- Where is the best – a pool, a bathtub, or a shower?
- Home versions
- Pool
- Charcot douche
- Underwater shower
- How does water massage work?
- Nuances and contraindications
How does excess weight disappear and your desired slimness appear? Most commonly, thanks to a combination of diets and exercise. An excellent addition to this tandem is massage for weight loss. Those who love water can choose a procedure with a corresponding program.
Where is the best – a pool, a bathtub, or a shower?
How is it possible to massage problem areas with water? Let’s look at the different methods.
Home versions
The most luxurious, if not inexpensive option, is a shower stall or bathtub with hydromassage in your own bathroom. Modern plumbing stores offer such equipment in huge numbers and variations.
Perhaps the moment has come for you to renovate your own bathroom? Then think about it: maybe it’s worth allocating additional funds to make it possible to perform water massage at home for weight loss (improve tone, relieve fatigue).
Such plumbing is good because it allows you to adjust not only the temperature of the water, but also the intensity of the water jets. This will allow you to adjust the strength of the water’s effect (pressure) on the body.
Recommendations. The water pressure when massaging the abdomen should not exceed one atmosphere. It is acceptable to massage the thighs at two or three atmospheres. Higher pressure usually causes unpleasant/painful sensations.
Is your home bathroom characterized by minimalism? In that case, you can still give yourself hydromassage sessions. In particular, if you purchase a shower head. Ideally, it should have a special lever for switching modes.
Hydromassage bathtub for weight loss
The following rules will work for any home hydromassage:
- water should be warm or cool;
- it is necessary to gradually change the water temperature in one direction or another, without making sudden changes;
- it is also recommended to change the water pressure, making it slightly weaker or slightly stronger;
- the duration of the procedure should not exceed 20 minutes.
Of course, at home, and especially without a special bathtub or shower stall, water massage for weight loss will be less effective than in medical and health institutions (clinics, salons).
Pool
If you have the opportunity to visit a good pool, then one of the best ways to lose weight is available to you – it’s swimming. This activity combines physical activity and massage at the same time.
A modern pool with hydromassage equipment
Fact. Water is 800 times denser than air (which is why you can stay on the water, but it’s so hard to walk through it). When swimming, the water’s resistance creates a slight, but noticeable massaging effect.
Swimming pools in health centers are often equipped with nozzles for hydromassage. This makes it possible to alternate swimming and water massage for weight loss in the pool.
If you go swimming and massage two or three times a week for a month, then a positive result will appear quite quickly and very noticeably. This method is also best suited for losing weight in the thighs and buttocks (to further combat extra pounds there, you can perform simple but effective exercises, which we wrote about earlier).
Charcot douche
This douche was invented in the century before last by Jean-Martin Charcot, the founder of neuropathology. Like many medical inventions, it was created for one purpose (treating nervous conditions), but today it solves a whole range of other problems.
Charcot douche
The Charcot douche is successfully used for weight loss, but it should only be done in medical and health institutions. The procedure takes place in a special room:
- the patient stands near the wall (more often than not, there are handrails there, which are very convenient to hold onto);
- a medical professional directs one or two jets at the body and performs certain manipulations with them;
- after the procedure (which lasts about five to seven minutes), it is necessary to dry the body with a towel and then relax.
The Charcot douche is a very effective procedure. Ten sessions with a one-day interval will suffice to confirm this statement. Strong jets of water not only help you lose weight but also help combat cellulite. However, the procedure is not to everyone’s liking. Even a relatively low pressure can cause unpleasant sensations, although there should be no pain.
Underwater shower
This is another professional type of hydromassage. To undergo the procedure, the patient lies down in a bathtub of sufficient size (usually 2 x 1 x 0.8 m), equipped with nozzles and showers with different heads. The water can be fresh, sea, or mineral (this is determined by the institution’s resources).
A professional type of hydromassage: the underwater shower
The massage is performed by a specialist who uses showers to work on problem areas. Everything proceeds approximately as during a regular massage: intense water treatments alternate with relaxing ones.
The duration of each procedure, as well as the number of sessions, are determined in consultation with a specialist at a massage parlor and/or with a doctor.
What should you be guided by when choosing a technique? The best option is a consultation with a doctor.
How does water massage work?
In general, it works just like any other method (for example, for losing weight in the abdomen and sides). Don’t believe that water can “knock out” subcutaneous fat from the body or wash away lipid residues through the pores. However, there is no doubt that blood flow, lymph flow, and metabolic processes will be activated. In addition, with sufficiently intense water pressure (Charcot douche), the muscles will reflexively tense up, which will further contribute to weight loss.
It is important to remember that hydromassage alone will not help you get rid of significant excess weight. It is effective only in combination with a diet and feasible physical activity.
Nuances and contraindications
During any hydromassage, no pressure should be applied to the mammary glands and armpits, the groin area, the face, or the genitals. It is strictly forbidden to overeat before the procedure, but it is also not a good idea to go hungry. The optimal interval between eating and visiting the health center is one and a half hours. During the entire course of the treatment, especially if the sessions are repeated every day or every other day, you must completely abstain from alcohol.
Contraindications to the procedure are standard:
- pregnancy (and when breastfeeding – with the doctor’s approval);
- any acute diseases and ailments, even a slight runny nose;
- skin conditions and lesions;
- tumor diseases;
- biliary and urolithiasis;
- all conditions associated with disruption of the heart, circulatory system, or metabolic processes (consultation with the relevant specialist is mandatory).
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