For any one just beginning to take the cold dips, the temperature of the water should be just 1 degree below that of the body, and gradually lowered by a drop of 1 degree every morning or two. Or, the dip may be preceded by a preliminary warm bath or warm shower.
The salient point in connection with bathing is not to allow the skin to lose heat too rapidly. To apply this as a warning in the case of cold baths: it has been estimated that the heat loss from the body immersed in cold water at the temperature of 86° F. is double the normal; at 77° F., three times, and at 68° F., five times, the normal.
The daily use of the cold dip for those who are able to react after it is one of the best means of fortifying the system against both acute and chronic diseases.
Contraindications.—The use of the cold dip is contraindicated for young children, the aged, and in run-down conditions of the system; in all cases where the action of the heart is weak, in Bright’s disease, or in any acute or chronic congestion of the kidneys; in all acute inflammations, as inflammation of the bowels, peritonitis, or inflammation of the uterus and ovaries.
Alkaline Baths.—For these baths from 4 to 12 ounces of the carbonate of soda should be used to 30 gallons of water. The water should have a temperature of from 92° to 96° F. This bath is useful in many forms of skin disease, and relieves the itching of jaundice and urticaria.
Saline Baths.—The typical saline bath is the salt-water bath. Sea-water contains in solution from ⅓ to ¼ pound of solids to the gallon of water. The principal ingredients are common salt, magnesium chlorid, and magnesium sulphate. These substances have a decidedly stimulating effect upon the skin and encourage reaction. For an artificial sea-water bath, 8 pounds of sea-salt should be used to 30 gallons of water.
Ordinary coarse salt is purer, contains from 97 to 98 per cent. of the chlorid of sodium, is cleaner, and makes a clearer solution, and it dissolves in about one-third of the time required for sea salt, and can be obtained for about one-third of the cost.
As a cleansing agent, a 5 per cent. brine is equal or superior to soap. Further, the axilla and hairy parts remain clean and sweet for a much longer time than after the use of soap. These brine baths, taken three times a week, are followed by a great improvement in the general health.
The Rain Douche or Shower Bath.—The shower is the most tonic of all the baths that can be taken at home, and no bath-room should be considered complete without it. In this form of douche the water is projected through a perforated disc, falling upon the bather in a number of fine streams. It is necessary for the bather to wear a rubber cap in order to keep the hair dry. In taking the shower bath the bather stands up; the disc is generally placed about 3 feet above the head. The water should be allowed to fall first upon the feet, then the hands, arms, shoulders, back, and, lastly, upon the chest and abdomen. The bather should keep in active motion during the application, flexing the limbs, and rubbing the chest with the hands. At the beginning of the shower the hands should be placed over the chest, in order to protect the precordial region from the impact of the water.
The cold shower should be preceded by some kind of a heating process—either a hot plunge or a hot shower bath. A shower of from 100° to 104° F. may be applied for one to three minutes before the cold application. A cool shower of 75° to 65° F. is an excellent training for persons who are sensitive to cold. The neutral shower, 92° to 97° F., given for three to five minutes, is sedative in its effects.