What Is a Therapeutic Bath and What Are Its Benefits in a Walk-In Tub?

A therapeutic bath is a bath taken with one or more of your walk-in tub's massage systems running, such as air massage, hydro massage, independent foot massage or microbubbles, often with the heated seat and the chromatherapy light alongside. Its benefits come from what each system is designed to do: water jets placed to work the back, hips and legs, air jets that keep the bath water moving, and controls that let you set the strength to your own comfort. What is a therapeutic bath in a walk-in tub? defines the systems one by one, and this page focuses on what they are designed to do for you.

What Turns a Soak into a Therapeutic Bath

A plain soak is warm, still water, and Ella offers that too: a Soaking tub with no jets is the first of the six packages a tub can be ordered with. A bath becomes therapeutic when one of the tub's massage systems is switched on. Ella's own component diagrams use the word directly, labeling the packages Air Therapeutic Massage and Hydro Therapeutic Massage.

The two families work differently, and that difference shapes what you feel. An air massage system moves air rather than bath water, sending it out through the air jets. A hydro massage system draws bath water through a pump and pushes it back out through the water jets. Each system on an Ella tub has its own pump under the seat, and Ella does not use a diverter to split one pump between systems. The practical benefit is that every system you order can run at the same time, so you never have to give up the foot massage to run the back jets, or switch off the air to use the water.

The Benefits Each System Is Designed to Deliver

• Air massage. Air travels through the air jets from a variable speed pump. In Ella's jet layout video, the air jets are described as the system that really moves the water around and leaves you feeling fresh and clean. Three speeds let you pick the level you enjoy.
• Seat hydro massage. Bath water is pushed through the back and hip jets. This is the system aimed at the back, the hips and down the legs, and an intensity dial lets you make it stronger or softer.
• Independent foot massage. A second hydro pump serves the foot and calf jets on their own. Because it is independent, you can enjoy a foot and lower leg massage without running anything else.
• Microbubbles. The microbubble system works with bath water on its own pump, so it can be combined with the other systems in the packages that include it.
• LED chromatherapy. Colored light in the tub adds a visual side to the bath. Any package with two massage systems is a dual massage package and includes the chromatherapy light.
• In-line water heater and ozone. A hydro package brings both with it. The in-line heater works automatically with the hydro pump on the bath water passing through the system, and the ozone generator is printed on the schematics as the Ozone Sanitation System.

Why the Jet Placement Matters, as Shown on Video

The video on this page is Ella's walk-through of the therapeutic jet layout, and it shows the thinking behind where each jet sits. Three points stand out for anyone asking what a therapeutic bath actually does.

1. Recessed back jets. The water jets in the backrest are recessed into the shell, so you can lean back across them without interference. The presenter calls out the effort that goes into recessing them so the bath feels comfortable and spa-like.
2. Low hip jets. The hip jets are positioned low on both sides, so the stream reaches the hip and continues down the leg. The presenter explains that they are placed right where bathers are often sore, and mentions hip replacements, knee surgeries and arthritis as the situations the layout was designed around.
3. Two independent water pumps. The video shows two intakes in the tub. Fill the tub to just above the lower jets and run the first pump, and the water circulates to massage just your feet and the backs of your legs. Fill the tub all the way and run the second pump, and you have a full body massage.

That partial-fill foot massage is a benefit many owners do not expect. A therapeutic bath does not have to be a full bath. On a tub with independent foot massage, a short session with water only in the footwell is a complete use of the system.

Control Is Part of the Benefit

A massage is only pleasant when it is the right strength for you, and each system gives you a way to set it.

• Air speeds. On every Ella three-speed air control, the first press is high, the second is medium, the third is low, and a fourth press turns the system off.
• Hydro intensity dial. Every Ella tub with hydro massage has an intensity control dial on the deck. Turning it up introduces more air into the jet stream for a stronger flow, and turning it down reduces the air for a softer one. The schematics print this as the Hydro Massage Air Flow Intensity Control.
• A separate foot circuit. The Hydro Foot Massage System has its own ON/OFF button and its own intensity control, so the feet and calves can be set differently from the seat jets.
• The light. One press turns the chromatherapy light on, and a two second hold turns it off.

Tubs come with either push buttons or a digital touchpad with plus and minus icons, and the push-button panel performs the same functions as the touchpad. The therapy and control video library gathers a short clip for nearly every one of these controls, so you can see each one working before your first bath.

The Benefits That Work in the Background

Some of what makes the bath therapeutic happens without you touching anything. The air pump is a variable speed pump with Auto Purge built in. Auto Purge activates automatically 20 minutes after the air pump is turned off and runs for 120 seconds to blow leftover water out of the air lines. It cannot be stopped, it ends by itself, and it is normal even if it starts while you are still in the tub.

The hydro side has its own quiet helpers in the in-line heater and the ozone system, both of which run automatically. An air-only package is simpler still. The LayDown air massage schematic shows one push control, one control box and one air pump, with no water pump, no in-line water heater and no ozone generator, because the system moves air rather than bath water. A heated seat variant of that diagram exists for LayDown tubs ordered with the heated seat.

Matching the Benefits to a Package

The benefits you get depend on the package on your order. An air package gives you the moving, bubbling water. A hydro package adds the directed water massage for the back and hips, along with the heater and ozone. The three-system package, Air + Hydro + Hydro Independent Foot Massage, gives you everything in the jet layout video at once.

That three-system package is drawn on two schematics. The push-control version lists the Royal, Monaco, Elite, Capri, Shak, Transfer60, Transfer32 and TransferXXL. The digital controller version lists the Companion, Escape, Tub4Two, Big4Two, Shak, Big4One, Transfer60 and TransferXXL. Both send you to your tub's technical drawing for the air jet count, since the count differs by model. If you are not sure which package your tub has, your Ella dealer or the team at (800) 480-6850 can confirm it from your order.

Watch: Walk-In Tub with Therapeutic Jets for Ultimate Relaxation: Voted Safest 2020 | Ella’s Bubbles with chapters and a full transcript.

Related Guides

• Hydro Massage vs Air Massage vs Microbubble: What Each System Does and How They Combine
• What Comes With Each Therapy Package: Pumps, In-Line Heater, Ozone, Auto Purge, LED, Dials, Pressure Tank and Controls at a Glance
• Common Questions About Choosing Therapies: Hydro or Air for Muscle Tension, Foot Massage Versus Microbubble, Fewer Jets, and Whether Ozone Is a Therapy

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