Cold Water Therapy
You’re in the middle of a nice, hot shower, feeling your muscles relax, the day’s tension (or night’s sleepiness) melt away. As you bask in the quiet moment of repose, suddenly your body gets a startling jolt. After a second of disoriented shock, you realize something has happened to the hot water. Did someone start the washer? Is the water heater going berserk? Your hopes of relaxation now dashed, your stress level through the roof, you finish only the most obligatory rinsing and step out of the shower cursing, muttering and shivering as you reach for your towel.
But does a cold shower need to ruin the day? Can they actually be more than a nuisance, but a legitimate health therapy as some say? We thought we’d do some digging to explore the notion MDA reader Alex recently put forth: “The way Grok kept himself clean sure wasn’t with sustained periods of temperature controlled hot water. Maybe we shouldn’t either.” The results we found were very intriguing (and encouraging) indeed.
The underlying premise of cold water therapy is that briefly and somewhat regularly exposing the body to certain kinds of natural stresses (like cold water) can enhance health. Promoters of cold water therapy say that it can boost immune function, decrease inflammation and pain, and increase blood flow. Some argue that a shower setting is suitable, while others say some level of immersion is necessary for real benefit. What does the research say? Here’s what we found.
The benefits of cold water therapy appear to depend on the subject’s adaptation over time. In other words, regular polar dips seem to enhance long term health, but a single cold burst in the shower won’t offer much beyond a good wake-up jolt. The power of cold water therapy, it seems, is in the habituation itself.
In studies comparing regular winter swimmers with subjects not adapted to cold immersion, winter swimmers showed an ability “to survive a significantly greater temperature gradient between body and environment than non-cold-adapted subjects.” Their advantage over the non-adapted subjects was a modification of the “sensory functions of hypothalamic thermoregulatory centres to lower heat loss and produce less heat during cold exposure.” The researchers concluded that regular winter swimmers show “metabolic, hypothermic and insulative” kinds of adaptation to cold temperatures.
Cold showers, research shows, can help this habituation process, but only water at 10 degrees Celsius (as opposed to 15 degrees C) made a difference. Habituation also seems to be somewhat long-term. In a British study, subjects’ responses showed that habituation to cold water lasted 7-14 months as measured by respiration and heart rate.
Some of the specific benefits? A German study examined oxidative stress associated with ice-bathing in regular winter swimmers and found these swimmers showed an “adaptive response” through enhanced “antioxidative defense” as measured by several blood markers.
Other research highlighting cold water’s effect on immunity shows an increase in both the number and activity of peripheral cytotoxic T lymphocytes in those regularly exposed to cold therapies.
Full body cold water immersion and cryotherapy (cold air chamber) also resulted in a sustained increase in norepinephrine, which substantiates the long-term pain relief touted by cold therapy promoters. Exposure to cold also increases metabolic rate.
Finally, the benefits of cold water therapy show promise for those with chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic heart failure, and some (non-lymphoid) types of cancers.
So, are you intrigued yet? Though the jury may still be out on some of the findings related to specific medical conditions, healthy individuals seem to have much to gain from the cold. It’s all about upregulating our systems, taxing them in a healthy, natural way like intermittent fasting. While the findings don’t suggest people should, in the name of health, give up hot showers altogether (who would give them up even if they did!) Alex may have a legitimate point after all. We will be keeping our eyes and ears open for new research around cold water therapy for future posts.
Some specific suggestions based on the findings? Very cold showers appear to be beneficial for the purpose of habituation, but we’d recommend alternating them occasionally with immersion when you can. Those of you in Northern climates might have more fun and social occasions (e.g. New Year’s polar dips) for such an exercise, but we can all spare the water heater for a day now and then for a nice cold dip in the old tub.
Thoughts? Questions? Fun stories of your own polar hydro-adventures? We’d love to hear your take.
GoGap, Mario Sepulveda, freezelight Flickr Photos (CC)
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This is a great article, I always finish off showers with a cold rinse and try to jump into cold pools and the sea whenever I can. its a totally energizing and refreshing experience.
A comment on the chronic fatigue hypothesis. I agree, CFS is related to the hypothalmic pituitary axis. It is directly related to low levels of thyroid and adrenal hormones. Muscle pain/low levels of serotonin is a symptom along with CFS–it is not CFS.
I don’t think people with CFS feel better in cold water, but they do feel bad in hot water. Anything that increases metabolism or temperature is going to stress the body if the adrenal hormones are lacking, specially, cortisol and aldosterone.
CFS may also be caused by degenerative diseases of the nrevous system so people with this type of ailment must be cautious to the degree of water temperature they are using..
an autoimmune disease like myasthenia gravis also produces a profound symptom of muscle weakness and cold water therapy cannot counteract the devastating effect of acetylcholine and dopamine imbalance of this ailment
Hi, I have had CFS for years and for me the best help has come from frequent immersion in a cold bath. I try to have one each morning, and yes it is challenging, especially at the start, but the benefits it brings to my life are immense. Im in UK if any one wants to discuss further. As an unexpected side issue, cold baths have also stopped my Raynauds. I understand that we are all different in how we respond to treatment, but this is a free and accessible treatment for most. Do start slowly, perhaps by standing in a couple of inches at first, or try just washing head feet and wrists.
Hi there, I have fibromyalgia and would love to know more about cold water therapy and how it has helped. I have been trying it for that last week and I feel slightly better.
Hey Nino how you going? I’d love to get in touch with you and hear a little more about your ice bath experience for CFS/ME. I’m putting an article together on it and am keen to give it a go myself, some people swear it got them back on their feet. Thanks! Joe
Hey Joe, where can we read the article?
It isn’t the same, but I always love RUNNING into the ocean – it is THE only way to get in the water. Some people tip toe, and ooh and aah, and avoid the inevitable splash against *that* part of our body, but in reality, its a lot more fun and adaptable to just run in! Oh, and by the way, definitely stay in for a little bit – the water may not be *cold*, but it certainly isn’t ambient or blood temp!
Interestingly enough, part of Art DeVany’s EF lecture that was published to YouTube (with Art’s permission) deals with this topic.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=daO-xVhoYcg
This may be shifting the argument from whether cold water exposure is healthy to just vanity – but would one of the adaptations (i.e. insulative) be increased fat storage?
JDS –
As Art mentions in the video link above one of the reasons surfers are often so trim is because they spend a lot of time in cold water. The cold water absorbs heat from the surfer which requires energy (calories) to create. All other things being equal you could, ostensibly, lose weight simply by sitting in cold water. This is a version of the drinking cold water tip you may have heard.
I do “contrast showers” all the time. Aka…start off somewhat hot then do 30sec cold, back to warm, 30 sec colder….etc…trying to hit all the lymph node areas (under the arms, neck, front hips) and the spine to shock the CNS. Great stuff. Definitely feel more alert…and there might be a little something in regards to fat loss since it will generate some sort of norephedrine response (which is key to access the fat in all those hard to get places that have those stubborn A2 receptors, or we could just take an ECA stack…if you can find it).
Also the contrast showers help the lymphatic system move waste away from the cells (lymph) with the expansion/compression effect of hot/cold. May aid in natural detoxification and boosted immune function through that.
I know there are stories out there also of centurians who say the secret to them living longer was taking cold showers. May be something to it.
Heh heh.. I was a member of the polar bear club in high school, TOTALLY invigorating.
I can’t say I’d be making cold showers a habit in some way.
Cooling down is a must, but at the end of the day at least for me…. the shower needs to be hot.
I’m trying to do as much cold water swimming as possible this summer. On the only extremely hot day (for Seattle) so far this season, I swam in Puget Sound, in water that was about 50 degrees, for 15-20 minutes. I’d never spent anywhere near that much time in it before. It felt amazing in the 90 degree heat, although when I came out my foot cramped up and I couldn’t quite feel my legs.
Water water tempts me.
Food Is Love
Hmm, I don’t know why the word “water” appeared twice there.
Food Is Love
As a kid I regularly swam in chilly water. We would go to Lake Tahoe a few times each summer and the community pool at my parents’ cabin in the mountains was huge and not heated, so the water stayed pretty chilly, often in the mid 60s. Maybe that is one reason why we kids had so much energy and my parents, who wouldn’t regularly go for a dip, didn’t!
I occasionally end a shower with a few minutes of cold water only. Out of curiosity, I just checked the temperature and it is only 68-70 degrees…far shy of the 50 degrees mentioned. Looks like my only real option is adding ice to a bath which is a bit more work. I wonder if well water would tend to be colder than my city water? I remember the showers at a farm house I rented being much colder than my current house. Anybody else check their water temps?
The well water at my house was 61 degrees this morning. I began taking cold showers as a health technique in April. My body has adapted quite a bit; it’s not near the shock now as it used to be. Also although I’m still somewhat invigorated by my 3 minute-long cold showers, the after effects of tingly, tight skin have decreased since I first began.
George: “Cold showers? They’re for psychotics.”
Kramer “Well I take ‘em……..They give me a Whooooosh.”
I was reading about sleep the other day, and I read a comment about how exercising just before sleeping tends to ruin your night’s sleep because of increased body temperature. This information totally matched my experience: I usually go lap swimming on Wednesday nights and then have trouble sleeping afterward.
So this Wednesday, I went lap swimming like usual, and then I came home and took a nice cool shower where I gradually lowered the temperature more and more until it was downright frosty.
Then I got out, went to bed and slept great.
Hi
Another good post
I use the cold shower for this purpose after I get up in morning year round-although I dont bother in summer unless I want a general colling.
Also, if I do get sick, still happens occassionally, I stop for a day or so till I feel I coming good.
If you are in a really cold climate is not to do this in deep pools etc as there is a risk of hypothermia\collapse and drowning— a bucket of icy water or 2 does the job fine with out the risk.
I think that the cold experience is one humans must have had a lot of during the ice age and so we must have some beneficial adaptations to it.
Another way of seeing it is as a sort of circulatory system type training (ie acute peripheral vasoconstriction).
On cold days you wake up really quick and afterwards it just doesnt seem cold anymore. I also think that since I’ve been doing this my general cold tolerance markedly improved.
OB
One other thing. There is a bit of a trick to it in learning to relax , although you still shiver, when you get this right it becomes easy to do.
So *that’s* why I’ve been so danged healthy the past few years. I’ve got to stop nagging the landlord to fix the plumbing.
Hi
I’ve been having cold showers twice a day for nearly a month now.
Its helped my depression & outlook in life. I feel more content & happier & a lot less stressfull.
I have the good fortune that my gym, only 5-minutes walk away, has a cold pool that they maintain below 60 deg.
After my intense 30-minutes of resistance work, I go into the sauna to increase the heat stress even more, and I leave as soon as I get really uncomfortable; 5-10 minutes. Then it’s into the steam room, i.e., lower temp but very high humidity. This really gets the sweat pumping. After a couple of minutes, I then go into the hot tub, so now the heat transfer efficiency is as high as you can get.
Usually, just a minute there, and then right into the cold tub, full submersion. When I began this over a year ago, I could take no more than 30 seconds. Now I’m up to five minutes. I do this at the end of each of my two weekly sessions.
It’s great. It’s like my treat after the workout. From a primal/evolutionary perspective, I imagine a very strenuous hunt, after which everyone jumps in the cold spring runoff to cool off.
The other great thing is how it is a total reset on energy. I leave the gym totally refreshed, totally cooled down, totally invigorated and energized.
Richard – That’s awesome you have those facilities at your disposal. I can imagine looking forward to it at the end of a tough workout… almost like a day in a Primal Spa.
I use to soak in an ice cold (I’d literally pour the freezer ice machine box in the tub) bath I’d draw after an extremely long bike ride. It was torture at first, but the relief and effects (placebo or otherwise) afterward were always worth it.
A comment for Crystal:
We may (albeit respectfully) disagree that immersion in cold water taxes certain hormonal organs involved in CFS. I say, “We may,” because I experienced symptoms similar to those associated with CSF but not exactly the same. I experience a great deal of fatigue and occasional muscle cramping and even injury; in addition, I had some mental sluggishness and a broad spectrum of gastrointestinal symptoms; in fact, the g.i. symptoms (cramping, constipation, excessive flatulence) were my primary complaint. After moving to the American Northwest coast, I found myself swimming twice daily in the cold coastal waters. Nothing I had ever tried during the previous ten years of suffering from the above symptoms had ever made me feel so vastly better–especially regarding the mental benefits. I soon found that if I was trying to remember something before my swim, I would surely remember it while doing my laps across the shallow, salty waters of the river coursing down the beach into the vast, onrushing tide.
I later discovered that taking kelp tablets virtually eradicated my symptoms overnight; therefore, I concluded I had (mild) hypothyroid, like my biological sister. But I have continued open water swimming since that very first time I tried it. Over five years have passed, and I must admit I have become somewhat of an addict to the effects of cold water. It not only gives one a rush; I think it offers one a gentle (certainly low-impact) stimulation and positive effects on one’s health…provided one enters into the activity–or, quite literally, immerses oneself–with an attitude of hope and confidence rather than one of reluctance and fear. I suppose that, in the final respect, cold water swimming, or “therapy”, can be likened to other controversial therapies, in that its results seem to defy predictions whenever the participant simply believes the treatment will do some good.
Can you give more details on the kelp? Does kelp actually work for symptoms?
It seems as though I remember a movie shown to us in grade school of native Americans sweating in a hot Tee Pee, then running directly to, and jumping in to a freezing cold lake. I don’t recall their exact purpose, but maybe they were on to something.
When I was a teenager trying to lose weight, I read something about a french method of immersing your lower body in the coldest water you could get (from the tap) and sitting for 5 minutes. It was hard and I did it every night. When you get out and dry off, you get a heat and tingly energy in your legs and body. I loved the feeling, but doing it is torture! Maybe I’ll try it again
Out of curiousity, since I’m also trying to lose weight. Did that work for you?
When I was a lifeguard, the first thing we’d do was a 10 minute morning swim, in water that was anywhere between 55-70F. Let me tell you that cold water would rip any sort of hangover right out of you! We used to have a slang name for it, TBS. Total Body Submersion. It’s a known hangover cure among lifeguards. I’m not promoting heavy drinking, I’m just saying IT WORKS. No matter how hard you went the night before, TBS would take care of you in the morning. If it was a morning run for some reason, you were screwed.
In my circle of friends we go out to Montauk in the summertime. The deep water off the end of Long Island stays REALLY cold throughout the summer. Of course, we binge on wine, steaks, clams, wine, beer, oysters, lobster rolls, wine and more wine. We call the ocean “The Big Aspirin,” for the very same reason.
Wake up at 10am, head pounding, eyes dried shut…stumble to the beach, drop your stuff and run into the water…BBBBBBAM!! Hangover gone.
PS – Watch out for sharks! Saw a BIG old fin while boogie boarding out in Montauk a few years ago, REAL close.
I recently started taking alternating hot/cold showers. I start off quite warm then gradually make it as hot as I can for about 3 minutes then switch to cold for about 1 minute. I do 3 cycles and gradually make the hot hotter and the cold colder each cycle. I’ve only been doing this for 2 weeks now but the chronic headaches I’ve had for 30 years have lessoned (only 1 in the last 10 days-absolute heaven) and I’ve mysteriosly lost 8 lbs. (I’m quite obese) without changing my eating habits. The fact that it has been stinking hot the past 2 weeks and I’m sweating to death with no air conditioning could also be a factor for the weight loss! LOL I’ve also been doing some awesome meditations, listening to binaural beats and watching subliminal videos so it could be a combination of everything. I enjoy the showers though and will continue them daily.
Does anyone know a good place to buy a cold plunge tank? I’ve been thinking seriously of investing in one for our gym and have had little luck finding something that looks like what you would find in a locker room.
Get a horse trough. Eva T brought one to Crossfit NorCal back in the day I believe.
I was just thinking of this last night after I came in from my sprints all sweaty – I used to love the cold immersion tank in the gym in HS. We’ve got a Farm Supply right here, I might get one, especially after reading this post!
I have suffered from a mild form of Raynaud syndrome all of my life. When I started using cold water thereapy a few years back, one of the benefits that emerged several weeks later was a increase of blood circulation to my fingers and a cessation of the Raynaud Syndrome.
The French method Elise mentions in her post is called ‘Bains dérivatifs’, it’s based on an ancien bath technique developped by L. Kuhne, a german therapist from the 19th Century that used water & cold water in particular, to heal all sorts of ailments
you can read about it here
http://www.pureinsideout.com/louis-kuhne.html
Cold showers … the thought struck me this morning as I was enjoying a slightly warmer than freezing shower. Could the benefits of cold showering be an evolutionary adaptation? A trait that improves survivability which is inherited to the next generation?
The reason I thought of this was that the first cold splash induced the mammalian divers reflex (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex) in me. Why do we retain this reflex unless we have some history of water adaptation? May the added health benefit we experience with cold showers have something to do with that those who tolerated colder water in order to get to the food deeper down into the sea were the ones that was the best hunters and was seen upon as a better mate?
Also our adaptation to use ketones for fuel decreases the use of oxygen in order to oxidize glycol in our muscles. Using ketones for fuel doesn’t need oxygen. Also, a keton adapted brain tolerates and need less oxygen.
Just speculating wildly here, any thoughts to the idea?