduce the frequency of certain types of headaches. 

How? Well, some of the most common triggers for headaches are things like tension. Many migraine suffers often report experiencing tension headaches just before they have a migraine. In a hot tub, your muscles are not contracted, and your aches and pains subside.

Overall, you feel more relaxed. This therefore decreases the chances of experiencing a tension-triggered migraine!

 

hot tub relax

Other Benefits

Hydrotherapy is a much used word nowadays and a hot tub is the perfect hydrotherapy. The jets of water target specific areas of the body and in our hot tub range, we have specific neck jets, back jets and leg jets to massage those tense and aching muscles. We use rising dragon jets for the ultimate in hydrotherapy relief, some of which rotate for a fabulous feeling of massage.

Although not fully proven, it is often said that owning your own hot tub and using it regularly can have a long term positive effect.

For the reasons above such as joint and muscle floatation and hydrotherapy along with the wonderful sensation of heat, a hot tub is believed to help with back pain as well as joint problems, general aches and pains, muscles tenseness as a result of working at a desk or driving and even provide a little reflexology by placing your feet in front of a jet.

As we have bathed babies and children before bed for years believing this will relax them and help them get a good nights sleep, a hot tub can work on the same principle.

 

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