Hot Springs in Spain & Modern Spa

What are the real advantages of a Natural Hot Spring Spa compared with a modern portable Jacuzzi spa?

By a natural Hot Spring Spa I mean the kind of location that people would travel to take the waters. The actual word SPA is thought to have come from the Latin as Sanus Per Aquam (SPA) meaning health through water. Some people believe that in the days of the Roman Empire that their soldiers would seek out hot springs to help heal their battle weary limbs.

There are of course many places on Earth where natural hot springs can be found but it is accepted that the meaning SPA derives from the city in Belgium that is called SPA. The Belgium City that is famous worldwide "Spa" is the actual place where the very word "Spa" comes from. Then in Great Britain you have the City of Bath which is very aptly named with its very famous Roman Hot Baths.

In Iceland there are multi Hot Spring locations as there are in many parts of North America and New Zealand to name but just a few.

When one thinks of Hot Springs in Spain one of Spain's well known hot springs is set in the beautiful Andalusian region of Malaga. In the Sierra foothills of the mountainside to the north of the Guadalhorce Valley is the well known spa village of Carratraca.

Carratraca has been renowned for hundreds of years for the natural curative properties of its sulphur-water hot springs. The English poet Lord Byron was a frequent visitor during the 19th century when the village was at its most popular. The ancient facility is constructed in the traditional Roman way using both marble and sandstone.

For many thousands of years it can be shown that warm water has been a natural relief for the various ailments that life brings. In ancient Times in Egypt, Greece & Rome it was a very common practice to enjoy long hot soaks, not only was it accepted to be a ritual but indeed more than that as it was known to bring relief from the aches and pains of life.

In those days they were often small pools of water with the benefit of having warm water piped into them from a natural hot spring.

We still have many of those today but these often have that rather strange smell of sulphur and are not always pleasant.

A modern portable Spa with the latest in design and fully adjustable water and air jets is much superior to a natural hot spring as it can provide a combination of both Hydro Therapy and Hydro Massage.

A portable Spa does not have the many thousand year old setting but it is undoubtedly outstanding therapy, and the water is better for your skin. As soon as one submerges in to a Modern Hot Tub Spa and you begin to enjoy the warm spa water, it causes two very important and beneficial events to occur in your body.

First there is the scientific fact that the warm water makes the capillaries in the body to increase and this then increases the blood flow through your body and of course to your skin. An increase in blood flow simply means better circulation and with that goes the life force that constitutes the Human Body with the essential nutrients that one needs to maintain life.

Second it slightly increases the heart rate and this adds to the additional blood flow through ones whole body. As we are composed of mainly water something like in excess of 90% is water, the fluids in our bodies are neutral (or nearly neutral) in weight. Our body fluids will then identify with the water in the Hot Tub simply as natural buoyancy.

This means that the effect or pressure of gravity on ones body and circulatory system is considerably reduced. This has the very clever and simple effect of reducing the distance between your heart and your feet. Although, of course, in reality, this is not the case.

The blood that in Chinese medicine is referred to as stagnant (very slow) is now able to be energized and is able to move much more freely and it is able to do this because of the combination of open capillaries (heat), and buoyancy (water).

There is however one other thing that one should do to enjoy the full benefit and that is simply to just let go and relax.

Then the beneficial benefits of Hydrotherapy and Hydro massage help to provide respite and healing. Simply the rate of blood flow is now in ones own body and not in your head, and then your mind can start to slow down and relax and be in a more restfull state.