Tip 22. Remove morbid matter from the surface of the skin with the hot steam bath.

The steam bath is helpful in all forms of chronic toxaemias. It relieves rheumatism, gout, uric acid problems, and obesity. It also relieves neuralgias, chronic nephritis, infections, tetanus and migraine.

Steam bath is one of the most important time-tested water treatments which induces perspiration in a most natural way. The patient, clad in minimum loin cloth or underwear, is made to sit on a stool inside a specially designed cabinet. Before entering the cabinet, the patient should drink one or two glasses of cold water and protect the head with a cold towel. The duration of the steam bath is generally 10 to 20 minutes or until perspiration takes place. A cold shower should be taken immediately after the bath.

Very weak patients, pregnant women, cardiac patients and those suffering from high blood pressure should avoid this bath. If the patient feels giddy or uneasy during the steam bath, he or she should be immediately taken out and given a glass of cold water and the face washed with cold water.