Onsen Guide
Three Health Benefits of Hot Springs
1. Physical Effect
When you enter hot springs, there is water pressure which stimulates blood circulation and lymph flow. You will feel relaxed, as the water pressure also provides a massage effect. Exercising in hot spring enhances buoyancy which lessens the lower body’s burden.
2. Heat Effect
Hot springs help your body warm up, encouraging blood circulation, fatigue recovery, and increasing metabolism.
3. Chemical Effect
Hot spring qualities have two effects; “general indications” and “quality-specified indications”.
1.Simple Hot Spring, Alkaline Simple Hot Spring
This hot spring is widely used for recovery from illness, post-operation rehabilitation, treatment for fractures and injures, as its clear water is very gentle on your skin.
It is believed to be effective for high blood presures and arteriosclerosis thanks to its carbon dioxide level. It warms your body up by dilatinging blood capillaries. It is also said drinking from this hot spring cures gastrointestinal disease.
Containing lots of sodium bicarbonate, this spring is also called “hot spring for the beauty” for its smooth skin effect thanks to alkaline components. It is also said that drinking from this spring is effective for curing chronical digestive disease, diabetes, liver disease, and gout.
This spring is effective for muscle ache, joint pain, bruise, sprain, cold constitution, chronical gynecological disease, menstrual disorder, and recovery from illness by warming your body up.
It is said that a slight amount of radioactivity (radium) in this spring improves immunities, and drinking from it has a diuretic effect. This hot spring is well recognized for therapeutic effects.
Iron in this spring reacts with oxygen to form iron oxide, which turns the spring into a ginger color. This hot spring is effective for treating anemia, and gynecological disease.
This spring has rotten egg odor, and its therapeutic effects are well known especially for skin disease thanks to its bactericidal effect from sulfur.
This hot spring is traditionally called “Spring for palsy “or “Spring for injures “and is famous for its medical effects. It is hard to drink its water as it contains lots of sulfuric acid ions.
