I’ve found myself in a situation this week where I’m traveling away from my family for medical purposes AND work. By virtue of this, I’ve been sleeping in a hotel bed for three nights now, and I’ll be here tonight as well, heading back towards my home on Thursday. The main issue with this travel is that while I’m gone, the work continues to accumulate. And since I am unfortunately carrying a work phone, I keep getting it all. This is part of the job and part of my specific position but the challenge is trying to check and/or respond to some of these work inquiries when you’re driving, or in the ophthalmologist’s chair, or heaven forbid, sleeping in a bit due to travel fatigue. That’s why, when one is traveling, it’s critically important to find some ways to relax and unwind once the day is done; especially to help reduce the stress and anxiety of being away from home. Enter: the hot tub!
Hot tubs are great and if you’ve ever stayed in a hotel where you’ve partaken of the facility’s swimming pool, there has no doubt been a hot tub (or three, as is the case in my current hotel) tucked away in a corner. If you’re really lucky, the hotel has a steam room and/or a dry heat sauna but for this post, we’ll focus on the hot tub. Most people know the comfort and enjoyment that can come from dropping yourself into the hot, swirling waters of a hot tub. But few people actually recognize the various benefits of soaking in a hot tub, including stress reduction, increased blood flow and heart health and potential better sleep. If you’re tired and sore from physical exertion, work-wise or training, a hot tub can also provide some pain relief for those taxed muscles. Let’s look into some of these benefits a bit further…
According to an article posted on one of my favorite health websites, HealthLine.com, entitled “7 Benefits of Soaking in a Hot Tub,,” the benefits listed kind of touch on some of the ones I outlined above, including stress relief, muscle relaxation, improved sleep, overall pain relief, heart health, improved insulin sensitivity and calorie burning. Evidently, all of these are significantly important to me, so I try and take advantage of a hot tub when I have access to it. But some of the ones on this list sit a bit closer to home for me, and those are the ones I would like to focus on. Starting with muscle and pain relief. While the two are largely one and the same, the relief can be different. For myself, my right shoulder has been buggered for a number of years, a combination of being a southpaw, even if karate is intended to be ambidextrous and being dominantly right-handed.
Most of my joints and muscles have reached a point where they ache after a long day, another combination of age and decades of full contact martial arts. So being able to drop into a nice, hot, swirling tub of bubbly water is an incredible relief for someone in my position. The article outlines that a soak in a hot tub will relax and release tension from muscles, also making easier to avoid injury if you do so prior to a workout. It goes on to say that, “If you have arthritis, the heat and massaging action of a hot tub may help ease the stiffness and inflammation that cause pain,” and “Water supports your body and takes weight off joints, which helps improve flexibility and range of motion. A warm bath might also provide some of these benefits.”
The one that fascinates me a bit, is the better insulin resistance. This is obviously directly pertinent to me, given that I’m Type-1 Diabetic. The article states, “Another study from 2019 suggests that regular thermal therapy using hot baths or saunas may improve glucose tolerance and insulin sensitivity in a population with marked insulin resistance. This could mean that using a hot tub may be beneficial for managing diabetes.” If this is true, I would imagine that this benefit is mostly for those who have a consistent access to a hot tub on a regular basis. The couple of standalone sessions I’m enjoying at the moment wouldn’t necessarily apply. But even solo sessions will provide SOME of the benefit. And lastly (for me) is the fact that soaking in a hot tub can raise your heart rate and lower your blood pressure, which are important things for someone managing Diabetes.
The article outlines far more detail than I am here, so have a click on the hyperlink above and give the article a read. It’s fairly short but provides some good insight into the benefits of a hot tub. So, what about the negative effects? I’m a guy who believes that all life is a balance of good and bad, so if soaking in a hot tub has all these potential benefits, there must be some negative effects too, right? That would seem to make a bit of sense, in the grand scheme of things… Well, the article does wrap up with outlining who should avoid hot tubs. This includes but is not limited to, people who are pregnant, people with heart disease, anyone with open sores, cuts or rashes (or any bandaged injuries), if you have blood pressure issues or happen to have a urinary tract infection.
For myself, I face some definite challenges in the use of a hot tub. Because I wear an insulin pump, I need to suspend delivery and leave the pump on a side table, close enough that it holds connection with my CGM without losing its mind. Because I’m going without a basal feed, I run the risk of my blood sugars climbing while I soak. My CGM, which is tethered to my abdomen and can’t be removed, is a different story. While covered in a very large, very effective adhesive, excessive heat can melt away the glue and cause the adhesive to lift, essentially taking the CGM with it. Add that to the fact that exposing your CGM, or any of your pump parts, to excessive heat for any prolonged period of time may cause them to fail o lose signal. There can also be some effects on your blood sugars, despite the pump being disconnected.
The thing to remember when enjoying the hot tub, is to stay hydrated. While soaking, you’re not just quite hot but you’re also sweating, which you may not notice since you’re submerged in water. But all of this can lead to dehydration. Limit your time in the hot tub to no more than fifteen to twenty minutes, if it’s quite hot (near the maximum heat setting). For myself, I usually aim to relax for about thirty minutes, to make it worth getting wet with clothes on. I always carry a spare adhesive patch, in case the one I’m wearing peels off. Last but certainly not least, be sure to wash off when you’re done. Take a warm (not cold) shower and wash off the chemicals from the hot tub using warm water and soap. If you’re at the public pool, you should avoid going straight from the hot tub to the main pool, as the drop in temperature could cause your blood pressure to spike.
Hot tubs are a definite source of enjoyment and can have a lot of benefits, when used responsibly. Because of the whole blood pressure and dehydration thing, you want to avoid consuming alcohol while soaking in the hot tub. This ain’t a 90’s sitcom; you can make yourself sick that way and lose some of the better benefits of the hot tub. Otherwise, short sessions, regularly if you have access, and remember to stay hydrated. Ultimately, since so many treatments for my many ailments require pills or medications, I love anything that can relieve some pain or ailments without them. So I’m pro-hot tub all the way. Hopefully, all o you can have the opportunity to benefit from it, as well. Food for thought… ☯️
The Blogging Buddhist 