Hydrotherapy to Reduce Swollen Ankles

Alternating hot and cold showers to the legs are commonly recommended by Naturopaths to help general circulation in the legs. Researchers at the University of Lund, Malmo General Hospital, Sweden have found that alternating cold and hot water therapy does indeed improve on systolic blood pressure and patients’ walking ability. In a prospective case study with repeated measurements before and 1, 4 and 12 months after treatment.

Twenty consecutively included patients, 11 women and 9 men (mean age 73.9 yrs), with intermittent claudication according to clinical examination and ankle-arm systolic blood pressure participated in the study.

Alternate hot and cold hydrotherapy of the legs were given at ten 25-minute treatments during a three-week period. The outcome measures were maximal walking ability, walking ability before pain and systolic blood pressures of toe, ankle, arm.

The results revealed that 14 patients (70%) reported reduced pain after treatment and walking. Among those who reported improved walking ability one year after treatment, systolic blood pressure in both right and left ankles and toes increased. e.g. right toe increasing from an average of 72 to 86. Improvements of systolic blood pressure in left and right leg and changes of walking ability were correlated.

Showering the legs of patients suffering from swollen ankles and painful walking was therefore found to improve walking ability and reduce high blood pressures, and that these benefits could be sustained up to 1 year later. The re-port recommends that this form of hydrotherapy should be considered as an additional alternative to conservative treatment of intermittent claudication.

Elmstahl 5; t.ilja B; Bergqvist D; Brunkwall J Hydro-therapy of patients with intermittent claudication: a novel approach to improve systolic ankle pressure and reduce symptoms. mt Angiol (ITALY) Dec 1995, 14 (4) p389-94