Contrast shower for health
Contrast shower stimulates the work of the cardiovascular, nervous and immune systems. In addition, it invigorates and activates the protective functions of the body, as a sharp change in temperature causes it to mobilize all its capabilities. This procedure, like any contrast effect, is used for chronic fatigue, heart disease, neuralgia, rheumatism, diabetes, anemia, migraine, kidney and vascular disease, etc. However, people suffering from vegetovascular dystonia, hypertension, thrombophlebitis and cerebral ischemia, this procedure can be carried out only after detailed consultation with the attending physician.
At home, when taking a contrast shower, you first need to pour the whole body with water of acceptable temperature for you, then the temperature should be raised to the maximum possible limit, after about 30 seconds, the hot tap should be closed and for 20-30 seconds, pour the whole body with cold water. After that, you need to open the hot water and bring it to the maximum temperature, and then again pour cold. But the second time under a cold shower should stand a little longer - from 1 to 2 minutes. Finish the procedure you need, quickly pouring the body with hot water, and then replacing it with a short cold shower.
Contrast shower is considered a general procedure that affects the entire body. Therefore, do not linger and pay attention to individual sites.
Transitions from a hot shower to a cold shower should be only 3, and the procedure must always be completed with cold water. In this case, you need to make sure that under a cold shower you do not feel chills. Pouring the entire body, do not forget to wet your face.
At first, when taking a contrast shower, you can use the following scheme:
1. Warm water( at this time the body gets used to the effects of water).
2. Hot water( only for the time being nice).
3. Cold water( for 20-30 seconds).
4. Hot water( for 20-40 seconds).
5. Cold water( 1-2 minutes).
6. Hot water( within 20-60 seconds).
7. Cold water( only for the time being nice).
There is another way of taking contract shower : turn on the hot water and stand under it. After 10-15 seconds, close the hot tap, turn on the cold water and sweat it also for 10-15 seconds. Repeat this cycle 3 times, finally pouring the body with cold water.
To the contrast, the soul needs to get used gradually. The first 2-4 weeks the temperature of the water should be pleasant for the body, and only then you can go to the contrasting soul, making one transition from hot to cold water. The exposure time of cold water should be limited to 10 seconds. This procedure should be taken within 7-14 days, after which you can go to a contrasting soul with two transitions, etc.
You can start to perform the whole scheme, but to relax the temperature difference and pour out not cold and hot, but cool and warm water. This contrast shower is recommended for people who are weak or sick.
Healthy people after a period of habituation can pour not just cold, and icy water, so that the results of hardening were more palpable. However, it also happens that, after bringing cold water to a temperature of 19-20 ° C, people begin to catch cold and get sick. But this does not mean that the contrast shower does not suit them: just the water of such a temperature is not enough to activate the defenses of the body.
Remember: when dousing with cold water because of a short exposure time, heat will not have time to get out of the body, but the temperature difference effectively affects the entire body, especially the nervous system, which includes the mechanisms responsible for immunity and thermoregulation.
A contrast shower should be taken every day, preferably in the morning, immediately after exercise. If you have the opportunity, do this twice a day. But remember: your morning exercises should not include yoga exercises, as after doing them, contrast shower is not recommended.
Like other water treatments, the contrast shower is also useful for the skin: it opens the ducts of the sebaceous glands, so after it it is not necessary to wash the body with soap. So, with oily skin, it is recommended to use soap approximately once a week, and for dry skin - 1 time per month.
After contrasting shower, it is useful to rub the body with a towel made from coarse cloth or a special mitten - this will strengthen the capillary circulation, as a result, the skin will receive the nutrition necessary for it. In addition, grinding after the shower will help remove dead skin cells of the epidermis, after which the skin will become smooth and supple.
Rubbing should begin with the scalp, in the direction from the periphery to the center. Then you have to grind the limbs from the fingers to the trunk. After this, circular movements from the center rub the chest, then the stomach, moving first to the navel, and then from it. Next, you need to grind the lower back from the coccyx to the middle of the back. And finally, the final stage will be rubbing the back along its entire length.