This is a milder application than the hot-air bath, unless employed at a high temperature, 120° or more, when it becomes more severe.
In institutions where the bath is in daily requisition, a permanent arrangement for giving the bath is usually employed. It sometimes consists of a box in which the patient sits upon a stool, his head being allowed to remain outside by a suitable opening. A wet towel is placed around the neck to prevent the steam from rising about the head. Others prefer a box or small room large enough to admit the whole person, the whole body being subjected to the warm vapor. An opening guarded by a curtain is made in one side to allow the bather to inhale cool air if he should wish to do so, and to give the attendant access to the patient without chilling him by the admission of a large quantity of cold air. As in the simpler form of vapor bath, the head should be kept constantly cool by a cool wet compress often re-applied. Patients troubled with “rush of blood to the head,” should be further protected by a large cool compress placed around the neck and the upper part of the chest.
Steam may be generated for these larger baths by boiling water in the box with a spirit-lamp or a gas-burner, or it may be conducted into the box by a rubber tube connected with a tight boiler.
RUSSIAN BATH.
This is essentially the same in effect as the vapor bath. It consists of a room filled with vapor, and so arranged that by transferring the patient from one point to another the heat may be gradually increased. It has no advantages not afforded by the simpler vapor bath. It is now much used in the larger cities. Probably as much harm as good results from the indiscriminate and reckless manner in which it is employed. Patients have been known to die in the bath of apoplexy induced by the excessive heat. It is followed by shampooing and cooling baths of various sorts.
HOT-AIR BATH.
In administering this bath, prepare the patient precisely as directed for the vapor bath. Instead of placing under the chair a vessel of hot water, place a large alcohol lamp or a small dish containing a few ounces of alcohol. When all is ready, light the lamp or alcohol, and carefully exclude the air. It is hardly necessary to suggest the propriety of putting the lamp in such a position as to insure safety from fire. If alcohol is used in an open dish, it is important to wipe the outside of the vessel quite free from any trace of the fluid, as otherwise it might be communicated to the floor or carpet. Also avoid spilling any portion in putting it in place, for the same reason. It is a very good precaution to place the dish containing the burning alcohol in a plate or shallow vessel containing a little water.
This bath should be conducted in the same manner as the vapor bath. A temperature of 140° to 160° is not at all disagreeable to the patient. At 170° or 180° the same effects are produced as in the vapor bath at 120°. The bath should be followed by cooling baths as directed for the vapor bath.
This is a very valuable remedy for the same class of diseases for which the vapor bath is recommended. It is of very great service in cases of dropsy, Bright’s disease with poisoning from retained urea, and all cases in which a vigorous elimination by the skin is desired. It should not be continued longer than the vapor bath, and much harm may result from its too frequent employment. Like the vapor bath, this may be conducted in a suitable box with an opening for the head.