Also called hydrotherapy; a cure for various ailments, water is used to enhance beauty, alleviate stress, or for the derivation of pleasure. Overall, its uses go far beyond quenching thirst or keeping clean; it has always been so.
Water, whether fresh, sea water, or containing naturally occurring substances such as sulfur, is bathed in publicly and privately at different temperatures, taken internally as medicine, or used ritualistically to ward off evil spirits. The body may be immersed in water, float upon it, or be wrapped in dampened towels. Water may be inhaled in the form of steam, applied to wounds in the form of icepacks or applied to the body to prevent swelling.