The American Heart Journal concludes that a home-based thermal hydrotherapy treatment program improves quality of life, heart-failure-related symptoms and heart rate response to exercise in patients with mild chronic heart failure.

The National Sleep Foundation suggests soaking in a hot bath or hot tub and then reading a book or listening to soothing music to aid in sleep.

The Arthritis Foundation study shows that the soothing warmth and buoyancy of warm water make it a safe, ideal environment for relieving arthritis pain and stiffness and improving the range of movement of joints affected by arthritis. Exercising in a warm-water pool or hot tub, or hydrotherapy, is one method of using water to help treat arthritis.

Is it possible that a dip in the hot tub can cause a dip in the blood sugars? According to a pilot study that appeared in the September 16 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), “hot tub therapy” helped a group of type 2s reduce their blood sugars, lose weight and improve sleep patterns.

Americans are using alternative and complementary therapies, often for stress-related complaints. Patients who used Aquatherapy had a significant improvement in spine mobility and in functional scores and a reduction in the daily duration of pain. Assessment of the long-term effects 9 months after therapy showed continued reduction in pain and drug consumption and improvement in spine mobility among the patients who had spa therapy.

The Mayo Clinc states that relaxing in a spa may actually be less stressful to for your heart then working out on an exercise bike. Passive heating, they found, was less stressful to the body than light exercise. “If you’re a heart-disease patient and your physician has recommended exercise.” he concluded. “we feel you can get in the hot tub and likely not have any problems.”