Effect of warm foot bath with ice massage to head and spine on Autonomic variables in healthy individuals

Inhydrotherapy, baths are one of the ways to apply water to the human body fortherapeutic purposes. Baths can be a full or partial immersion of the body inthe water of different temperatures. Since ancient times,thermoneutral, warm and hot temperatures (33.5°C - 41°C) have been widely usedfor foot baths.

Inhydrotherapy, ice is a therapeutic agent used in medicine as an integral partof injury treatment and rehabilitation. The application of ice has been shown to producephysiological changes. Ice massage is performed by means of a rubber bag filledwith ice or ice water to the head and spine for durations of 15 to 20 minutes. It is a simple and inexpensive procedure, and a studycomparing three types of cold simulations (ice application to hands, forehead,and face) and their effects on cardiovascular adaptations (E.g., application ofice to sites other than the hands, including the forehead and face), BloodPressure (BP) and Heart Rate (HR),(16) were reduced, with a significant improvement in Heart Rate Variability(HRV) toward vagal dominance. The ice pack or intense, prolonged cold applications to theback have a sedative effect on the spinal cord and also on the vasomotorsympathetic nerve centers.

There are fewstudies on ice massage to the head and spine alone on blood pressure and HRV onwarm foot bath as a single treatment in different groups, but no studies on thecombination of both treatments.

Becauseindividual treatments have their own benefits, they usually result in greatereffects when combined. The present study aimed to investigate the effect ofwarm foot bath with ice massage to the head and spine on autonomic variables inhealthy individuals.

Grouping:

Subjects will be divided into threegroups by computer generated randomization:

·      Group 1: Warm foot bath with ice massage to head and spinefor 20 minutes (n ≥ 30).

·      Group 2: Warm foot bath for 20 minutes (n ≥30).

·      Group 3:Ice massage to head and spine for 20minutes (n ≥ 30)

Method:

·      Institutional ethical clearancewill be obtained prior to the conduct of the study.

·      Informed consent will be obtainedfrom the individuals by explaining the study objectives, methods, interventionand will be obtained from every participant after an appraisal about the studyprotocol.

·      All the rights of the individualpertaining to the study in their own language.

·      After selecting the eligiblesubjects.

·      Allotment will be done by using aComputer-generated random number.

·      Group 1: Warm foot bath with ice massage tohead and spine for 20 minutes (n  30).

·      Group 2: Warm foot bath for 20 minutes (n ≥ 30).

·      Group 3: Ice massage to head and spine for 20 minutes (n ≥30).

·      Assessments will be done before andafter the intervention (Fig. 1).

·  Data collected will be tabulatedand analyzed using appropriate statistical methods.