Healing



Healing is a sub-skill of waterbending which involves healing wounds by redirecting energy paths (or chi) throughout the body, using water as a catalyst.

History
After Aang ignored Jeong Jeong's warnings, he accidentally burned Katara due to lack of control over his firebending. Seeking to soothe the pain, Katara put her hands down in a creek, only to see the water around her hands glow silvery-blue and heal her. Having accidentally discovered this new ability, Katara used it again later that day to heal a burn on Aang's forearm, after a fight with Zhao.

In the Northern Water Tribe, this ability is the only aspect of waterbending taught to female waterbenders, due to the traditionally patriarchal culture of the tribe. In Republic City, during Avatar Korra's time, there are male healers.



After the Hundred Year War, it was revealed that Katara had passed the art of healing onto Avatar Korra, as she used it to heal Bolin's shoulder after he injured it in the third round of the Fire Ferrets' semifinal match in the Pro-bending Tournament. She used the technique once more when she healed General Iroh's injury he sustained during his fight against the Equalists' attack on Republic City. When Korra had lost her bending to Amon, she returned to the Southern Water Tribe to be healed by Katara. However, Katara was unable to restore the Avatar's bending.

Healers are quite prominent in Republic City and the best of them were visited by Tahno after his bending was taken from him by Amon. After Tarrlok fabricated evidence of a fight with the Equalists in City Hall, a healer was brought in to treat his arm, which he had used an electrified glove on to strengthen his alibi.

Limits


Physically, healing draws on the restorative properties of water in organisms, such as human beings, that are primarily composed of it. Though unusually strong and powerful, waterbending induced healing cannot heal every ailment, for example, Jet's internal wounds or the complications associated with Princess Yue's birth. It is shown that healing is ineffective on a person who has had their chi flow blocked or otherwise disrupted; Katara was unable to help a Terra Team member who had been a victim of Ty Lee's chi blocking skills, and not even the best healers could restore bending lost through bloodbending, as demonstrated by failed attempts by Republic City's best healers to restore Tahno's, and Katara's to restore Korra's.

So far, waterbending induced healing has been shown to work on physical injuries, such as burns (Toph's feet and Katara's own hands ), lacerations (Hakoda's injury during the Day of Black Sun ), broken bones (Sokka's left arm), diseases brought on by severe pollution (Jang Hui villagers ), and severe tissue damage caused by lightning bolts (Aang and Zuko ); it has even shown to counteract mental distress and tampering (Jet ). The healing abilities of a waterbender appear to be influenced by the water they use: when using a special water from the Spirit Oasis in the North Pole, Katara was able to save Aang's life after he was mortally wounded from being struck by lightning (though he remained in a coma for a few weeks and required follow-up healing sessions to cope with the pain and be restored to full health).

Known practitioners

 * Yugoda
 * Katara
 * Korra
 * Kya
 * Many female healers in the Northern Water Tribe
 * Many healers in Republic City

Trivia

 * It was implied by Katara that the special properties of the Spirit Oasis water could heal Zuko's scarred face. A curious fact is that after healing Aang, the oasis water disappeared, as if it had been "used up".
 * Due to the dissipation of the Southern Water Tribe waterbenders and the tradition of the Northern Water Tribe to restrict the female benders to hone the vitakinetic sub-skill of waterbending, the healers around 100 ASC were all female. Seventy years later, however, a male healer was seen working his skills on Tarrlok.