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BBC News: Can you get the benefits of exercise by having a hot bath?

I guess I've just found out why, as much as I like a hot, supposedly relaxing, bath, I always feel worse afterwards.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36744906?SThisFB

"One of the first things that we were looking at," Steve says, "is the energy expenditure while you're in the bath and what we found was an 80% increase in energy expenditure just as a result of sitting in the bath for the course of an hour."

This is nothing like as many calories as cycling for an hour (which comes out at an average of 630 calories) but we do burn 140 calories, the equivalent of a brisk 30-minute walk.
 

PennyIA

Senior Member
Messages
728
Location
Iowa
I know I've been taking Epsom salt baths lately and they really help with the muscle pain... admittedly it's usually 20 minutes.

But I'm completely wiped out afterwards... so taking it at night lets me go straight to bed after.
 

Invisible Woman

Senior Member
Messages
1,267
"sitting in the bath for the course of an hour."

if I sat in the bath for an hour I probably wouldn't be able to get out of it:confused:

Yep. Before I knew better, I decided to have a nice long soak in the bath. I thought it would help with pain - especially when I chucked some epsom salts in.

It is a long bath and I am a short person. I almost managed to drown myself. I felt really faint and couldn't keep my head out of the water. Luckily I managed to reach the chain connecting to the bath plug. Having pulled the plug, I then didn't have the strength to climb out of the bath. I was freezing and stuck there for about an hour.

That was my last bath.
 

panckage

Senior Member
Messages
777
Location
Vancouver, BC
I think on the Dr Oz show :rofl: some random doctor said that for CFS hot showers are good before bed but should be avoided earlier in the day. My own anecdotal experience matches that, although I only had a hot shower once during the daytime so I'm hardly a reliable source
 

justy

Donate Advocate Demonstrate
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5,524
Location
U.K
I can manage a short hot bath, if there is someone else in the house in case I get stuck. I don't have them often as they wipe me out, but I had thought this was some kind of OI/blood pressure issue or a bacterial die off. Ive never had severe PEM from a bath so that leaves me wondering if, for some of us at least, it might be a way of 'exercising'?
 
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15,786
Ive never had severe PEM from a bath so that leaves me wondering if, for some of us at least, it might be a way of 'exercising'?
There are definite cardiovascular effects from being immersed in hot water. The body needs to cool itself, so blood vessels expand and blood is pumped faster to get more of it closer to the cooler air. That extra load on the heart might be what is burning calories and/or causing us to crash if exceeding our limits. Though I'd guess the dilation of blood vessels (and maybe the elevated heart rate itself) is what causes the immediate OI reaction.
 

Keela Too

Sally Burch
Messages
900
Location
N.Ireland
I have never tolerated hot (or warm) baths - even prior to ME - because they give me migraine. :p
Pity as sometimes I think a long soak would be lovely.... meh.
 
Messages
1,082
Location
UK
It is a long bath and I am a short person. I almost managed to drown myself. I felt really faint and couldn't keep my head out of the water. Luckily I managed to reach the chain connecting to the bath plug. Having pulled the plug, I then didn't have the strength to climb out of the bath. I was freezing and stuck there for about an hour.

That was my last bath.

I understand this one well :( this was almost every bath i had during the first few years, i only managed to get a bath a few times a year back then though.

I've had baths where I'd slowly slide under and the water sliding up my nostrils would temporarily bring me round until i slowly slid under again.

The longest i've spent in an empty bath was overnight, it was during winter and i shivered all night. It was a very long night.

Ever since then, i try to remember to have a blanket within reach if it ever happens again :(

i do have an electric bath lift from social services which is great for lifting me up to the top of the bath; but; when sitting in it down in the bath, the water has to be very deep in order to cover the seat base and me on it which is defeating the object for me as i need the hot water to cover me to boil out the muscle pain if sore. So i dont use it that often :confused: