In Huangdi Neijing, it is said that "those who have pathogenic factors think that they are sweating" (those who are sick due to the invasion of external factors are bathed in hot water to make them sweat and sweat out pathogenic factors), while in The Book of Rites, it is said that those who have head sores are bathed and those who are sick are bathed. Wu Shangxian, a famous master of external treatment in Qing Dynasty, divided medicinal bath into washing, bathing, bathing and bathing in On External Treatment. Chinese medicine bath is a kind of hydrotherapy method, which is based on syndrome differentiation of traditional Chinese medicine, boiling selected Chinese herbal medicines into soup, and then bathing after dilution. It belongs to one of the external treatment methods of traditional Chinese medicine. Chinese medicine bath is simple, cheap and painless. Under the guidance of doctors, it is relatively safe and reliable to choose the right medicine and use it in the right way, which can avoid the side effects brought by other ways of administration and facilitate patients to implement self-medication.

In the process of traditional Chinese medicine bathing, we should pay attention to the following aspects:

1. Chinese medicine bath must ask Chinese medicine practitioners to prescribe medicine according to the condition and make medicine soup according to the doctor's advice. Don't choose your own medicine blindly.

2. Be sure to take a shower before taking a shower and keep the medicine pool clean. Rinse with warm water immediately after bathing, dry your skin and get dressed in time. Generally speaking, hot water medicated bath (39℃ ~ 45℃) is suitable for rheumatoid arthritis, rheumatic myalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, sequela of various bone injuries, obesity, psoriasis and so on. The temperature of medicated bath is suitable for nervous hyperactivity, insomnia, general pain, dyspepsia, etc. Should be equal to or slightly lower than body temperature; 25℃ ~ 33℃ is suitable for acute sprain and contusion. The room temperature should not be lower than 20℃ when taking medicine bath. When taking a local medicated bath, you should pay attention to keeping warm all over, and take shelter from the wind in summer to prevent colds.

When taking a bath for the first time, the water level should be below the heart. After about 3 to 5 minutes of physical adaptation, it will slowly soak into the shoulder position; Bathing time should not be too long, especially the whole body hot bath. Due to excessive sweating, the loss of body fluids is large; The skin blood vessels are fully dilated, and the blood volume on the body surface increases, leading to head ischemia and dizziness or syncope. In case of syncope, you should get out of the bathtub in time, lie flat on the bed in the lounge, and give the patient some boiled water or sugar water to replenish body fluids and energy. Or wash your feet with cold water, so that the blood vessels in the lower limbs contract and the blood supply to the head is sufficient.

4. Patients with severe heart failure, severe pulmonary insufficiency, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, aortic aneurysm, arteriosclerosis, hypertension, and bleeding tendency, the elderly and children should use medicinal bath with water temperature above 39℃ with caution, but they should take a bath with liquid medicine close to body temperature, accompanied by family members or medical staff, and the bathing time should not be too long. Medicated bath is not suitable during pregnancy or menstrual period, especially tub bath and sitz bath.

5. The whole body is prone to syncope after soaking in hot medicine bath, so get up slowly from the bathtub after bathing; Mild chest tightness, dry mouth and other discomforts occur when soaking in medicine bath, so you can drink water or drinks properly; If you have serious discomfort, you should immediately stop taking the medicated bath.

6. It is not advisable to take a full-body medicated bath before and half an hour after meals. Medicinal bath before meals, due to an empty stomach, sweating too much when taking a bath, is easy to cause collapse. Medicated bath immediately after meals can cause gastrointestinal or visceral blood decrease, blood tends to the body surface, which is not conducive to digestion, and can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and even nausea and vomiting. It is not advisable to take a whole body hot bath before going to bed, so as not to affect sleep after excitement.