Hydrotherapy can help
reduce stress, lower
inflammation, improve
immune function
and heart health by
increased circulation.
We’ve all heard that age is just a number—it’s how young you feel that matters. It turns out there’s some truth to this old adage. Many aspects of aging are largely within our control.
Aging is the culmination of life’s wear and tear. If you take good care of your body, you can extend longevity and minimize many of the effects of aging.
In fact, genetic researchers are working on age reversal technology. Turning back the clock on our health could eventually be a possibility. While it’s unlikely we’ll ever find an age panacea, we do know that certain lifestyle habits preserve and even improve our physical and mental health.
Stress-management and relaxation, in particular, play a key role in the fight against premature aging.
About Aging
Aging is a natural biological process everyone undergoes, but the symptoms vary drastically from person to person. Some people seem to retain a lifelong youthful glow, while others age prematurely.
Because there isn’t a one-size-fits-all aging experience, doctors measure a person’s age in three different ways:
1. Chronological — Your age in years and months.
2. Biological — Your age based on the health of your body.
3. Psychological — Your age based on how you feel and behave.
The average life expectancy of U.S. adults is increasing steadily, thanks to advancements in medical technology and health education. While the longest documented lifespan is 122 years, scientists recently reported that a 150-year human lifespan is a possibility.
As we age, every aspect of our health is affected:
• Brain health and cognitive functioning • Muscle and joint strength and bone density
• Hormone and chemical production • Organ health and immune system
• Vision and hearing • Hair, skin and nails • Emotional and mental well-being
It’s normal for all of the above to be affected by age in some way. Sometimes, health deteriorates, such as with dementia or mobility issues. Other times, health improves, such as having a greater sense of well-being when looking back on your life. In other cases, your appearance changes, but it has no bearing on your health, such as with graying hair.
Though aging is inevitable, how quickly we age isn’t set in stone. In some cases, age reversal may be possible.
What Causes Premature Aging?
Though aging is something everyone undergoes, some people age prematurely. Premature aging is the appearance of signs of aging sooner than the average timeline. Whether it’s developing wrinkles and gray hair in your 20s or slowing down physically as early as your 40s, premature aging can have a range of effects.
An accelerated aging process has several risk factors, including:
- Genetics: Some genes preserve health, while others cause it to deteriorate. For example, a variant of the gene APOE (a gene responsible for making a protein that helps transport cholesterol) is associated with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease. But a group of “longevity genes” are
known to be better at repairing DNA, giving these genetically blessed people a potentially longer lifespan. - Stress: Stress, and our resilience to it, plays a key role in our rate of aging. Studies have found that chronic stress accelerates aging by shortening telomeres—the protective caps on the ends of DNA strands. Telomeres normally get shorter each time a cell divides, but in highly stressed people, the shortening is accelerated. When telomeres become too short, the cell dies off or triggers an inflammatory response in the body—both of which accelerate the aging process.
- Sun exposure: UV rays from the sun penetrate the layers of the skin and damage its elasticity. High amounts of sun exposure lead to wrinkles and dark spots, causing the appearance of aging skin. The face, neck, chest and hands are the most frequently exposed areas and are the parts of the body most affected by UV-related aging.
- Environmental toxins: Even people who are in excellent health can experience premature aging when exposed to high levels of environmental toxins. Some toxins cause an elevated level of free radicals in the body, which are unstable molecules that cause damage to cells and are linked with aging. Gerontogens are substances that accelerate aging, such as the chemicals in tobacco smoke or industrial pollution.
- Poor lifestyle habits: Your daily habits can determine how quickly you age. A 2018 study found that smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise resulted in a significantly lower life expectancy compared to people who followed healthier behaviors.
While you can’t choose which genes you were given, you can manage many of the other risk factors associated with premature aging.
By following healthy habits, staying out of the sun, avoiding toxins and managing your stress, you can take control of your aging process and help extend your longevity.
Best Anti-Aging Treatments and Practices for Longevity
The opposite of premature or accelerated aging is successful or healthy aging, which happens when a person can stave off the undesirable effects of age. Many of the risk factors for premature aging can be avoided by adopting a healthy anti-aging lifestyle.
Age reversal research shows that people who eat well, exercise enough and sleep plenty can significantly reduce their risk of preventable diseases—many of which lead to premature aging and shorter life expectancy.
As we age, our dietary needs change, with most people needing fewer calories of higher nutritional value.
One study found that women who eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains but low in sodium and refined sugar have healthier cellular regeneration required for anti-aging.
In 2018, a large study involving more than 120,000 participants found that those with the highest cardiovascular fitness had the lowest risk of mortality. The CDC advises that adults need 150 minutes of exercise weekly to help prevent premature aging due to chronic illnesses.
Proper exercise and sleep are also associated with reduced levels of stress.
Since stress is linked to advanced aging, it’s important for everyone to find healthy ways to reduce and manage their worries. Whether it’s through meditation, breathing exercises or getting enough sleep, it’s important to give our bodies time to relax and rejuvenate.
When it comes to anti-aging for skin, following a healthy skincare routine can prevent premature signs of aging, such as fine lines, wrinkles, sunspots and lackluster complexion.
Healthy anti-aging skincare routines should include applying SPF and wearing a hat to prevent direct sun exposure. Drinking plenty of water, keeping the skin clean and quitting smoking are all doctor recommended ways to care for your skin.
Anti-Aging Health Benefits of Hydrotherapy Treatment
To achieve successful aging, it’s vital to follow healthy anti-aging habits that promote whole-body wellbeing. An essential aspect of anti-aging is incorporating daily stress-management and wellness practices that encourage repair and rejuvenation.
Hydrotherapy is a popular way to help revive your physical, mental and emotional health daily.
Also known as warm or hot water therapy, hydrotherapy is the practice of relaxing and recovering in a therapeutic bath regularly to promote well-being and restoration.
Hydrotherapy dates back to ancient Greece when physicians recommended people bathe in warm mineral water to promote physical healing. Today, everyone can benefit from hydrotherapy in the comfort of their homes with whirlpool bathtubs. Hydrotherapy bathtubs also feature massage jets that deliver relaxing massage therapy in combination with soothing warm water.
With both warm water and massage therapy, hydrotherapy bathing can provide numerous benefits, including helping to promote revitalization and cellular repair that’s vital to anti-aging.
The potential benefits of hydrotherapy massage for anti-aging treatment.
1. May Lower Inflammation
Chronic inflammation is one of the leading factors of common age-related diseases, from heart disease to diabetes to cancer to Alzheimer’s disease.
While inflammation is the body’s natural immune response to injury, it can sometimes go unchecked when the immune system overreacts. When inflammation lingers, it adds stress to our organs, blood vessels, skin tissues and more. Over time, it can lead to diseases that accelerate the aging process.
People who are at risk of chronic diseases or want natural ways to reduce the aging effects of inflammation may benefit from hydrotherapy.
A 2013 clinical trial found that patients with chronic heart failure who bathed in hot water for 10 minutes daily over a two-week period had lower inflammatory markers compared to the control group that showered instead. In another study, researchers found similar effects in fibromyalgia patients. And in type 2 diabetes patients, acupuncture combined with hydrotherapy appears to reduce inflammation markers.
Recently, scientists have proposed that chronic inflammation is directly involved in the accelerated aging process. Unnecessary inflammation that occurs when there’s no infection or injury can cause cells to stop regenerating. When cells stop dividing, they die off, which is what causes aging.
The association between inflammation and aging is so apparent that doctors refer to the condition as “inflammaging.”
Finding ways to regulate inflammation could be an important intervention in the aging process. While more research is needed to understand the types of inflammation hydrotherapy can help with, it may still be considered a beneficial way to reduce harmful inflammation that could be involved in inflammaging.
2. Can Promote Heart Health
One of the earliest age-related changes the body undergoes is to the circulatory system. As we age, the heart muscle starts to gradually enlarge as its walls
become thicker. These changes typically cause your heart rate to slow and your blood pressure to increase with age. Even your blood composition can change, with your body being slower to produce red blood cells, particularly during times of stress or illness.
Additionally, blood circulation itself can change with age, with older adults having slower muscle blood flow than younger adults. How soon these changes occur may have to do with certain risk factors, such as not exercising enough, poor diet and smoking.
To promote healthy heart aging, older adults need a combination of exercise and blood-pressure management to improve longevity.
Hydrotherapy may offer heart health benefits such as:
- Reducing blood pressure when immersed in 90-degree bathwater
- Improving blood circulation, possibly due to the moisturizing effects of the bathwater
- Regulating heart rate and increasing circulation when immersed in CO2-enriched bathwater
Heart disease prevention is a significant aspect of anti-aging. While everyone is naturally affected by cardiovascular changes, managing blood pressure and improving cardiac health are within your control. Hydrotherapy, along with exercise and diet, may offer you an additional way to improve your lifestyle and protect your heart. The potential benefits of hydrotherapy massage for anti-aging treatment.
3. Helps Alleviates Stress
Adopting healthy ways to cope with stress is one of the best things you can do to protect against aging.
Stress is a major cause of accelerated aging because it impacts your DNA health. DNA is the instructions your body uses to make proteins that build and restore our cells, tissues and organs. High levels of stress are known to prevent this process, leading to premature aging.
Stress also affects your skin and outward appearance. Wrinkle-free skin is high in collagen—a protein that gives skin its elasticity and smoothness. As we age, we naturally produce less collagen. While this is a normal process stress can accelerate the outcome.
Another impact of stress is that it causes tension in your face. Over time, muscle tension in your jaw, cheeks and eyebrows can cause deep skin creases.
If you are experiencing high levels of stress in your life, it’s vital to take time every day to restore your health. Because it encourages deep relaxation, hydrotherapy for skin may help you improve the appearance of stress-related wrinkles.
Hydrotherapy bathing provides the me-time you need each day to prevent the effects of stress.
4. Can Contribute to Better Immune Function
Your immune system protects you from viruses, bacteria, parasites and even cancer cells. Immune cells repair damaged tissues, wounds and injuries. As you age, your immune system learns to adapt to the types of threats you’re exposed to. However, it also becomes less efficient over time.
Older people tend to be at a greater risk of infections than younger people because immune cells are slower to respond. It may take longer to recover from illness or for wounds to heal.
According to the American Psychological Association, stress is a factor in immune health, particularly in older adults. Relaxation practices are essential to not only preventing chronic illness but also keeping the flu at bay.
Because of hydrotherapy’s benefits for relaxation, it may help to prevent stress-related illnesses. While there have been few studies conducted looking specifically at the effects of hydrotherapy on the immune response, several studies have found that hydrotherapy can help reduce inflammatory markers
related to immune-inhibition.
Additionally, because hydrotherapy has been shown to help promote blood circulation, it may also help with lymphatic fluid flow — the immune system’s way of circulating white blood cells.
Lymphedema is the swelling or blockage of lymph nodes, typically in the arms or legs. It most commonly affects older adults, particularly those undergoing cancer treatment. Common solutions for restoring lymphatic flow in the extremities include wearing compression stockings, receiving massage therapy or doing gentle exercises.
Older adults concerned with immune system health due to poor lymphatic flow, may wish to try warm hydromassage therapy to help boost circulation.
Get Hydrotherapy at Home for Anti-Aging Benefits To age successfully, it’s important to prioritize your physical and mental well-being. Exercise, diet, sleep and relaxation can help prevent age-related diseases. Whether you’re looking to relieve stress, protect your heart health, reduce inflammation or boost your immune system, anti-aging products and lifestyle habits can help you achieve your health goals.
Hydromassage therapy is a safe and natural therapeutic solution that may help promote successful aging.
Soaking in your own whirlpool jetted tub is like a daily spa retreat for your mind and body. Air or water massage jets, combined with soothing heat, provide a tranquil remedy to help with muscle soreness, as well as age-related stress and inflammation.