Has anyone on this site had any experience with Cold Plunge therapy?

[Kvb-texas]

I have healthy friends that swear by the benefits that they receive from cold plunges. This is where they submerse their entire body for 2-3 minutes in 50 degree F water several times a week. They say they have more energy throughout the day. I wasn’t sure what the impact would be for someone with CLL. There is a Stanford medical professor named Huberman that has done a lot of research on it and published podcasts on YouTube. Have any of you had success or bad experiences with this?

[Horsechestnut]

I'll be following responses to this. I have done a cool one minute ending to my showers as a much lower key variation. I'm concerned that the cold plunges could be too stressful on our systems but waiting to see what is indicated by anecdotal evidence or any studies.

[Newdawn Administrator]

Interestingly enough, I’ve been reading a bit about this subject recently and am a fan of the cold shower finish. However, everything I’ve read makes me exercise caution about the possible impact to the heart of sudden exposure to very cold water.

‘But evidence supporting the health benefits of cold therapy remains scant. Experts caution that for some people, shocking the body with cold water could do more harm than good, even at less-than-frigid temperatures. The National Center for Cold Water Safety warns that sudden immersion in water under 60 degrees Fahrenheit can kill a person in less than a minute.’

heart.org/en/news/2022/12/0...

‘People with heart conditions also may take medications, such as beta blockers, that lower blood pressure and reduce the heart rate, which could make it harder for the body to adapt to the shock of a sudden temperature drop, Plutzky said.’

I think I’ll stick with the quick spray of bracing, cold water after a shower, regardless of the CLL 😳

Newdawn

[Kvb-texas in reply to Newdawn]

Thanks Newdawn, I will check out the link you included.

[Ghounds in reply to Newdawn]

You're braver than me 😂 but then I don't have heating upstairs so my bathroom is already icy!

[Kiwidi]

I ‘plunge’ into a pool that (they say) is around 25degC/77F to aquajog every day and that is cold enough for me! I have friends who swear by the ‘ice bath’ therapy but don’t even want to try. They have an old chest freezer in their garage which they climb into. There is a kiwi blood cancer survivor named Josh Komen who has written a book about his survival techniques and that is one that he practises.

[Skyshark]

Every year someone dies jumping in cold water swimming pools or rivers. South of France and other Mediterranean areas are particularly bad as most swimming pools are unheated and the air is warm.

theguardian.com/uk-news/202...

rlss.org.uk/cold-water-shoc...

heart.org/en/news/2022/12/0...

I gave it up when I was 11 and finished prep school.

[Kvb-texas in reply to Skyshark]

Yeah, I can definitely see that. Good to be cautious. You really want to be careful and gradual about it. From the people I know that do it as a practice they built up slowly over time to let their body adapt. The sudden coldness can definitely be deadly. I think I may try what Newdawn and Horsechestnut suggested by ending showers with a cold minute or so. That’s probably all I can tolerate anyway.

[craterlake in reply to Kvb-texas]

Hi Kvb-texas , our daughter and granddaughter .. have been doing the ice water plunge ...or they go swim in the cold ocean or nearby lake..... our granddaughter is in college and many have covid and so far she has avoided it ... our daughter had a typical butterfly rash on her face that looked like lupus for a couple of years .. she went to a couple of doctors and naturopaths took pills and supplements , exercised etc...didn't seem to help it ... then she started the cold water plunge and in 6 weeks it started going away ... i was wondering if she would ever be rid of it or the other malaise she had ... now she is fine and her skin just glows and she feels much better .so now she swears by it .. i was very impressed but not enough to do it myself .. in fact i don't swim in our solar heated pool until it gets up to 80 .....🙂... the contrast shower is good though ... 3 minutes HOT and 1 minute as cold as you can handle it ...for 5 reps .....blessings , james

[Kvb-texas in reply to craterlake]

Very interesting, thanks for sharing. I agree with you on the pool. I prefer 85+F :), but, living in Texas I’ve never been acclimated to the cold.

[nuji]

Read “What doesn’t kill us” by Wim Hoff. He is a proponent of cold therapy.

He is a Dutchman who challenged doctors that he could take near fatal IV doses of toxic microbes into his bloodstream and not get sick. Live medical experiments conducted in Medical Schools in Netherlands is on you tube. Multiple other achievements of Wim Hoff and others wrt to cold therapy is on YouTube .

Book is interesting. He has a huge following and his classes are always full.

Don’t know if and how it will affect CLL. Very interesting though. Cold is supposed to stimulate the vagus nerve and supercharge the parasympathetic nervous system.

[AussieNeil Partner Administrator in reply to nuji]

According to this video by UK cardiologist Dr Rohin Francis Doctor Dissects the Wim Hof Method - Cold Hard Science Analysis

m.youtube.com/watch?si=xLsQ... much of what is promulgated by Wim Hoff is pseudo-science, though (while bearing in mind the heart attack risk) he does note probable evidence for some of the Wim Hof website claims, in particular the breathing technique in reducing the incidence of altitude sickness. The breathing and cold plunge aspects are best considered separately.

For those without the time to watch the entire video, Dr Francis provides a summary of how he sees the evidence stacking up from the 34 minute mark. Of note, he found no evidence of long term immune system improvements. He did like appreciate that the Wim Hof method is not to be treated as an alternative to conventional medicine.

Neil

[Gampo]

Hi, I’ve never done cold water swimming (mostly because the accessible rivers around me are less than clean!) but I’ve been taking cold showers for the past couple of years, even in winter and with a house that since oil prices shot up isn’t exactly warm. I find it invigorating and it makes me feel more alive. That said, I also have v cold hands - I think that can be a side effect of CLL? - so for a while afterwards I struggle to get them warm again and end up using fingerless gloves as I have breakfast. I also do the Wim Hoff breathing some mornings. The combination seems to reboot me mentally and physically.

[LeoPa]

I have a bunch of friends who do regular ice water swimming during winter time. They all swear by it. But none of them has CLL or cardiac issues and are under 60 and in great health. Which they attribute to the cold baths. I don't know what was first, chicken or the eggs. Correction. One of them is almost 70 now. He's been doing this for over 30 years. And looks to be 55.

[Rando21]

I have tried cryo which is similar. Overall I thought it was beneficial but maybe not worth the hassle & expense.

[DoriZett]

I have tried mineral hot springs with a corresponding ice spring - it was invigorating and somehow made me feel connected to my Swedish roots!😄 But as I grew older and had heart palpitations from thyroid medication changes - it felt as if the shock to the heart might be too much. Then COVID took me out of communal hot springs experiences so no more hot to cold public plunges for me.