WELLNESS AUTHOR
Jessica Tranchina, PT, DPT & Willy Woods
CONTRAST HYDROTHERAPY AND YOUR BRAIN n How this unique therapy affects your most valuable asset.
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What is contrast hydrotherapy (water therapy)?
ver leave a wellness center with a sense of clarity? Maybe you had a question or concern that’s been racking your brain, and it seemingly worked itself out. You’re calm yet vigilant, focused and effortlessly multi-tasking. Somehow, these paradoxical states have become your actualized experience. Personally, I feel happier, more conversational and patient, finding that I’m most productive in those hours immediately following contrast therapy. There’s a reason high performers — whether they’re athletes, special forces operators, C-suite executives or creatives — are flocking to contrast therapy and discovering new ways to get extremely hot and miserably cold. While the physical effects of contrast therapy often take center stage, the most profound effects might be happening between your ears.
MAY 2021
Contrast hydrotherapy is simply alternating from cold water to hot water and, at Generator, the temperatures are a chilly 49 degrees and a balmy 107 degrees in both of the jetted tubs. Our protocol begins with 30 minutes in our full-spectrum infrared sauna, followed by three rounds of alternating between the hot and cold tubs for three minutes in each, ending with vibration and compression therapy.
Why opt for water as a thermal conductor for therapy and not air?
Water is a much better thermal conductor than air, at least by 20x or so. Ever wonder why 50°F water is so much colder than 50°F air? This is because heat escapes your body much more easily and quickly in cold water than if you were standing in cold air, because water conducts heat much more quickly, allowing the heat to pass through it from your body. Throw some jets on and you’re in for a chilly experience. Why? Jets dissipate the heat given off by your body away from your body, preventing your body from heating up. Brrrr.
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