Relax and Recover in Your Home Hot Tub

by Brett Freeman

The therapeutic benefits of hot tubs have not been scientifically proven, but really, what would be the point of proving what everyone already knows? The anecdotal evidence that supports the benefits of home spas and hot tubs is overwhelming.

Look in the training room of any professional or major college sports team, and there's a hot tub. Examine the training routines of endurance athletes, and you discover many of them using hot tub therapy after particularly long workouts. Watch a major swim or diving meet on TV and you see athletes soaking in a hot tub to recover and stay loose between events. The benefits, if not proven, are nonetheless well established.

Heat Helps Healing
Hot tubs are mostly used by athletes to aid in recovery after hard workouts or to loosen stiff muscles. Heat is known to promote greater blood flow and many athletes and trainers believe that soaking in a hot tub after a workout creates this effect throughout the body. The increased blood flow provides more oxygen to fatigued muscles, helping them to recover, and helps flush out lactic acid, the waste product created by muscles during workouts. The bubbles and massaging jets are thought to duplicate the effects of tissue massage, which also promotes blood flow and helps rid muscles of lactic acid.

Soaking into Serenity
Skeptics say that the benefits of hot tubs are psychological; sitting in a hot tub is relaxing and creates a sense of well-being. Even if the skeptics are correct, that doesn't mean that this psychological effect doesn't have very real physical benefits. Stress can lead to very real physical problems, including high blood pressure, ulcers, and insomnia, which are all ailments that can lead to severe secondary ailments. If 10 minutes a night soaking in your spa does nothing more than lower your blood pressure, settle your stomach, and help you get a good night's sleep, it is certainly time and money very well spent.

Source:
The Daily Collegian/Penn State, Hot tubs might be therapeutic by Darbee Nelson
ThisOldHouse.com, Heat Therapy by Pierre Rouzier, M.D.

About the Author
Brett Freeman is a freelance journalist. He also owns a landscaping and irrigation company in North Carolina. Previously he has worked as a beat reporter, a teacher, and for a home improvement company, and he used to own a bar/live music venue.