Cold Water Therapy: Is There Evidence For It and Should You Take The Plunge?

*Consult your doctor before immersing yourself in cold water, and make sure you adjust gradually if you do, preferably in the shower. Furthermore, never swim in cold water alone if you are wild swimming.

Cold water therapy, or hydrotherapy, is a popular practice that many proclaim to have mental and physical health benefits. Far from being a modern phenomenon, different versions of the practice have been used for millennia, with Hippocrates suggesting water therapy to cure lassitude (weariness), and Thomas Jefferson swearing by a cold water foot bath. But what does modern science tell us?

Celebrity Advocates

It’s most eccentric and prominent exponent is Wim Hof, also dubbed the “Ice Man”. He can often be spied meditating amid what can only be described as a Coors Light advert. Hof has made a lot of noise in both the scientific and wellness communities through his practice known as the “Wim Hof Method ‘’. This has been shown to help people control their immune response, something previously thought to be unique to himself.

Hof preaches with evangelical zeal about the benefits of cold water, and is matched in enthusiasm by his following. On his website, some of the benefits of cold showers which are listed include: a reduction in stress, increased alertness and a strengthening of the immune system. Many report that it clears brain fog associated with depression whilst taking them out of their own heads.

Celebrity Chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall also vouches for the benefits of cold water therapy. In a BBC show exploring easy ways to improve diet and wellbeing, he trialled hydrotherapy in icy sea water and — despite understandable initial hesitation — persisted with the practice daily when filming ended. For him, a morning plunge into an icy bath or a 3 minute blast at the end of a shower alleviates anxiety and stress, particularly the latter. Anecdotally, there is no shortage of testimony to its benefits.

Examining the Evidence

At this point, you might be wondering if there is any evidence for all this testimony. Writing for the BBC, Dr Chris van Tulleken, discusses one theory for why hydrotherapy lessens stress which is “convincing, and biologically plausible”. In short, it proposes that repeated immersion in cold water hardens the immune system and lessens it’s response to other everyday stressors.

Each time you immerse yourself in water under 15 degrees your body initiates its stress response, raising blood pressure and heart rate, whilst breathing rate increases also. This shock response is demonstrated in a controlled environment which can be seen here. As the theory goes, with each immersion into the electric blue this stress response is reduced, which can also have a carry-over effect as to how you respond to other stress triggers in your life.

In the show mentioned earlier, Easy Ways To Live Well, Dr Zoe Williams prescribes cold water therapy to Hugh (offering the same explanation for the treatment’s efficacy) and noting that its activation of the sympathetic nervous system might lessen a patient’s response to others stressors after repeated immersion.

With the World Health Organization classifying stress as “the health epidemic of the 21st century”, it’s certainly worth paying attention. In a research paper weighing up the risks versus the benefits of Cold water immersion, they concluded that “there is some evidence that the short stress of CWI may prime the immune system to deal with a threat”.

However, the same paper cautions against the associated risks with the practice, concluding that the evidence for cold waters dangers currently outweighs the evidence for its benefits. Or as the paper more cuttingly puts it “in short, for CWI, the evidence base for ‘kill’ is currently somewhat more developed than that for ‘cure’.”

What Are the Benefits for Mental Health?

The same Chris Van Tullekan who discussed the stress theory, also hosted a BBC show with the catching title: The Doctor Who Gave Up Drugs. In short, a 24 year-old depressive woman sought his help to come off of antidepressants after having her first child. In its place, she wanted a long term, sustainable treatment that wouldn’t leave her in a ‘chemical fog’. His solution? You guessed it — cold water therapy.

Now of course with only one case study, we must be cautious with our conclusions. Shirley Reynolds, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of Reading, notes that we should not draw any observation about the effectiveness of cold water therapy from the show or from Sarah; the effects may have been placebo, natural recovery or a result of the exercise received from swimming.

Nonetheless, alongside other testimony, it shows that it can work for individuals. And work it did; an accompanying paper was published on Sarah, who reported a gradual reduction in depressive symptoms and was medication free a year later. (Do not discontinue medication without consulting your doctor first).

Before jumping into an ice bath however, an article in the Guardian soberly commented on the findings: “the results were fascinating certainly, but — because of the sample size — clinically irrelevant.” Soon after, the authors of the paper put out a public appeal for case studies to the Outdoor Swimming Society website and received a deluge of responses form 600 people claiming cold water swimming helped them manage everything from anxiety and depression to migraines. More anecdote, but not all that much in the form of concrete evidence.

Final Words of Wisdom

To conclude, research surrounding cold water therapy is in its infancy, and by no means has any study definitely discredited its supposed benefits. On the contrary, initial reports seem to favour it as a potential treatment for stress and inflammation, although too much exposure can be detrimental for both.

Nonetheless, it must be noted that much of its support is currently anecdotal, and there are certainly dangers involved for some, particularly those swimming outdoors. The dangers of cold water immersion are many, and are largely dependent on duration, health and the control conditions.

With this in mind, should you take the plunge? By all means try it out, but consult your doctor first. Perhaps lowering the shower for a 3 minute blast in the morning is the safest way to get any benefits that may be reaped from the practice; and if its proponents are to be believed, there are many.

Written by Ross Carver-Carter
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