Air baths. How to get the most out of air baths At what temperature should you take air baths

Air baths

Perhaps there is no need to talk about the benefits of air baths. We all know from childhood how healing their effect is. Staying on the beaches, sunbathing, swimming - all this charges us with vigor and health for a long time. Our body is saturated with oxygen, which means that metabolism improves, the risk of diseases decreases. More great benefit they bring contrasting air baths, that is, alternate exposure and wrapping in warm clothes.

Contrasting air baths

When performing these procedures, if possible, you need to expose the entire body. It is also necessary to remember that the clothes worn between exposures should be somewhat warmer than required for the season.

After performing the procedures, you should lie down for some time on a hard and even bed with a hard pillow.

When performing contrast air baths, you need to be naked in a room with open windows, and keep warm by closing the windows. Warm clothes should be warm, but should not be allowed to overheat to the point of sweating. A sick and weakened person must be helped by someone.

It is best to choose the time of the procedure just before sunrise or until about 10 am, you can also do it in the evening, about 9 pm. The procedures last 30 days, then a break is made for 3-4 days, then again 30 days of treatment. This should be done for about 3 months, and in case of liver disease or other internal organs, treatment should be extended up to a year.

Often during treatment, unpleasant sensations occur: itching, discomfort or stomach pain. This is temporary and indicates the beginning of self-healing of the body.

You can take contrast air baths in the open air, if the weather conditions allow it. The technique is the same as indoors. It should only be remembered that warming clothes should be very warm; the warming time can be extended, but the exposure time must be strictly observed.

The first session (from 1 to 40 seconds) should lie on your back, from 40 to 70 seconds - on the right side, from 70 to 100 seconds - on the left side, from 10 to 110 seconds - again on the back.

When naked, you can rub the stiff parts of the body or do the “Goldfish” exercise, an exercise for capillaries, as well as for the back and abdomen. Having dressed, you need to lie down with your palms tightly closed over the solar plexus. And after completing the entire procedure, lie down for 10 minutes with closed feet and palms. Perform this procedure one hour before meals or 30-40 minutes after it, and not earlier than an hour after the bath.

The technique I propose not only enhances skin respiration, but also improves another function of the skin - excretory. Like the kidneys or other excretory organs, the skin removes harmful substances through the sweat glands.

The total area of ​​the skin surface of human skin is from 1.7 to 2.6 square meters. m. The approximate number of sweat glands is three million. The number of sebaceous glands is approximately 250 thousand. The sebaceous glands secrete products of intestinal fermentation, iodine, bromine, antipyrine, salicylic acid.

Sweat glands secrete 600-900 g of sweat per day, and sometimes even up to 1400 g. It depends on the external temperature, the amount of fluid poured out, kidney failure, blood circulation intensity, conditions such as excitement, fear, anger, which increase sweating. During the development of subacute diseases, instead of an attack of fever, night sweats appear.

Sweat contains mineral salts, fatty acids, urea; lactic, formic, acetic acids. In a normal state, about 1 g of urea is excreted with one liter of sweat, in a diseased state, the amount of urea increases significantly. During illness, the sweat glands become more active to rid the body of toxins and other substances that cannot be excreted by the kidneys, lungs, and digestive tract. Their intense work during the acute period of illness is reminiscent of the efforts of sailors who pump water out of the hold of a ship that has been wrecked.

The size of the sweat glands is not the same: some of them can reach 3–4 mm, others do not exceed 0.1 mm. There are approximately 500 glands per square centimeter of the body surface, which means that the total area of ​​the sweat-producing surface is about 5 square meters. Comparing these figures, one can understand how important the excretory function of the skin is for the body. By strengthening the excretory function of the skin, we help cleanse the body of harmful substances.

Try licking your shoulder with your tongue after exercising, and you will taste the acrid taste of a mixture of acid and salt, much more unpleasant than the taste of pure salt. Moreover, sweat is poisonous. It is enough to let the animal swallow a small amount of sweat to cause its death.

Studies that were conducted to find out the reasons for feeling unwell or even fainting that occur when you stay in a room filled with people for a long time showed that the reason for this is an increase in the content of toxic products in the gases emitted human body, and not a lack of oxygen, as was previously believed.

So for healthy life cells from it must be removed toxins. Nature has created several ways in which these toxins are removed: lymphatic, venous vessels and ducts of the sweat glands. For tens of thousands of years, when primitive man ran all day in search of food and sweated all day, all three channels worked at full capacity. Modern man is less mobile, moreover, he is constantly protected by clothing, often made of artificial, breathable fabrics. Therefore, all those poisons that could come out with sweat, a person carries in himself. As a result, the circulatory and lymphatic systems, and hence the liver and kidneys, work with overload. As a result of such an unnatural overload, people develop diseases of the liver, kidneys, Bladder and other organs. Therefore, in addition to carrying out medical procedures, I recommend not to spoil the skin with too warm clothes, more often to take it off in the open air.

We are machines that run on air. Oxygen is not only the purifier of our body, but also one of the greatest providers of the energy it needs. Fresh air, sunshine carry vital energy to all life on earth. Remember what a plant looks like when grown without sunlight, without fresh air - it seems lifeless. Every tiny leaf of grass, every vine, tree, bush, flower, fruit and vegetable draws its life from solar energy. Everything living on Earth depends on solar energy, on its intensity. Our Earth would be a lifelessly cold place, shrouded in eternal darkness, if it were not illuminated by the magical rays of the Sun. But the sun gives us not only light, solar energy transforms into human energy.

It has long been known that the skin is closely related to the protective reactions of the body. Clinical observations confirm that the skin performs a protective function in febrile diseases. Skin with all confidence can be called the grave of microbes. And sunbathing, being outdoors and especially playing sports in nature help to increase the protective functions of the skin.

It must be remembered that the effect of air on the human body depends primarily on its humidity: the same temperatures are perceived differently. For example, high humidity in the air high temperature promotes overheating of the body, and when exercising under these conditions, overheating occurs faster. Therefore, if it is hot and humid at the same time, be careful during exercise, carefully control your sensations, it is especially important to catch the state of unpleasant strong heat.

At low temperatures, the moisture in the air hydrates your clothes and skin, and you may feel chills. This state should also be alarming. Thus, exposure to fresh air should not be uncontrolled, although many believe that a special technique for taking air baths is not required.

The same applies to sunbathing. Very often, people, trying to tan as quickly and as much as possible, do not follow the rules for sunbathing, and as a result, they are forced to sit out at home or in the shade for a week, or even more, due to burns.

It should also be remembered that if exposure to air has practically no contraindications, then sunbathing can be taken only after consulting a doctor. There are many reasons why sun exposure should be kept to a minimum. This applies to certain diseases of the heart, tuberculous lesions of internal organs, etc. Staying in the sun is very tiring for weakened people who have recently had an infectious disease, as well as those who are no longer young. Old man, who spent the whole day on the beach, may feel palpitations, shortness of breath, and unpleasant profuse sweat will appear.

An even, good tan can be obtained by using fractional exposure to the sun - that is, in small doses, taking breaks. And do not think that sunburn occurs only under the direct rays of the sun; the skin also acquires a dark shade when taking air or sunbathing in aerosolaria, protected from direct sun rays special ceilings, tree crowns. The healing effect occurs after taking small doses of solar radiation, and this effect is far ahead of the appearance of our beloved chocolate color skin. Even in cool weather, you can tan in clear weather, you just need to hide from the wind. But remember that sunbathing without medical recommendations, you will not always benefit yourself.

The basic principle of hardening by the sun is gradualness. At first, sunbathing can be taken up to 3 minutes, after 1-2 days their duration increases by 2-3 minutes. Thus, the duration of the procedure is brought to 50-60 minutes.

Sunbathing is best taken in the morning. The most useful tan is May. And a few more tips. Sunbathing is allowed only 2 hours after eating. It is best to take them on an empty stomach or just before a meal. Some mistakenly believe that the tighter the head is wrapped, the better it is protected from the sun's rays. But all kinds of turbans made of towels or hats made of newspapers interfere with normal heat transfer. Light white panama in this case is more appropriate.

Of course, air procedures are not limited to being outdoors during the warm season. There are many tempering procedures that accustom a person to cold air. Don't wear overly warm clothes and expose your skin often. Of course, you should not suddenly test the limits of your body's endurance, but constant training increases your strength reserves.

The life of the human body can be represented as a metabolism, and metabolism is possible only in the presence of oxygen. Moreover, we should all be interested in not experiencing oxygen deficiency, and a simple conclusion follows from this: we need to provide the skin with free access to fresh air as often as possible and in no case overheat it. There is even such a thing as thermal pollution. When we keep the skin in a clogged state, and even with overheating, we thereby open the way to disease.

Air baths ">

Sun and air are the best beauticians.

Air baths are one of the hardening methods (air hardening), when freely moving air acts on a partially or completely naked body. The healing power of fresh air lies in its richness in oxygen, light ions, phytoncides and other substances beneficial to the body. The main factor affecting a person is air temperature. Air gap between the body and clothing usually has a constant temperature of about 27-28 ° C, and as soon as the human body is freed from clothing, heat transfer immediately becomes more intense. By irritating the nerve endings of the skin, the air improves breathing and oxygenation of the blood, and its movement reflexively enhances the processes of heat generation and heat transfer. At the same time, the intensity of oxidative processes and metabolism increases, as well as the tone of the muscular and nervous systems, the body's thermoregulation systems are trained, appetite and sleep improve, mood rises. Blood pressure normalizes, blood flow accelerates, and the activity of the respiratory system improves markedly.

Start taking air baths in a pre-ventilated area. Then, as they harden, they are taken in the open air. You should undress quickly so that the air bath affects the entire surface of the naked body at once and causes a quick energetic reaction of the body. It is impossible to allow a feeling of chilliness, the appearance of "goosebumps". At the same time, it is recommended to do some vigorous physical exercises, to go for a run. Air procedures are the first step to

Is it possible not to catch a cold at all and thereby protect yourself from a large number of fairly serious diseases? Yes, it's possible. A vivid example of this is the "walruses" - lovers of winter swimming in icy water. Exposing their body to extremely strong cold irritation, they do not catch colds, do not suffer from sore throats, bronchitis, and even a runny nose! But among them there are quite a lot of elderly and elderly people. They are not afraid of the cold, because they have hardened, trained vascular reactions and got the opportunity to swim even in winter in the open air.

Properly carried out hardening serves not only as a prophylactic against colds, but also normalizes impaired body functions, primarily the activity of the cardiovascular and central nervous systems, as well as the psyche. During hardening procedures, due to the rapid change in vasoconstrictor and vasodilator reactions, blood vessels are trained. As a result, the blood circulation of the outer integument of the body and internal organs, especially the heart and kidneys, improves. Tempering procedures help to reduce and even completely eliminate irritability, weakness, fatigue, normalize sleep, increase physical and mental performance, and increase emotional tone. The general result of hardening is the strengthening of the body's natural non-specific resistance, the activation of its protective and adaptive reactions, due to which a person becomes immune to many diseases, including infectious ones.

The main condition for successful hardening of the body is the systematic conduct of appropriate air and water procedures. Best time for hardening procedures - morning hours immediately after sleep. For beginners to harden, the most suitable time of the year is the end of spring, the beginning of summer (May, June). Depending on the time of year and the state of health, different methods of hardening should be used.

Air and sun baths

Air baths

The impact of air baths on the skin of a person mobilizes his protective and adaptive reactions, increases the body's resistance to colds and infectious diseases. Air baths train the apparatus of thermoregulation, enhance the excretory functions of the body, improve the condition of the skin, and have a calming effect on the nervous system.

The influence of air baths on the body can be compared with the influence of water procedures: the effect of both is more significant, the greater the difference between the temperature of the body and air or water.

When taking air baths in the open air, it is necessary to take into account the influence of the wind, which enhances their effect. Creating a change in temperature by the constant movement of its particles, the air excites the skin receptors on the exposed parts of the body; the wind, as it were, massages the skin, causing fluctuations in the lumens of its blood vessels. The movement of air reflexively enhances the processes of heat generation and increases heat transfer.

Air baths are taken in shaded places. In the fresh air it is recommended to start them with calmness, and later, as you get used to the action of cool air, they can be done in a light wind. For a practical assessment of the strength of the wind, the following characteristics are used: calm (calm) - the leaves on the trees do not sway, the smoke rises vertically or almost vertically; light puff - a slight movement of the leaves, the smoke deviates from the vertical; light breeze- fluctuation only of leaves on trees; fresh wind - small branches on the trees sway; strong wind - large branches of trees sway, dust rises.

It is best to start hardening with air baths in the summer at an air temperature of 20-22 ° C, then, as the air temperature drops, gradually accustom your body to a cooler regime of air baths. The first air baths are recommended to be taken in the room, since even in warm summer weather any slight movement of air significantly enhances the effect of the air bath, which is undesirable for the first procedures. After 2-3 days, the air bath can be done outdoors.

The first baths last no more than 5 minutes, then the duration of the procedure increases daily by 5 minutes and is brought to 40-60 minutes. In summer, air baths can be taken 1-2 times a day (morning and evening until 18:00).

If hardening with air baths begins in winter, then the room in which this procedure will be carried out is thoroughly ventilated beforehand and the temperature in it is brought to 20 ° C, then an air bath is also taken for 5 minutes. As you get used to the initial air temperature, they begin to gradually reduce the temperature in the room to 8-10 ° C, the duration of the bath is also gradually increased to 30-40 minutes.

During the air bath (winter and summer) it is very useful to do gymnastics, and after it to do water procedures.

Air baths are not recommended for exhaustion or severe weakness, during acute infectious and colds, with decompensated heart defects, exacerbation coronary disease heart, in the acute period of polyarthritis, sciatica.

sunbathing

The rays of the sun, acting on the human body, cause various changes in it. So, infrared, red and orange rays of the solar spectrum have a predominantly thermal effect, yellow and green act mainly on visual analyzers; blue, violet and ultraviolet rays in more influence biochemical processes in organism. The ultraviolet part of the solar spectrum, in addition, has a significant bactericidal effect both directly on the microbial cells located on the surface of the skin, and indirectly through the activation of the protective properties of the blood.

The energy of sunlight absorbed by the tissues causes complex biochemical transformations not only in the cellular elements of the skin, but also in the nerve endings. Irritations of skin receptors are summarized in the subcortical formations of the brain, where they switch to the nerve pathways leading to the internal organs. Ultimately, there are changes in the functional state of the most important physiological systems, the tone of the body increases, and, consequently, its performance, sleep and mood improve.

Properly accepted sunbathing causes slight reddening of the skin and a slight sensation of warmth. Redness quickly disappears after the end of the procedure. During a sunbath, the skin temperature rises by 4-8°C in 15-20 minutes, and 10 minutes after the end of irradiation, it decreases to its original level. In tissues lying at a depth of 2-3 cm, the temperature sometimes reaches 40°C, but after the procedure it returns to normal within 40-50 minutes.

With a moderate dosage, a sunbath does not have a lasting effect on body temperature, its fluctuations do not exceed a few fractions of a degree. In children, an increase in temperature by 1 ° C and its subsequent decrease to normal within an hour is considered a normal reaction.

With too long exposure to sunlight, various painful symptoms caused by overheating of the body may appear. So, for example, there is a strong expansion of skin vessels, a fall blood pressure blood, prolonged nervous excitement, insomnia. Excessive use of sunlight leads to burns.

For proper conduct air and sun baths great importance takes into account individual meteorological factors: temperature, humidity and air movement. It is also necessary to take into account the individual characteristics of a person - sensitivity to solar radiation, the speed of the appearance of a skin reaction, its duration and intensity, as well as general health. Sunbathing is best taken in the morning between 8 am and 12 noon, as ultraviolet and infrared radiation is less intense in the morning hours. The duration of the sun-air bath in the first days should not exceed 10-15 minutes, then its duration increases daily by 5 minutes. After the appearance of sunburn, a sunbath can be taken for 1 hour every day. If after the bath the pulse quickens or becomes irregular, then this procedure should be temporarily stopped.

10-15 minutes after a sunbath, it is useful to douse the whole body with water at a temperature of 20-25 ° C or take a swim.

Good health is a sign of the correct use of sunbathing: efficiency increases, appetite improves, sleep becomes sound. Sunbathing should be avoided in acute infectious diseases, decompensated heart disease, hypertension, tendency to bleed, frequent headaches, epilepsy, excessive skin sensitivity to sunlight.

Hardening water treatments

General cool and cold water procedures cause significant heat loss by the body and the more, the colder the water and the longer the procedure, with the greatest heat loss occurring in the first minutes; in the future, this process slows down. The repeated action of cold water creates conditions for the development of reactions that reduce heat transfer and increase heat production, i.e. contributes to the improvement of metabolism and, consequently, enhanced education internal heat in organism.

Cool and cold hardening procedures can only be continued if the person does not feel chills, if his skin is warm, especially on the limbs. The initial temperature of the water during these procedures should be indifferent (34-35°C°C) or pleasantly cool (30-33°C), allowing you to transfer it completely calmly, without irritation. The use of hardening procedures eliminates sudden irritation with low temperature water. Only after a sufficiently long use of indifferent or cool water procedures (at least 1-2 weeks), the water temperature is gradually reduced to 14-12 ° C and lower, depending on the individual characteristics of the person.

Rubbing usually begins with the upper body, and in the early days only hands are wiped from the hands to the shoulder with a towel or sponge dipped in water at room temperature. Produce them uniform fairly fast movements. Then both hands are rubbed with a dry terry towel until the skin is slightly reddened.

After 3-5 days, they begin to wipe the upper body: with a wet, slightly wrung out towel, mitten or sponge, they quickly wipe their hands, then their chest and back, and then rub them with a dry towel, trying to cause reddening of the skin.

After 2 weeks, the whole body is wiped, starting with the arms, then the chest and stomach, and finally the back and legs. This whole procedure is carried out for no more than 2-3 minutes, it ends with vigorous rubbing of the whole body with a dry terry towel until a feeling of pleasant warmth appears.

Persons of the elderly and aged, as well as those with increased sensitivity to cold, wipe the body only in parts: after wetting one hand, rub it with a dry towel, then wet the other hand and immediately dry it with a towel; in the same way alternately wet and immediately rub the chest, stomach, back and each leg separately with a dry terry towel.

After 7-10 days of complete rubbing of the body, it is necessary to start lowering the water temperature by 1°C every 3-5 days and thus gradually (within 30-40 days) bring the water temperature to 12-14°C. Continue to do a full rubdown with cold water daily for 2 months, after which you can move on to more powerful procedures (douches and baths).

Rubbing is done in the morning immediately after waking up or after morning exercises, since it has, in addition to a hardening effect, a tonic effect, gives vigor, relieves relaxation, sometimes observed after sleep.

With a slight change, rubbing can also be done in the evening before bedtime to calm nervous excitement, improve sleep and its disturbances (insomnia, difficulty falling asleep, shallow superficial sleep, waking up too early). In this case, the water should not be cold, and after wiping the skin, do not dry it with a towel, but put dry underwear on the wet body and immediately lie down in bed, tightly tucking the blanket on all sides.

The difference in the action of morning and evening sponging is explained by the different influence final stage procedures. In the first case, intensive rubbing of the body with a dry towel until the skin becomes reddened simultaneously with blood flow causes irritation of skin receptors, which increases overall motor activity and causes a feeling of freshness and vigor; in another case, the gradual drying of the skin (under the covers) does not cause irritation of the skin receptors, but, on the contrary, promotes muscle relaxation, relieves their tension and creates conditions for the development of sleep inhibition.

Pouring

After 1-2 months of daily rubdowns, an even more effective procedure can be used - dousing, first only on the hands, then on the arms and legs, and finally, dousing the whole body.

The procedure is performed as follows: in the first week, the shoulders, forearms and hands are poured with water at a temperature of 20 ° C. After dousing, the skin of the hands is rubbed with a terry towel and self-massage of the muscles is done. During the second week, pouring the feet with water of the same temperature is added to the dousing of the hands, followed by rubbing with a dry towel and self-massage of the muscles of the arms and legs. After 2 weeks, they begin to pour over the entire body in the following sequence: arms, legs, then a stream of water is directed to the lower part of the body from behind and in front, after which they pour over the upper part of the body - the chest and back. Immediately after dousing, the body is rubbed with a terry towel and self-massage of the muscles of the arms, legs, back and abdomen is done. Approximately a week after the start of full dousing, the water temperature begins to gradually decrease (by 1 ° C every 3 procedures) and bring it to 12-14 ° C. Further lowering of the water temperature is not recommended.

One of the initial hardening procedures is dousing the legs. The procedure is done as follows; stand in a bath or basin, pour cool water (17-18 ° C) on your legs, starting from the knees, for about 5 seconds. Every 3 days, reduce the water temperature by 1°C, the minimum temperature should not be lower than 12-14°C. Immediately after dousing, rub your feet strongly with a dry terry towel until the skin turns pink, starting from the toes towards the knee joint, which is wiped last.

Cool foot bath: pour water at a temperature of 18-20 ° C into a tank or a large bucket, sit on a chair, lower both legs into the water up to the knees. The duration of the first three foot baths should not exceed 1 minute, then it is increased to 2 minutes, and after the 6th procedure - up to 3 minutes. In the future, without increasing the duration of the bath, reduce the water temperature by 1°C every 2-3 procedures and bring it up to 14°C

After the bath, the legs are rubbed with a dry terry towel and self-massage of the calf muscles is done.

Cool foot baths are a good hardening agent, in addition, they can be used to prevent the expansion of the veins of the lower extremities.

In summer, hardening can begin with walking barefoot on the grass, wet after rain or dew, on wet stones, wet sand. In winter, you can walk barefoot on the floor of the room. In the first days, the procedure time is limited to 3-5 minutes, then gradually increases by 1-2 minutes and is brought to 15-20 minutes. After each procedure, the legs are poured with water at room temperature (18-22 ° C), thoroughly wiped with a dry terry towel and put on stockings or socks.

After 2-3 weeks, the effect of the procedure can be enhanced by applying "walking on water". This is done as follows: water at a temperature of 18-20 ° C is poured into the basin, the legs are immersed to the ankles and a “step in place” is taken. The duration of the procedure in the first days is 30 s. Gradually, the procedure time increases first to 1-1.5 minutes, then to 2-3 minutes. The water temperature is also gradually reduced every 3 days by 1°C and brought to 12-14°C. The action of this procedure becomes more effective as the water temperature decreases, as well as when the water level rises (maximum to the knees, in this case the procedure is done in the bath).

After walking on water, you need to pour water on your feet at room temperature and rub them vigorously, especially the feet, until a feeling of warmth and intense reddening of the skin appears.

All the above procedures for the legs are not only very effective for the prevention of colds (acute catarrhs ​​of the upper respiratory tract, runny nose, tracheitis, bronchitis, flu, tonsillitis), but also due to the training of the blood vessels of the legs prevent or slow down the development of senile changes in the osteoarticular apparatus of the lower extremities.

>>> Air baths and fresh air

Some scientists compare the value of air for humans with the value of water for fish. There is much fairness in this comparison. No man can live without air, nor a fish without water. Based on this, according to some biologists, air baths are much more beneficial for humans than bathing in cold water. If you want to know more about this, read our article.

Air baths perfectly regulate the work nervous system. If you come home from work in a tense and irritated state, take an air bath. You will be surprised, but after a few minutes the tension will pass, your mood will improve, you will sleep better at night. It also turns out that air baths normalize blood pressure, help improve the condition of the heart and blood vessels.

What is the secret of the healing qualities of the air? Taking an air bath, we allow the skin to breathe. It is very important. After all, for days on end, the skin is hidden under many layers of clothing, oxygen is practically not supplied. And everyone knows that the skin also absorbs oxygen.

In addition, under the clothes, the air temperature is almost the same, it is approximately twenty-seven degrees. When you undress, the skin is suddenly exposed to a lower temperature. This is a wonderful exercise for blood vessels.

Doctors call air baths the softest way of hardening. It is recommended to use it even for hardening newborn babies. Such procedures cannot cause any harm, and besides, they are easy to perform. Nothing is needed to take an air bath.

You can take an air bath completely naked, then it is a general air bath. And if you expose only the torso, or legs, then this will be a partial air bath.

Air baths are divided by temperature. They can be warm - more than twenty-two degrees, cool - from seventeen to twenty degrees and cold - below sixteen degrees.

You can take air baths lying down, sitting or moving. Most useful way It is, of course, in motion. In order for the air bath to have a result, you need to take off your clothes very quickly. As soon as you feel that you are shivering, if the skin turns blue or becomes covered with pimples, dress immediately.

After the air bath, you should immediately put on clothes that are slightly warmer than you usually wear in such weather. Clothing should be slightly warm, but in no case should you overheat and sweat. In addition, it is useful to lie on a hard surface with a roller under your head for a few minutes.

Air baths are best taken just before sunrise. But if you like to sleep longer - try to have time to carry out the procedure before ten o'clock in the morning. The course of procedures is one month daily, then three days of rest, and then again repeat a month of procedures. Such treatment should be carried out up to three months in a row, but if you have a disease of the liver or other internal organs, then you may need to take air baths for a longer time. If you are relatively healthy, then the duration of the first procedures can be up to half an hour at a temperature of fifteen to twenty degrees. You can add ten minutes every day until you reach two hours.

It is not advisable to carry out air baths in windy weather. This can provoke colds. Especially if you have just started hardening. It is very easy to get sick if you take air baths at low temperatures, and even at high humidity. In the event of precipitation or fog, as well as strong wind air baths should not be carried out on the street.

If you carry out air baths indoors, then these are the so-called contrast air baths. First you undress and open the windows - this is the cooling phase. During the warming phase, you must close the windows. So it should be alternated several times.

Sometimes, at first, air baths can make you want to itch or, for example, pain in the abdomen, or other unpleasant phenomena. This is only at first. In time, everything will pass. Don't do anything and don't stop.

If you want to harden your child, be very careful. In babies, thermoregulation is still very weak. How younger child the worse his thermoregulation. Before starting hardening, talk about this with your doctor.

First, teach your child to breathe fresh and cool air. Let the temperature in the room not exceed nineteen degrees. Don't wrap your baby. Neither at home nor on the street, he should not resemble a cocoon. Walk at least three hours a day in any weather. Enrich your child's diet with special children's vitamins and dietary supplements (biologically active supplements).

One of effective types hardening are air baths. Proper use of this type of hardening prevents the formation of colds and helps to strengthen immune system. The advantage of this type of hardening is that it is always available at any time of the year. The success of hardening with air baths depends on the temperature and humidity of the air.

As with any process related to health, it is necessary to use the basic hygienic principles of hardening: systematic, gradual, a variety of means, methods of influence, self-observation.

The first procedure for taking an air bath should not last more than 10-15 minutes at a temperature of 20-22°C. Then the duration of the sessions increases daily and, depending on the characteristics of the organism of the hardened person, is brought to 2 or more hours. At the same time, the temperature of the air bath gradually decreases, and its temperature can reach up to 7°C.

The time for taking air baths is from 8 to 18 hours. The best time is the morning hours. When taking cool baths (14-20 ° C), you should not bring yourself to chills. With profuse sweating during warm baths (22-30 ° C), they should be stopped. Taking air baths should be accompanied by movements: running, gymnastics, flexion and extension of the body, etc. The place must be chosen calm and without direct sunlight.

To get a quick and energetic reaction from the body, you need to undress immediately. If the air at the same time corresponds to the temperature of cool (14-20 ° C) or cold (6-14 ° C) baths, then it is necessary to immediately make energetic movements. Children with poor health are not recommended to take air baths at temperatures below 15 ° C.

In winter, air baths should be taken in the room. The room is pre-ventilated, the temperature is measured room air, which should be at least 15-16°C. After undressing, you should remain in this state for 10-15 minutes. With good health, you can daily, without bringing yourself to a chill, increase the duration of the baths by 20-25 minutes, lowering the air temperature in the room to 8 ° C.

The use of air baths requires the implementation of certain rules:

1. Baths are taken no later than 1 hour before and no earlier than 1.5 hours after eating; you can't take them on an empty stomach.

2. Air baths can be taken at almost any time; the optimal time is from 8 to 18 hours.

4. The place for taking air baths should be protected from harsh winds and sunlight.

6. During air baths, it is necessary to control your well-being (signals of their adverse effect on the body are with warm air baths - a sharp reddening of the skin and profuse sweating, with cold and cool - "goosebumps" and chills. In these cases, the air bath stops) .

The material was prepared by Zakharov E.E., methodologist of the GMC DOgM