I recently visited the Oregon Coast and was thinking about how in Little Women (2019), the characters Jo and Beth (sisters) went to the sea, because Jo genuinely thought Beth would get better from scarlett fever–to which she passed away from. But, it also got me thinking about how doctors in the 18th and 19th centuries would actually prescribe women who were suffering from melancholia or in “hysteria” to go to the sea to get well. My question now is, “Is there any truth to the ‘sea cure’?”
The Sea Cure, popularized by Dr. Richard Russell, gained popularity in Georgian England after his book titled A Dissertation on the Use of Sea Water in the Diseases of the Glands; Particularly the Scurvy, Jaundice, King’s-Evil, Leprosy, and the Glandular Consumption sent thousands of Europeans to travel to the sea.
So how did Russell cure his patients? He encouraged patients to drink the salt water and breathe in the salty air. He identified salt as the key component to curing these diseases. Russell advised patients to have“half a pint of sea water drank at night going to bed, and repeated in the morning.”
During the late 19th century, seagoers along the Oregon coast actually transitioned from regular ocean dipping to heated saltwater natatoriums. This way sea bathers could get the benefits from salt water in a more controlled environment as the Oregon coast is riddled with harsh waves.
But what drew people like Dr. Richard Russell to the sea? Well, Dr. Jodi Leslie Matsuo says for Native Hawaiians, “spending time by the ocean has measurable healing effects on the body and mind.” Coastal environments have been shown to lower cortisol, therefore lowering stress levels, and support comfortable breathing from the mineral-rich ocean mist. One thing Matsuo says that is interesting is “ocean immersion has also been used traditionally in detoxification, lowering inflammation, and cleansing of mind and spirit.” This makes me believe sea-bathing has been around for much longer than 300 years. Many also think the ocean is a place for spiritual reflection and reconnection.
The Oregon coast is a hot spot for spiritual findings. Now it just might be mystical because of the moody atmosphere from the low clouds, jagged stacks, and dark dense forests, but there is a lot of Indigenous lore from the Coast Salish tribes. For example, Sea Otters were once viewed as respected cousins and kin to coastal tribes as they maintained the sea life. However, there are also haunted areas along the Oregon coast like the “Graveyard of the Pacific” which is a notoriously dangerous stretch of the PNW coastline.
While sea-bathing as a prescription might have some benefits, they are more mental and emotional benefits, providing a spiritual relief. Maybe the reason why so many folks from the 18th and 19th centuries loved the sea-cure was just because they loved the calming and comforting benefits for the human body rather than the minerals of the ocean mist.