Often recommended as a natural healing, therapeutic and pain relieving remedy for many types of ailments the sitz bath follows the hydrotherapy (water therapy) theory. By soaking the affected area in warm water for a prescribed period of time up to several times daily, sometimes in a mixture of baking soda or salt, the discomfort subsides and self healing is process is accelerated.
Relief from the discomfort caused by common medical issues such as hemorrhoids, the  after effects of episiotomies, vaginal yeast infections can be found by taking sits baths. Many times even in hospitals patients are given a sitz bath to help with pain and to aid in keeping the area clean. Soaking in warm water causes more blood to flow to the area which promotes the healing process.

While taking a sitz bath at home is not difficult, elderly people may sometimes require help because  soaking for a period of time in warm water and then getting up too quickly can cause momentary dizziness. For safety reasons, the first few sitz baths at home should be taken when assitance is nearby.

The sitz (which is taken from the German word “Sitzen” meaning “to sit”) bath does not require patients to fill the entire tub but rather only enough to cover the affected area which is usually just above  the buttocks and sometimes just to the lower waist. For this reason, sitz baths at home do not necessarily have to be taken in the bathtub. If you’ve been prescribed sitz baths at home as part of your healing therapy, there are a variety of products available that will make the soaking and cleansing processes easier than having to add water to the tub a few – to several – times daily.

There are also a myriad of different types of organic and natural soaking mixtures that can be made for your sitz baths at home. Your doctor will likely suggest a salt such as Epsom, be added to the water. When considering sitz bath remedy mixtures that your doctor has not prescribed, be sure to check with him or her before using them for your sitz bath as some ingredients may aggravate the condition rather than help it.