Plenty of people enjoy their hot tubs in the spring, summer and fall. But many owners assume that when it’s time to winterize the pool and shut it down for the season, the hot tub has to close down as well. Not so! While hot tubs feel good and bring the fun in the summer, are you aware of the physiological, mental and psychological benefits a hot tub may offer in the colder months?
In fact, some of the benefits of a hot tub become even more pronounced and important during the winter months. (After all, sore muscles don’t give you a break in the colder months!)
Perk 1: Reduce SAD, Stress and Anxiety
There is a very real condition known as Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) that is experienced by an estimated 10 million Americans every year. More than simply “winter blues,” SAD typically comes on during the fall or early winter when the daylight hours are substantially shorter. Many with SAD feel withdrawn, sad, stressed, anxious or overwhelmed.
Hydrotherapy in a hot tub may help you relax, reduce anxiety and stress, and encourage or promote social connections.
Perk 2: Arthritis Relief
Many who suffer from arthritis find colder temperatures exacerbate their symptoms. (You know your grandmother used to talk about feeling the chill all the way to her bones!) Soaking in a hot tub can help muscles relax and reduce the symptoms, temporarily providing not only warmth but also relief of the joint stiffness associated with arthritis.
Perk 3: Pain Relief
Whether you have aches and pains associated with hard work, an athletic injury, or a diagnosis such as fibromyalgia, hydrotherapy in the winter can help relieve pressure and promote healing and pain relief. The weightless feeling of being in water counteracts gravity, which tends to compress spines and joints, causing pain in the back and major joints such as hips and knees.
Perk 4: Improved Sleep Quality
A dip in the hot tub in winter before bed could set you up for an amazing night of restful and restorative sleep! Because of the early darkness, our circadian rhythms can get messed up. (You know that feeling when you want to go to bed at 5:00 p.m. because it’s pitch black? Yeah, that…) A soak in the hot tub lowers your blood pressure and heart rate, inducing that lovely, warm drowsy feeling. It also helps unwind the day, reducing the anxiety and stress of holidays and work, relaxing you, and getting you ready to drift off to sleep.
Perk 5: Self-Care
Between pandemics, virtual learning, virtual working, elections, holidays and other potential stressors, it’s easy to lose yourself in making sure everyone around you has their needs met. We often put ourselves on the back burner.
But remember this paraphrasing of the airline emergency instruction: take care of yourself so you continue to be well enough to take care of others. If you neglect yourself continually, you won’t be physically, emotionally or mentally whole. You cannot give what you do not have.
Making your self-care a priority, especially over the winter months, is important. And a few minutes of R&R in the hot tub may be an easy way to give yourself permission to care for yourself. It may just be the catalyst you need.
Peek Pools remains available during the colder months to service and install hot tubs. Enjoy these benefits and many others this winter. Call us at 615-866-8800.