Bath with a cold: how to properly treat acute respiratory infections. Rules for visiting the bath Why is the Russian bath useful

Bath is a great place where you can relax and steam your body thoroughly. Even in ancient times, the steam room was used as a therapeutic and anti-cold method of therapy, and ancient healers considered high temperature to be a “cleansing power”. But you can often hear the question: “can I go to the bath with a cold”? There are a lot of opinions and warnings about this. Let's look at what points to consider.

The influence of the Russian bath on the human body

There are many techniques that contribute to the removal of toxins, as well as toxins through the skin. And this is no coincidence. Cleanse the skin, let it "breathe" freely, fill it with moisture and let it sweat well in a bath, sauna, and you will not recognize yourself and your well-being.

To get the maximum recovery from visiting the steam room (wet or dry), frequency is important. You should not expect a good result when visiting the bath once a year, the optimal period is 1-2 times in 10 days.

Due to the factors of physiological effects (humidity, high temperature), the bath has a versatile effect on the body:

• the skin under the influence of steam is cleansed of dead cells. The pores open and are cleansed of fat, dirt;
• circulation is enhanced. The heart begins to work actively, reserve blood begins to move;
• nervous excitement and tension are removed, drowsiness, relaxation are felt;
• the respiratory rate and its depth increase, which contributes to good ventilation of the lungs;
• all processes in the body are normalized and accelerated;
• internal organs and joints are well steamed;
• under the influence of high temperatures, metabolism is normalized and lactic acid is excreted. Thanks to this, fatigue is removed in the muscles, they become more elastic.

But still, is a bath possible with an illness? During a cold, you can and should visit the bathhouse. It has been proven that those who go to the bath more often get sick less often, since the bath is an excellent tool for preventing colds.

What are the benefits and harms of a bath for a cold?

Doctors are of the following opinion: in the early stages of the development of a cold, visiting a bath or sauna will contribute to a faster recovery. But if the cold dragged on, passed into a difficult stage with complications, there can be no question of any steam room. Let's take a closer look at the positive and negative aspects of visiting the bath for a cold.

Arguments for":

1. Under the influence of high temperature in the blood, the production of leukocytes increases (according to some reports, up to 20%), which fight viruses. Therefore, if you have the initial stage of a cold (runny nose, headache) - you need to bathe.
2. "Achy joints" with a cold is a well-known symptom. It is the bath that will help to cope with this condition, thanks to the intake of nutrients and oxygen into the body.
3. It is useful for a person with a cold to sweat, which is what happens in the bath.
4. Using a broom or a massage glove will help to steam out the tissues and expand the blood vessels. This will lead to blood circulation, therefore, increase the protective functions of the body.

But not always a visit to the bath with a cold will have a positive effect on well-being. Improper and prolonged exposure to steam on a weakened body can lead to complications.

Arguments against":

1. If a person has an elevated body temperature (above 37 degrees), the heat in the room will create an additional burden on the heart and blood vessels, which can lead to a heart attack.
2. With a long, protracted cold, the virus has already “taken root” in the body, and under the influence of high temperature it will develop even faster. This can lead to the development of new chronic diseases (asthma, bronchitis, allergies, tracheitis, pneumonia).
3. If a cold is accompanied by a severe headache, when visiting a sauna or bath, dizziness and even fainting may occur.

So, let's sum up. All those who like to take a steam bath should remember: you can go to the bathhouse with a cold only at an early stage of the development of the disease, after recovery or as a prevention of relapse.

How to treat a cold in the bath?

To achieve the maximum effect from visiting the steam room, you should know some rules for the treatment of colds:

• in the steam room, be sure to wear a felt hat on your head, this will protect you from high temperatures and prevent overheating;
• in the steam room, it is better to lie on the top shelf, which will allow you to sweat quickly and well. Breathing will become easier, and coughs and colds will recede faster;
• after leaving the steam room, you need to rest for 30-40 minutes, sit or lie down so that the body cools down well;
• you can’t sit in the steam room for a long time, you need to take short breaks and relax in the dressing room. If you feel unwell, immediately leave the steam room.
• avoid drafts in the room, this can lead to an increase in colds.

Each person reacts differently to changes in temperature. If you did not tolerate the bath very well before the illness, you should not take risks and experience a weakened body.

Bath procedures

Let's talk about effective therapeutic bath procedures that will help improve health, increase immunity and get rid of the disease:

1. Inhalations. When coughing, runny nose in the bath, steam with the addition of essential oils (fir, lavender, eucalyptus) helps well. It will promote deep inhalation, which will thin the sputum and clear the airways of mucus. The selected oil (10-20 drops) must be diluted in 1 liter of water and added to the stove, moisten the broom and shelves in the steam room with the composition.
2. Rubbing. To enhance the effect of the effect of the bath on the body, you first need to warm up well and sweat. To enhance perspiration, you can rub the body with a mixture of honey and salt, taken in equal proportions.
3. Medicinal drinks. After visiting the steam room, a person loses a lot of fluid with sweat, which should be replenished, but it should not be plain water. An additional healing effect will be created by taking herbal decoction (chamomile, linden, thyme, lemon balm). You can brew hot tea with honey, lemon, raspberries or ginger. Drinks should be taken during periods of rest after visiting the steam room.
4. Massage with a broom. This procedure is an indispensable massage that promotes the removal of toxins and slags, and increases blood circulation. But one condition: you need to choose the right broom. A broom made of eucalyptus will help get rid of a runny nose, cough and sore throat. You can dip the broom in hot water, let it cool slightly and apply it to your face for 5 minutes. A birch broom helps well in case of a cold, relieves cough and relieves pain in muscles and joints.

I would like to recall the basic rules: if there is no temperature yet, you can safely go to the sauna or bath. Steaming in a bath at a temperature is not worth it - it is better to stay at home and be treated, and visit the bath after recovery in order to support and strengthen the body.

Bath is a universal means of healing that has a beneficial effect on the state of the whole organism. Any more or less experienced bath attendant in a private conversation will tell you many stories about miraculous cases of getting rid of diseases, thanks to soaring in the bath. The bath is especially effective for colds. As a rule, if the disease has just begun to overcome, one visit to the steam room is enough to leave no trace of it.

What are the benefits of bath procedures for acute respiratory infections?

Recovery from a cold in the bath is due to simple physiological processes that occur in the human body when exposed to high temperatures and wet steam. In the process of taking bath procedures:

• Hot steam helps to open the pores and wash out pathogens from them.
• High temperature increases blood circulation, and this allows you to purify the blood, remove harmful substances from it.
• The body begins to produce 20% more white blood cells than under normal conditions. Accordingly, the more white blood cells, the faster they will destroy foreign bacteria and viruses.
• Wet steam (in a Russian bath) acts on the bronchi and lungs, like an extreme inhalation. There is a cleansing of the respiratory organs from mucus, as a result of which it is easier to breathe, coughing disappears.
• Steaming, especially with a broom, has a beneficial effect on the joints and ligaments. A cold is very often accompanied by body aches - a bath quickly relieves this symptom.

Everything has its time or when is it better to stay at home?

The question of whether a bath is useful for a cold cannot be answered unambiguously. On the one hand, yes, warming up in a steam room can significantly speed up recovery. However, only if the disease has just begun. If you go to the bathhouse as soon as you feel unwell, then it is likely that the cold will subside on the same day and the acute stage will not begin. It is useful to look into the bath and immediately after a cold, in the first days after recovery. This will give you vigor and help restore strength.

However, in some cases, a cold and a bath are not compatible. A visit to the bath will only lead to an increase in the painful condition if:

• the disease has entered an acute stage. If viruses and bacteria in your body have been hosting for more than a day, then elevated temperatures in the bath will only accelerate their reproduction. The disease will begin to progress and, quite possibly, will reach complications - pneumonia, bronchitis, asthma, etc.
• you have a fever - from 37 ° C and above. Even a slight increase in temperature leads to the fact that the human heart begins to work in an accelerated mode. If you add to this the temperature load in the steam room, you can easily get a heart attack. Or, at best, weaken the body so much that it no longer has the strength to fight the disease.
• ARI is accompanied by headaches, which can intensify in the bath. This can lead to dizziness and even fainting.
• herpes appeared on the lips. In humid and hot conditions, the herpes virus multiplies faster.

To summarize: visiting the bath during a cold will benefit you only in the initial or final stages of acute respiratory infections. If this is about you, then welcome to the bath - let's start the treatment!

Remedy number 1. Massage with a broom

When treating a cold in a Russian bath, you should definitely take a steam bath with a broom. This will increase blood circulation in the capillaries, activate sweating, speed up the metabolism, and help flush out toxins and toxins from the pores. Moreover, it is important to choose the “right” broom:

• - accelerates sweating, calms the nervous system.
• Birch broom - promotes sputum discharge from the bronchi, eliminates pain in muscles and joints.
• (juniper, fir, spruce) - stimulates perspiration, disinfects the air in the steam room.
• Eucalyptus broom - cleans the air of pathogens, eliminates cough, runny nose, sore throat. It is especially useful to “breathe” with a eucalyptus broom. To do this, you need to steam a dry broom, and then press it to your face and breathe in the outgoing ethereal vapors. It will take about 5 minutes for everything, and you will feel relief from the painful condition immediately.

Remedy number 2. Therapeutic rubbing

The better you warm up and sweat in the steam room, the faster you will be able to say goodbye to the disease. To enhance perspiration, therapeutic rubbing with special “sweating” agents, which include honey and salt, is especially effective.

You can do this: mix honey with salt (fine table salt or crushed sea salt) in a ratio of 1: 1 and rub the heated skin with this composition directly in the steam room. With the onset of a runny nose or cough, this procedure will work better than any medicine!

Remedy #3: Aromatherapy

Recall that inhaling hot wet steam, a person gets the effect of inhalation. At the same time, the respiratory tract is moistened, liquefaction and sputum removal occurs. This happens with any deep inhalation, but when moist vapors are enriched with essential aromas, the effect will be several times higher.

To combat colds, aromas of pine, fir, eucalyptus, juniper, geranium, and lavender are traditionally used. The solution for inhalation is prepared as follows: 10-20 drops of essential oil of one of the above plants are diluted in 1 liter of water. Most often, the stones of the heater are poured with this solution, instead of ordinary water. However, this option is not ideal, as the oil on the stones often starts to burn, giving off a very unpleasant burning smell. Without the risk of getting something like this, you can water the walls of the steam room with the resulting composition or evaporate the aroma of the essential oil in an aromatic evaporator.

Remedy number 4. Bath healing drinks

In between visits to the steam room, it is imperative to replenish the loss of fluid. This is necessary to support the body, as well as for a diaphoretic effect in the steam room and a more active cleansing of the body.

Teas made from linden, thyme, elderberry, chamomile, mint, lemon balm will help you cope with a cold. As additional anti-cold supplements, you can use honey, lemon, raspberries.

Many people like to bathe in the bath, but a sudden illness can prevent you from enjoying this pleasant and useful procedure. A bath with a cold is especially useful in the initial stages of the disease. But there are contraindications that every person needs to know about in order not to cause a deterioration in the condition.

Since ancient times, a cold, including a runny nose, was treated in a bath.

Useful properties of the bath:

• Accelerates metabolism.
• Strengthens immunity.
• Removes waste and toxins from the body.
• Under the influence of warm steam, the mucus liquefies and better comes out of the sinuses.

• Improves blood circulation throughout the body.
• Promotes the removal of sputum from the upper respiratory tract, helps to fight cough.
• Sauna stimulates the body to produce interferon, which fights viruses and infections.

You can take a steam bath in a bathhouse only if the body temperature has not reached critical values. If the temperature rises above 37.5 degrees, then you can not visit the bath. This can provoke a sharp deterioration in the condition and lead to very serious consequences.

Can a child go to the bath with a stuffy nose?

Children with a runny nose can visit the bathhouse in the same way as adults. You just need to make sure that the temperature in the bath is not too high, since the child's body is weaker compared to the body of an adult.

It is not advisable to take a child to the sauna with nasal congestion if he has too high a temperature, heart problems or vegetative-vascular dystonia. Otherwise, the condition of the child will only worsen.

Is it possible to go to the bath with a cold and be treated?

It is possible and even necessary to visit a bath with rhinitis. It just has to be done right. It is good if essential oils of cedar, lavender or eucalyptus are used during the bath. Vapors will have a beneficial effect on the nasal mucosa. And under their influence, the liquefaction of the accumulated mucus will occur more actively. After a while, you can feel the improvement. To alleviate the condition, you can use a coniferous broom.

You can also go to the bath with snot at the end of the illness as a preventive measure. This will help strengthen a weakened immune system. Your body will get back in shape faster.

Is it possible to bathe in the bath with a runny nose and how to do it right?

Before going to the bath, you need to learn how to properly bathe with a stuffy nose.

How to steam in the sauna with a runny nose:

• You can stay in the steam room for no more than 15 minutes. Then it is advisable to take a short break. It is recommended to enter the steam room no more than 3 times.
• To improve blood flow, you can use a broom made of birch or pine needles. With a runny nose, it is better to give preference to a coniferous broom.

• After the steam room, you can jump into the cool pool. Contrasting procedures activate the body and improve skin tone.
• After the sauna, you can not supercool. You need to dry yourself with a towel and stay warm. Otherwise, hypothermia can contribute to the development of complications.
• In order to improve the condition, the bath can be combined with the intake of herbal decoctions. This procedure will quickly put the patient on his feet.

Is it possible to take herbal decoctions for treatment in the bath?

The most effective sauna for a runny nose will be if you combine it with the intake of herbal decoctions.

Tea can be made from the following herbs:

• Thyme.
• Linden.
• Sage.
• Mint.

2 tbsp. l. pour dried herbs with boiling water and leave for 20 minutes. Then add a spoonful of honey and drink like regular tea.

To alleviate the condition, you can carry out the following procedure:

• Pour 20 g of mustard powder with water.
• Pour the liquid over the hot stones in the sauna.
• Breathe over the steam.

After a while, the congestion will disappear and breathing will become easier.

You can also use a special solution based on wild rosemary. 2 tbsp. l. chopped rosemary herb mixed with 50 ml of olive oil. Infuse the herb for a month in a dark, well-ventilated area.

Then strain the oil and dilute in a liter of water. The resulting liquid based on wild rosemary is poured onto hot stones in the sauna and inhaled with healing vapors. The same infusion can be instilled into the nose for rhinitis to facilitate breathing. You can drip 2-3 drops into each nostril.

Contraindications

Bath and runny nose can sometimes be incompatible. In some cases, there are contraindications to visiting the bathhouse. First of all, you can not visit. In this form, mucus accumulates in the sinuses and causes inflammation. If left untreated and under the influence of high temperatures, it begins to liquefy and can provoke inflammation of the cerebral cortex.

In this case, such a pleasant activity as visiting a bathhouse can lead to the development of meningitis and other complications.

It is also contraindicated to visit the sauna at a high temperature. This can lead not only to a deterioration in the condition, but also to heart failure or a heart attack.

Going to the sauna with a severe cold and headache can lead to dizziness, fainting and loss of energy. After such a procedure, a person may feel overwhelmed and tired. The temperature may also rise.

Despite the fact that the bath is very useful and has many therapeutic effects on the body, there are some contraindications. For example, a bath with a severe sore throat is not desirable, and for some people it is generally contraindicated. Some, on the contrary, think that it is worth headlong to the sauna with a sore throat, but in fact this matter should be approached more responsibly.

Is it possible for a patient with a throat to go to the bath or should it be better to refrain. The opinions of doctors and just lovers of the steam room in this situation are divided. We will try to weigh the pros and cons in order to answer all the questions of those interested.

If you have a sore throat, it is not necessarily a simple inflammation. Often and thickly it can be a sign of a sore throat. This viral disease in humid air and even at elevated temperatures only reproduces better. You can go to the sauna or steam room just with a sore throat, but with the flu or sore throat, which is a viral disease, it is not recommended. You understand that when you visit a steam room, bacteria only develop. But how the patient wants to visit the bath. I understand you perfectly, so we will try to describe in more detail the consequences for certain diseases, if you disobey and visit the bathhouse.

If we talk about angina, then this is a systemic disease. The focus of the disease itself is located in the palatine tonsils and there is not only a sore throat, but also an increase in temperature and general weakness in the body. in a steam room with a throat

Naturally, a patient with such a disease should never go to the steam room. It is already difficult for the body to cope with the disease, and here you still load the immune system to cope with fever. In addition to all this, the temperature improves and enhances blood circulation. Due to this, the infection quickly spreads throughout the sick body and the disease only worsens. If the question is whether it is possible to go to the bath with a sore throat or not, then definitely NO.

Pharyngitis

Pharyngitis is a less dangerous disease and is caused by other bacteria. When visiting a steam room, they will not lead to such serious complications, but still you can’t visit a steam room either.

In most cases, you can’t go to the bath with a sore throat, because you don’t know what kind of illness you have. For example, as we said above Pharyngitis, it is not manifested by weakness and sometimes passes without fever. The main symptom is simply a sore throat and slight weakness. How do you determine if it's just a sore throat or this disease? It is impossible to do this without a certain examination and consultation with a doctor.

VIRAL INFECTIONS

Viral infections often and thickly cause a sore throat. Scientists have proven that warming up is very detrimental to viral infections. Therefore, in some cases it is better not to even drink pills, but to visit a sauna or bath. But you should always take action. Often, a viral disease is accompanied not only by sore throat, but also by a strong fever. If you go to the steam room, you will simply bring yourself to a critical state.

It is also worth saying that if a sick person goes to the bath, then there is a possibility that he will infect other people. And in conditions of elevated temperature, bacteria multiply very quickly and penetrate into the human body.

As a result

Is it possible for a patient to go to the bathhouse if his throat hurts or not, everyone decides, but the editors of our site consider it better to refuse to visit. There are too many factors that can adversely affect your health if you visit a bath. Ideally, consult with your family doctor or just a friend who works in this field. Although the steam room has a good effect on the human body, it is still necessary to pay attention to your health. Even medicine will be poison if used without measure.

In the old days they said: “I went to the bath - all the ailments came out ...” Today, in relation to the bath and water procedures in general, doctors are skeptical. Most often, bathing procedures are under a categorical ban, while there are those who confidently declare: "I always feel better after a bath." The most acute question arises when it starts. Is it really possible to go to the bathhouse, sauna with a runny nose, will such procedures be useful?

Bath "therapies" have always been considered a good preventive measure against colds. Even in the old days, the effect of such treatment was noticeable and bath procedures, together with herbal decoctions, were widely popular.

Modern medicine recognizes that in the initial stages of the development of SARS, other colds, a visit to the sauna will only benefit. The primary symptoms - sore throat, cough, weakness - will pass without a trace if you steam well, and then drink a decoction of medicinal herbs. For greater effect, such compositions are supplemented with honey, lemon juice, milk, raspberry jam. After such therapy, it is recommended to wrap up warmly and go to bed.

With a runny nose, visiting a bath, sauna will have a beneficial effect on the body:

1. Staying under the influence of hot steam helps open the pores, which allows you to quickly remove toxins and harmful substances that have accumulated in the body.
2. Improves blood circulation. Due to a sharp increase in body temperature, there is a large production of leukocytes, it is they who have a strong resistance to penetrating viruses and pathogens.
3. Inhaled vapor baths, especially when using some kind of essential oil, for example, cedar, lavender oil, or as an inhalation for sick respiratory organs. Inhalations contribute to the removal of sputum, cleanse the bronchi, lungs.
4. Using a birch or coniferous broom allows you to expand blood vessels, improve the work of cardiac activity.

Previously, for lack of medicines, a runny nose and a cold were treated in a bath, which in most cases helped get rid of a cold after several bath sessions.

Usually, after such therapy, a cough disappears. Expectorating, the patient spits out the masses accumulated on the respiratory organs, as a result, the nose is cleared. Breathing becomes better, it stops pressing, it hurts behind the chest, the cough goes away. Of course, this is all a temporary phenomenon and without appropriate complex treatment, the ailment will return again.

Thanks to the "hike" in the bath in the early stages of the development of the disease, or at the end of treatment, when there are still residual effects of the pathology, the patient's condition will be significantly alleviated.

When is the bath not allowed?

Despite a lot of positive effects, bath steam, high temperature and high humidity can often aggravate the patient's condition, complicating the course of the disease. So, a bath, a sauna with a cold, is extremely contraindicated, if the patient, in addition to snot, has high body temperature. This symptom is very dangerous, indicates the development of severe inflammation, possible complications. It is necessary to take a closer look at the patient, realizing that bathing procedures will definitely not benefit him.

Neglect of contraindications can lead not only to a complication of the general condition of the patient, but also to an exacerbation of a cold, heart failure, heart attack.

The course of a cold, together with severe headaches, can result in a severe breakdown, dizziness, and fainting.

You can not go to the bath "with herpes", the disease will spread even more, covering more and more areas.

However, the most dangerous bath will be for those who rarely bathe at all. visits such places.

Out of habit, such procedures can end very badly.

You can not go to the bath, shower, sauna, when the disease has passed from the initial stage to the most dangerous and is progressing more and more.

How to steam properly?

Having brewed the selected broom with hot water, as soon as it has steamed out, you can begin to soar the patient. To make the procedure easier to transfer, you need to put on a special cap on your head. If the patient bathes himself, then also cover the hands with protective tops.

Soaring a person with a broom is a whole science:

1. The process begins with light clapping, one might say stroking, starting from the feet to the head area.
2. They come back, slightly clapping on the sides.
3. Returning up, attention is paid to the lumbar region, hips, buttocks. By treating these areas with a broom, you can not only pat, but also, as it were, rub in circular motions, exerting maximum effort.
4. The broom is taken by hand from both ends, pressed against the lumbar region and, with slight pressure, gently pulls its top to the back, up to the very neck. Repeat up to six times.
5. After that, the back area is well steamed, making sharper movements, adding the park in parallel.

You can steam in the bath no less than an hour or two after eating

If it is difficult for the patient to be in the steam room, and he complains that he “does not like” such therapy, then the process must be stopped immediately so as not to harm his health.

If the patient becomes ill, he needs to be taken out of the steam room to a cooler place, let him breathe, wash his face with cool water. It will take some time to observe the general condition, and if deterioration begins, call an ambulance.

How to be treated for a cold in the bath?

To find out whether it is possible to bathe in a bath with a runny nose, in each case, the attending specialist will tell you, based on the general condition of the patient, the severity of the development of a cold.

With a satisfactory solution, the treatment in the bath can be as follows:

When, when there are no contraindications, it is allowed to enter the steam room in several stages. The temperature in the steam room should be the same as the person usually “withstood” before he fell ill.

As for children, is it possible for a child with snot to go to the bathhouse, it is difficult to draw conclusions on their own. The children's body is unpredictable and you must first consult a doctor. Indeed, if the snot appeared not as a result of a cold, but against the background of ENT diseases, then the child's condition may become critical after the steam room.