by Sussanna Czeranko, ND, BBE
Years ago, cold water applications constituted some of the chief therapeutic
interventions in Naturopathic treatment plans. Vincent Priessnitz and Father Kneipp mastered
cold water as a therapeutic tool. Cold water had many characteristics and benefits that were
well understood. Naturopaths of that era invariably chose cold water above hot water or even
herbal remedies or other modalities.
Understanding the value of cold water treatments in health care is valuable for all of us. What is
cold water? The answer involves many variables: temperature, source, composition, flow,
ambience, application and usage methodologies, and more. With regard to temperature and
sourcing, for example, cold temperatures used by the early Naturopaths were very specific and
with clearly articulated procedures and planned outcomes. The literature shows that they knew
how to use cold water in its most efficacious manner and wrote volumes about it.
As a case in point, John Harvey Kellogg wrote over 1100 pages on the topic of hydrotherapy
using cold water. He left behind encyclopedic knowledge. According to Kellogg, cold has three
various levels: very cold, cold and cool. We might want to insinuate “tepid” into this list since for
many of us, any water temperature below hot seems to us cold. His classification shows a
differential of 48º F or 27º C between the very coldest water and the warmest cool water used in
his sanitariums. At Kellogg’s Sanitarium the coldest water was at freezing point, 32º F/ 0º C;
80º F/27º C was what was considered the upper extreme of “cold water”. The range of tepid
water was between 75 and 92 F / 24 to 33 C. Contemporary patients (and Naturopaths
too) would find these ranges chilly. I recall receiving a cold plunge at Dr. Kathy Roger’s clinic in
Washington one time that caused me to jump out of my skin. I have taken many cold plunges in
my time: some as cold at 45 F / 7 C with perfect ease yet, the cold plunge at Dr. Roger’s clinic
was excruciating, even at 85 F/29 C. We cannot assume that what is cold for me is cold for
you. And, more often than not, the ambience, preparation and process of cold water treatments
affect our experience quite dramatically.
Curran Pope, established similar water temperature classifications except that he did not use
water at freezing temperatures like Kellogg, but rather used slightly warmer temperatures for
very cold water, 34º to 55º / 1º to 13º C. (Pope, 1909, 22) However, should we find ourselves
in water of 32º or 34º F / 0º or 1º C, we might not appreciate this one or two degree difference.
Water at these temperatures will be numbingly cold to most. George Knapp Abbott, another
hydrotherapist of this period, had established similar temperatures of his colleagues with slightly
warmer temperatures for the category of cool water. Friedrich Eduard Bilz, a disciple of
Sebastian Kneipp used water temperatures ranging from 43º to 88º F. /6º to 31º C. The
different classes of water were divided between fresh spring water, from 43º to 54º F / 6º to 12º
C, and cool water at 54º to 65º / 12º to 18º C. Bilz used tepid water temperatures ranging from
77º to 88º / 25º to 31º C. (Bilz, 1898, 1946) Bilz counseled that that “the hand is by no means a
good test as to the temperature of water, and the uninitiated may make serious mistakes. It is
far safer to be guided by a thermometer.” (Bilz, 1898, 1946)
Much research was conducted in the 19 th and early 20 th centuries, attuned to evaluating
the properties of cold water on the body’s metabolism. There were studies comparing
temperatures, duration, and delivery of the cold application, such as baths with compresses or
douches, ablutions, jet douches, etc. Kellogg reminds us to pay attention to the variables of the
water application. Kellogg states,
“Whether or not the final effect of a cold application is sedative or excitant, depends much on the mode of application and the temperature employed, but most of all on the length of the application and the state of the patient.” (Kellogg, 1902, 100)