What is Hot Water Therapy?

While reading the book, The Boy Crisis, I came across a section about Hot Water Therapy and realized that, although they were discussing benefits for ADHD and autism, it could help improve my brain function and potentially speed my journey in retraining my lazy eye.

So What is Hot Water Therapy? Hot Water Therapy involves taking a warm bath in mineral water in order to induce a low fever. It has been proven to improve symptoms related to ADHD, autism, dementia and heal the brain. The fever introduces heat shock proteins which have recently been shown to repair and protect brain neurons.

Let’s dive in to how it works, what to expect, and how it is beneficial in healing the brain.

Hot Water Therapy involves taking a bath in hot water every other day for 3 months, . While doing the therapy you should lay back in the water so that only your face is out of the water, but the rest of your head is submerged. If your bath is too short, you can bend your knees, but it is important to try to keep the head in the water.

The bath should eventually be an hour long, but you may have to build up to that point.

The first 20 minutes the water temperature should remain around 98 degrees
For the next 20 minutes, increase the temperature to about 101 degrees
For the last 20 minutes, keep the temperature at 103 degrees.

If you need to sit up for a minute to get a drink of water or take a break, you can still get the benefits, but the more time you spend laying down, the more beneficial the therapy is.

Dr John Gray, a coauthor of The Boy Crisis, who has been using this therapy with his ADHD and autism patients for 15 years, recommends adding epsom salt to the water (6-12 pounds) and adding nutritional supplements to your diet to also aid in helping heal the brain.

His book presented many new ideas and the section entitled “ADHD: Treatment With or Without Medication” was helpful, unique and worth the buy. You can get it here (amazon link). John Gray also has a book, Staying Focused in a Hyper World, that I haven’t read yet, but it is a lot less expensive! Only $2.99 for the kindle version. It also covers his discoveries in Hot Water Therapy.

Where is the Research?

There is not much official research that has been done besides the work John Gray has done treating patients at his Mars Venus Wellness Center.

In 2013 researches did a clinical study regarding Hot Water Therapy and autism. They took 40 kids with autism and gave them a one time, 3o minutes bath at 102 degrees. During the treatment and directly after, they experienced an increase in sociability and a decrease in the symptoms of autism.

The research showed that while a hot bath produced great results, a warm bath seemed to have no positive effect.

They didn’t continue the treatment, so the effects didn’t last, but in John Gray’s work he has seen the amazing, positive results of continuing the therapy every other day for at least 3 months.

There are many potential reasons that Hot Water Therapy hasn’t been the target for more research.

There is controversy around children and hot water. Although no research has been done to prove that hot tubs or hot baths could actually harm a child, there has also not been research to prove that it is safe. For many researchers, it’s not worth the risk.
This is a therapy that can be done at home, no medical practitioner is needed. This means that there isn’t a specific school of medicine that is focused on this work. Doctors are more apt to research approaches that they can take personally to benefit their patients. So this is a great opportunity for us, as the patients to do some personal research.
This is very new in the United States so people haven’t jumped onboard yet.

How and Why does Hot Water Therapy Work?

This treatment shows improvements for a huge variety of ailments because it causes a low fever.

The last 20 minutes of the Hot Water Therapy at 103 degrees is the most important part. It is during this time that a low fever is induced in the brain.

Your temperature won’t change drastically, but it can change enough to “activate healing molecules, called heat-shock proteins, which are now known to protect and repair brain neurons.” (1)

A fever also increases glutathione production and helps restore dopamine function. Those functions are especially helpful when ADHD or autism is present. There is research to show that many children with ADHD have glutathione deficiencies and a dopamine function problems

“Doing hot water therapy every other day gives your immune system the support it needs to finally rid the brain of the chronic infection and inflammation that is associated with all mental challenges from ADHD to autism.” (1)

The benefit that caught my eye was that “during a fever, more immune factors are released to heal the brain.” It also increases blood flow to the brain which can help in healing.

A Strabismic’s Experience with Hot Water Therapy: Why I’m Choosing to Give it a Try

I had an experience singing a hymn at church back at Christmas time. I was trying to follow the words and my eyes wouldn’t stop jumping around. I tried, but I couldn’t get them to focus and stay on the page. I had the thought that my eyes have ADD and resolving the ADD could become part of my solution.

I initially looked into using a prescribed ADHD medication, but after some research I decided to try a more natural route first.

A friend mentioned Hot Water Therapy and The Boy Crisis and bought and delivered me a copy within a few days, I am so lucky to have such a great support system!

After reading The Boy Crisis I decided to give it a try and see if it could help me and my eyes stay more focused.

The first time I took a bath, I was home alone with my 6 year old daughter. I decided to ease into things and go for just 30 minutes with 10 minutes at 98 degrees, 10 minutes at 101 degrees, and 10 minutes at 103 degrees.

It was not pretty, and definitely didn’t reflect the simplicity of the therapy I had read about. Our hot water heater couldn’t keep up, I felt like my brain might implode and when I finished and got out, I almost passed out.

Everything was fine during the bath until I heated it up to 103, I felt my fingers and lips getting tingly, I only made it about 6 minutes before I couldn’t take it and had to sit up.

I got out and immediately felt that I was going to pass out, it sounded like I was under water and I felt weak. I was tracking my heart rate with my watch and my heart rate was at 165 bpm. I sat and did some breathing and it passed in a few minutes.

Afterwards, my face was bright red, and I couldn’t stop sweating. I had promised myself that I would NEVER again try hot water therapy. It was not worth it and horrible and I would find other solutions.

I took a picture and sent it to my husband, complaining about my super red face, his simple reply, “your eyes look straight!”

When I looked closer, I realized that they did, in fact, look straighter. I didn’t understand why, or how or if it was even relevant, but I took it as a sign that I should keep doing it.

I have now been doing the therapy every other day for about two months and all those issues I experienced at the beginning were resolved within the first week. My body just had to adjust.

Right now, science can’t explain exactly why I have strabismus, but my Optometrist believes that a nerve could have been pinched early in my life that caused a malfunction in the communication between my brain and eyes.

Another explanation for strabismus is the fusion center of my brain didn’t develop appropriately.

It could have also been a muscle problem, but my muscles where fixed with 3 surgeries early in life. Unfortunately, the results didn’t last. I believe this is because my brain is missing connections with my eyes.

My strabismus may have been caused by the muscles, but now my brain needs to be retrained. I feel like the Hot Water Therapy can help my brain be at it’s peak function to provide an atmosphere conducive to change and restructuring and relearning.

So far I’ve seen results with eye control and my ability to focus. I especially have noticed an increased ability to multitask and stay focused on tasks.

I am able to control and focus my eyes more effectively and as I have worked on tracking it has gotten so much easier to keep my eyes engaged.

I am planning on doing a hot bath prior to each vision therapy appointment, with my eyes more relaxed and straight, I’m hoping the vision therapy will be more effective. I’ll keep you posted!

Tips for Making Hot Water Therapy a Positive Experience

Here are a few tips for the first few times you try Hot Water Therapy so that you can avoid the disaster of an experience I had my first time.

Make sure there is another adult present to help in case you get overheated and need help!
Turn up your hot water heater so that it can get the temperature up to 103 degrees
For the first few times, just sit up for the final 103 degree portion. This gives your body a chance to acclimate to the new therapy.
Get a digital thermometer and keep it handy to check the water temperature. I use my digital kitchen one, but there are lots of options for water like this aquarium thermometer or this cute kid friendly one. I also like to take my own temperature from time to time just to see how much it raises.
Monitor your heart rate throughout the bath. Mine usually remains normal until the temperature changes to 103. At that point it sits between 115 and 125. When I get out it skyrockets and stays around 150-165 for about 15 minutes. Find out what is normal for you and if it’s too high, sit up or sit down. I use my Apple Watch, which I love because in workout mode in tracks my heart rate constantly. Fitbit Versa does the same thing. There are cheaper options with iffy reviews, and you can always go with the old fashion method of counting which is great too.
When you are done, stay in the bath as the water drains. I find that when I sit and wait, my heart rate doesn’t get quite so high when I get out.
Find a good podcast or book to listen to while you bathe. It helps pass the time. It is hard to hear underwater so I just blast my speaker, much to the dismay of my family. But you can buy underwater headphones that fix that issue, these ones come with an extra long cable so you don’t have to worry about your phone or iPod falling in the tub.
You can buy epsom salt in several big box stores, but when you need 6 pounds for each bath, that gets expensive! This Organic Farming website sells epsom salt in bulk for a fraction of the cost compared to retail stores and amazon. It is the same mineral whether you pay extra for the beautiful packaging and scents or the plain one from a gardening company. Just make sure it is USP grade.

Hot Water Therapy is a very simple, natural solution for the big problems society faces with brain function. By combining it’s healing powers with good nutrition, brains can be healed.

I recommend reading The Boy Crisis and deciding for yourself if Hot Water Therapy could be beneficial for you or a family member. Let me know what you decide, I am curious to hear other people’s stories!

What is Hot Water Therapy?