The Prohibited Form of Bathing during the Nine Days
Question
It seems that in the past there were no active faucets in bathhouses, and a person would not ask someone else to pour water over him; thus the bathing was in a pit full of hot water, meaning that a bather would immerse in hot water. If so, there is a significant basis to say that what they prohibited is bathing one's entire body in hot water in such a pit, and not in water being poured from above.
Answer
Shalom!
The sages did not differentiate between different forms of bathing. Rather, they differentiated between different levels of pleasure one derives from bathing [in hot or cold water, bathing the whole body or just a part one’s body].
Source
Shulchan Aruch, Section Orach Chaim, chapter 551
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