The Water Cure- Hydropathy in Victoriana Part 1

Victorian medical practitioners tried to alleviate human suffering with every new discovery, such as anesthesia, alkaloids, mercury, lead, mummy powder, acids, sulfur, and electricity. Some were effective in their use, some detrimental. Among all these experimental treatments, the most controversial, and exciting cure of all was water.

Ancient Egyptians and Greeks used water for healing in rituals, and in medicine.  The idea of water’s healing power on the body slept quietly until the 1700s, and was full awakened by the 1840’s. Now called Hydropathy, its proponents believed the therapeutic application of water could alleviate suffering or even cure disease. Doctors, writers, enthusiasts, and hydropathy societies pushed “The Water Cure” into the public eye. 

Spa’s opened in cities and near natural springs, doctors prescribed diet and drink regimens, and countless products and inventions cashed in on the health fad. Some people even got better.

During the Industrial Revolution more and more people worked in overcrowded cities and lived in dirty diseased conditions. Time spent in the country eating healthy, exercising, and drinking plenty of water improved the health of quit a few Victorians. Charles Darwin, Florence Nightingale, and Charles Dickens all improved during hyropathic treatments.

Much of the medical community remained skeptical of claimed broken bones and minds healed with simple water. Foes of hydropathy’s healing powers cited over-embellished claims and lack of evidence.

Although doctors and physical therapists still use some forms of  hydropathy (now called hydrotherapy) today, its origins, near supernatural claims of healing, and place in Victorian society makes it a great bit of history to stick into a roleplaying game.

               

Hydropathy Prescriptions and Treatments

The following list contains Hydropathic practices used in the 1800s.  Feel free to mix and match the prescriptions and accordingly adjust the water temperature to make a health regimen suitable for your adventures.

                Drink massive amounts of cold water (no less than 12 glasses a day; up to 30)

                Wrap sheets drenched with cold water around the patient’s entire body

                Wrap select body parts with specially shaped wet bandages

                Get blood flowing by rubbing the patient with a wet towel for a few minutes

                Wrap the patient in a dry blanket to invoke sweating for an hour followed by cold baths

                Take cold baths first thing in the morning/last thing before bed

                Douching / douche baths

                Avoid drugs and alcohol

                Bath or swim in seawater

                Don’t wear flannel or cotton

                No medical drugs

                No mineral water

                Eat mainly simple meat and vegetables

                Eat plenty of fatty foods

                Eat mainly coarse bread

                Take vigorous walks in fresh mountain air

                Wakeup early

                Drink seawater

                Constantly wear “Neptune Girdle” (a wet sheet wrapped around the waist)

                Avoid contact with the opposite gender during treatment

                Take baths that submerge half the body

                Take head baths by dipping the head in a bowl of water

                Sprays (warm or cold showers)

                Take long baths in hot water overnight or even continuous baths for days

                Bath in quiet dimly lit rooms

                Drink sulfur water or iron mineral waters

                Take galvanic baths (baths with an electric current passing through the water)

               

Hydropathy is a well of adventure hooks that does not run dry. Next week’s post looks at using hydropathy in a Victoriana Adventure.