After about 15 minutes in the steam, the parent then holds the child's face in front of the opened freezer compartment of the refrigerator, while encouraging the child to inhale the cold air. If the weather is cold enough, a brief trip outside, holding the child in a blanket, may achieve the same effect. This process should be repeated several times. This form of water-supported exercise is recognized by many insurance providers. Still known as hydrotherapy in Europe, it is recommended for patients whose medical condition causes pain during physical therapy outside of water, or whose rehabilitation will be aided by a water environment.
Procedures range from immersion in a whirlpool bath to movement therapy in a swimming pool.
This unique form of therapy has been described as water ballet, though it is wholly passive on the patient's part. The therapist holds, floats, tosses, or stretches patients through the water in a specific sequence of movements. The effect is somewhat like aquatic yoga combined with maneuvers from shiatsu, or Chinese massage. The practice of constitutional hydrotherapy originated with Otis G. Carroll in 1908. To earlier forms of water treatment, Carroll added electrical stimulation, shortening the application times for the hot and cold packs.