PHINMA-University of Pangasinan

College of Health Sciences

NURSING JOURNAL

Student’s Name: Julia Rae D. Delos Santos Date Submitted: 09/01/2022

Clinical Instructors: Leonardo R. Sanchez IV, RN Block: 3BSN-12

Keefe Ivan Nathaniel D. Calimag, RN

Summary of journal reviewed:

Steam Therapy: An Adjunct in Respiratory Health

Steam therapy, or steam inhalation, is the method of introducing warm moist air
into the lungs via the nose and throat for therapeutic benefit. It involves the inhalation of
water vapour. This practice is not new. The use of steam bath dates back to centuries,
often to the Romans and the Greeks who used steam as a means to heal and draw out
impurities from the body. Hippocrates, the father of medicine, also documented the
benefits of steam as a means of maintaining daily health.

A study showed that children who used steam to help relieve congestion recovered
more quickly from respiratory infections than children who did not use steam therapy. One
well-designed clinical trial of 62 patients concluded steam inhalation resulted in alleviation
of cold symptoms and improved nasal patency (how open the nasal passages are)
compared to the placebo-treated group.

Steam therapy is also beneficial in achieving pain relief, healthier skin, stress relief,
weight loss and cardiovascular health. While steam inhalation won’t cure an infection, like
a cold or the flu, it may help make one feel a lot better, while the body fights off the
infection. Steam inhalation may provide some temporary relief from the symptoms of the
common cold, the flu (influenza), sinus infections (infectious sinusitis) and nasal allergies.
Moist heat in steam showers has been documented to relieve conditions like bronchial
asthma, bronchitis, catarrh, coughs, hoarseness and expectoration (coughing up
phlegm).

Steam has shown benefits in relieving respiratory symptoms related to viral

infections. This service can be combined with the healing properties of essential oils and
various clays as well as mud packs in order to facilitate healing.

Source: Okoye, N. (2020, May 19). Steam Therapy: An Adjunct in Respiratory Health. Pharmanewsonline.
https://pharmanewsonline.com/steam-therapy-an-adjunct-in-respiratory-health/
 PHINMA-University of Pangasinan
College of Health Sciences

NURSING JOURNAL

Reflection:

A variety of respiratory disorders, including infections like the common cold, have been
treated with steam inhalation as a traditional home remedy and as an alternative. Based on
theorized effects of heat and humidity of warm, moist air, the practice was carried out by many
people especially when this became a trend in the midst of CoVid-19 pandemic. After word
spread about its claiming therapeutic powers in COVID-19, the field of healthcare here in the
Philippines began to pay attention to the technique known as “su-ob”, which is the local term
for inhaling steam by leaning over a bowl of boiling water while covering yourself with a
blanket, sometimes or most of the time combined with essential oils or commercial topical
ointments like Vicks VapoRub. I can still recall what I have learned in Microbiology and
Parasitology, that the human rhinoviruses, which are the most common cause of the common
cold, have a reduced ability to replicate in vitro when kept at 33 to 43 degrees Celsius. So, I
realized that steam inhalation is done because of this one of many rationales.

Back when I was still a new user of TikTok, several contents that featured su-ob went
through my for you page and at first I totally had no idea what su-ob is all about. Little did I
know that it has therapeutic effects on the airways. I just came to believe that it’s true when I
practiced it myself when I had cough and colds. It was not instant but I was able to get rid of
my cough in a short period of time and it definitely eased my throat pain. Earlier today as I
read my module on Oxygenation and Suctioning, I didn’t expect that steam inhalation would
be one of the measures that promote adequate respiratory function as a Bronchial Hygiene
Measure. I thought it’s just some kind of theory, but I was wrong. It’s one of the best clinical
practices of Oxygenation and Suctioning and as a future nurse, I would highly recommend
this practice in my community, especially to patients who wouldn’t want to buy medicine
and to those who can’t afford to buy medicine for their children or for themselves.