Oil dispersion bath
The oil dispersion bath (or Junge bath) is a bath therapy of anthroposophic medicine. It was developed by Werner Junge, inspired by statements of Rudolf Steiner. By purely physical principles a mixture of oil and water is achieved. For this purpose, a swirling apparatus made of glass is flowed through by the incoming bath water. The pear shape of the glass creates a vortex in the center of which oil flows in through a fine inlet. The oil is atomized into very fine droplets and forms a dispersion with the water, which remains stable for the duration of the bath and for a certain time beyond. The oils used as a base are various vegetable oils such as olive or linseed oil, to which essential oils or other additives such as metals are added. Often the oil dispersion bath is performed by a bath therapist who performs a brush massage. The temperature of the bath water should be approximately equal to the body heat and should not provide a heat or cold stimulus. After the bath there is a rest about the length of the bath. Wrapped in a cotton cloth and (wool) blankets, the aim is to warm the body by stimulating its own heat. The oil dispersion bath is used in addition to other therapeutic measures, especially in chronic diseases.
History
The oil dispersion bath was developed by Werner Junge in 1937 as a medical therapy. Based on a note by Rudolf Steiner on the treatment of sugar dysentery (diabetes mellitus) (I. Medical Course, 1920, Dornach) "on the effect of finely atomized oils,"[1] he designed the first oil dispersion bath apparatus. [2] The name oil dispersion bath goes back to the anthroposophical physician Hans Klett, who called the oil-water mixture dispersion.[3] In 2001, bath therapists joined forces in the International Association for Oil Dispersion Bath Therapy according to Werner Junge.[4]