Water Cure

{{waternav}}{{hatnote|Not to be mistaken with the [[torture]] method of the same name, now known as [[waterboarding]].}}{{cquote|a lot of children who drink soft drinks actually become ‘stupid’, but once you take the soft drink away from them, their grades improve tremendously|||Fereydoon Batmanghelidj|''NaturalNews''<ref>[https://www.naturalnews.com/Report_water_cure_8.html Sodas cause dehydration] ''Natural News''</ref>}}
[[File:Snow therapy.jpg|thumb|left|165px|Archduke Joseph Ferdinand, Archduke Franz Ferdinand (of [[World War I]] fame), Father Sebastian Kneipp (left-to-right) enjoying barefoot snow therapy]]
The '''Water Cure''' (also known as the '''Kneipp Cure''' or '''hydrotherapy''') was created in 1816 by {{wpl|Vincenz Priessnitz||,}} a peasant farmer in [[Austria]]. The [[water]] cure was later developed and popularized in the 1880s by Father Sebastian Kneipp.<ref>''Meine Wasser-Kur, durch mehr als 30 Jahre erprobt und geschrieben zur Heilung der Krankheiten und Erhaltung der Gesundheit'' by Sebastian Kneipp, Jos. Kösel, 1899.</ref><ref name=mywatercure>[https://archive.org/details/mywatercureteste00knei ''My Water-Cure: Tested For More Than 40 Years''] by Sebastian Kneipp. 3<sup>rd</sup> English edition translated from the 36<sup>th</sup> German edition. Jos. Kösel, 1894.</ref> {{wpl|Fereydoon Batmanghelidj}} later published puff pieces on the water cure in [[Vanity publishing|a journal he runs himself]].<ref name="hall">[https://sciencebasedmedicine.org/the-water-cure-another-example-of-self-deception-and-the-lone-genius/ The Water Cure: Another Example of Self Deception and the “Lone Genius”] by Harriet Hall. ''Science based Medicine''</ref> It was accepted as part one of many [[cure-all]] treatments in the early days of [[naturopathy]].<ref name=universal>[https://archive.org/details/universalnaturop00lust ''Universal Naturopathic Encyclopedia, Directory and Buyers' Guide: Year Book of Drugless Therapy for 1918-19] by Benedict Lust (editor and publisher).</ref> It has since mostly fallen into disfavor.

Hydropathic organisations did accept women before actual medical schools admitted female students.<ref name="slate"/> Historically, they treated female patients with respect.<ref name="slate"/>

In modern-day non-woo medicine, the term "[[hydrotherapy]]" more often refers to physical therapy done in water. Of course, [[NaturalNews]] is promoting the woo version;<ref name="interview">[https://www.naturalnews.com/Report_water_cure_1.html The Water Cure: An interview with Dr. Batmanghelidj] by Mike Adams. ''Natural News''</ref> even worse, they proclaim it a cure to [[AIDS denialism|AIDS]].<ref>[https://www.naturalnews.com/Report_water_cure_2.html The Water Cure: AIDS and the Pharmaceutical Industry] ''Natural News''</ref> Also screw [[credentials]], you don't need a license to practice the hydropathy.<ref name="slate"/>

==How==
Treatments include: covering with wet sheets, foot baths (cold or warm), half-baths (cold or warm), whole-baths (cold or warm), head baths, eye baths, vapor (steam) baths, shower-baths, ablutions, bandages, walking barefoot in the snow, and water drinking. [[Herbal medicine]] and diet (bran bread or ''Kneippbrød'', soup and mead) are also used.<ref name=mywatercure/>

You see, according to most American hydropaths, the water cure is best applied externally on the skin,<ref name="slate">[http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2014/02/hydropathy_water_healing_quack_medicine_empowered_the_women_s_health_profession.html The Feminist Origins of “Eight Cups a Day”] by Erika Janik. ''Slate''</ref> even though skin isn't very good at absorbing water.<ref>[https://www.quora.com/Does-human-body-absorb-water-through-skin Does human body absorb water through skin?] ''Quora''</ref> In fact, the skin of terrestrial animals (including humans) has specifically evolved to ''not'' allow water to freely pass through it so terrestrial animals don't rapidly dehydrate as a consequence of living on dry land;<ref> [https://bio.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Human_Biology/Human_Biology_(Wakim_and_Grewal)/13%3A_Integumentary_System/13.3%3A_Skin Libre Texts, Human Biology (Wakim and Grewal), Integumentary System]</ref> anything that lets water through it in ''one'' direction (which isn't {{wpl|Active transport|some kind of pump that ''forces'' water to pass through it|)}} is also likely to let water passively pass through in the ''other'' direction. 

Incidentally, hydrotherapy is probably, at least in part, the basis for the old cartoon cliché in which a character suffering from the cold is treated with a heated foot bath.

==Aliments that are allegedly cured== 
'''List:'''<ref name=mywatercure/>
{{columns-list|6|
*abscesses
*apoplexy (cerebral hemorrhage)
*asthma
*[[AIDS]]<ref name="hall"/>
*bed-wetting
*bladder diseases
*blood decomposition
*blood poisoning
*vomiting blood
*intestinal complaints
*bowel inflammation
*[[brain]] disease
*brain inflammation
*burns
*catarrh
*chlorosis (hypochromic anemia)
*cholera
*colic
*consumption (tuberculosis)
*costiveness (constipation)
*cramps
*croup (respiratory viral infection)
*weakness
*delirium tremens
*diarrhea
*diptheria
*dropsy
*dysentery
*ear diseases
*epilepsy
*erysipelas (streptococcal dermititis)
*cataracts
*fever
*giddiness
*gout
*hemorrhoids
*hoarseness
*[[hypochondria]]sis
*[[influenza]]
*[[insanity]]
*kidney problems
*knee tumors
*lumbago (low back pain)
*emphysema
*melancholy
*nervous disorders
*perspiration
*rheumatism
*Saint Vitus's dance (Sydenham's chorea)
*scarlet fever
*sciatica
*insomnia
*[[smallpox]]
*stomach acidity
*stomach [[tumor]]s
*tetters (various skin diseases)
*typhus
*ulcers
*difficulty urinating
*vaccination side-effects
*worms
}}

==External links==
*[https://archive.org/details/b30470080/mode/2up Pleasures of the Water Cure] — a satirical Victorian-era booklet illustrated by Thomas Onwhyn

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

[[Category:Pseudoscience]]
[[Category:Alternative medicine]]
[[Category:Nature woo]]
[[Category:Water woo]]

Categories: Pseudoscience, Alternative medicine, Nature woo, Water woo