People invest in hot tubs for many reasons, some of which include escaping the biting cold of winter and making their house into a party pad. I mean, what great party movie have you seen that didn’t include a pool or hot tub scene? Regardless of why you have one, I bet you haven’t considered all of the health benefits that you can enjoy from a good, hot soak.  We’ve covered how it can help with the common cold, now let’s look at another 10 reasons your hot tub is good for you.

1) Relaxation/Stress Relief

We’ll start with the obvious one; hot tubs promote relaxation. When you’re immersed in hot water, your muscles become less tense and you release stress as a result. For me, getting in a hot tub reminds me of being taken care of as a young girl when my mom would draw me a bath when I didn’t feel well. It’s a lot like why we enjoy our hair being played with or getting your bag tickled—it’s something that our parents did to sooth us and they continue to affect us positively well into our adulthood.

2) Immune System

Being in an environment where the temperature is raised (like a sauna or a hot tub) helps to stimulate your body’s natural production of white blood cells. An abundance of these cells aids in your body’s natural ability to fight off infections, viruses, etc. You’ll get sick less often if you’re frequenting your hot tub on a regular basis.

3) Detox

One of the bonuses of being in a hot tub is that it mimics some of the benefits of exercise without having to put strain on your heart. After a few minutes in the hot water of a spa, you’ll begin to sweat; sweating is a great way to remove toxins from your body and it really helps your skin improve. If you want to go a step further, you can add Epsom salt to hot water which helps you relax and draws toxins out of the body. It also helps with your circulation.

4) Blood Pressure

When you’re immersed in hot water, your heart rate speeds up to send blood to the surface of your body to remove excess body heat as a means to deal with the increased outside temperature of your environment. The warmer blood causes blood vessels to dilate, lessening the resistance to blood flow and lowering the body’s body temperature. Pretty cool, huh?

5) Cell Growth

If you have a jetted hot tub, put those suckers to use! If you strategically place parts of your body over the jets like your thighs, back, and legs, this will stimulate cell growth which will boost circulation, speed up your metabolism, and can even help to break down fatty deposits in these areas. Not to mention it makes for a pretty great massage.

6) Sleep

If you experience insomnia, taking a dip in the hot tub an hour or so before bed is a good way to promote sleep. When the body goes from a raised internal temperature and cools, you become tired as a natural result. If you have a hard time falling asleep and staying asleep, try this tactic and get into bed immediately after.

7) Pain Relief

Hot water has been known to relieve the pain from fibromyalgia and arthritis. I know I love a good soak when I’m hurting after a long run. Hot water also helps to relieve inflammation because of the improved circulation that it promotes.

8) Healing

Hydrotherapy, particularly in hot water is known to help people who are recovering from injury or surgery. Just make sure you’re getting into the water with the consent of your doctor after waiting a significant time after you’ve gone under the knife. Again, the increased circulation and blood supply to the injured area helps you to recover quicker in addition to the benefits of an increase in production of white blood cells.

9) Digestion

Hot water helps improve most all of our bodies’ functions, digestion being no exception. If you’re feeling uneasy after a big meal or other gastric distress, try sitting in your spa. It’ll help relieve any pressure you may be feeling and the added circulation from being in the hot water improves organ function.

10) Breathing

If you have a cold or any other respiratory tract condition, hot tubs will help immensely. Hot water will help break up anything that may be inhibiting your breathing in your lungs and sooth any pain that goes along with any difficulty you may have breathing. It also opens your airways so that you can get deeper, fuller breaths.

I hope this helps you use your hot tub more or helps you in your decision to invest in one—it really does have an infinite number of uses for your wellness. What’s your favorite use for your hot tub?