# Cold baths for sore muscles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 7, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000 "2012-10-07T16:50:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/1 "2012-10-07T16:50:36Z")
A serious-runner friend of mine told me that after his long runs he takes a 15-minute cold bath. He said that the bruised tissue is first shocked, naturally, and the blood leaves the area, and retreats to the core (which is why taking a nip of booze when you’re freezing outside is ultimately counter-productive). He said his sports doctor told him that after the soak, the body goes into hyper-perfusion, and all sorts of good things happen (I can’t remember the particular mechanisms he mentioned). Any explanations? ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/2 "2012-10-07T18:21:49Z")
Post match/workout/training [ice-baths](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_bath) are the preferred option for athletes in a wide range of disciplines - rugby, football, runners etc. While there has not been much clear research, if it was counter-productive I suspect professional sports teams (where performance/recovery is closely monitored) would notice and stop using it. Si ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/3 "2012-10-07T19:02:58Z")
Think of the cold baths as full-body ice-packs; reducing inflammation caused by stress from workouts (or runs or competitions or whatever). ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/4 "2012-10-07T22:20:25Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > Post match/workout/training [ice-baths](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_bath) are the preferred option for athletes in a wide range of disciplines - rugby, football, runners etc. While there has not been much clear research, if it was counter-productive I suspect professional sports teams (where performance/recovery is closely monitored) would notice and stop using it. > > Si It’s certainly true that this is widely used, however there have been other things that people do that are done because that’s what everyone is doing, then sometimes the science catches up and they stop doing them. A [good example would be static stretching](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/to-stretch-or-not-to-stretch/), which “everyone does”, has been counter-indicated, and now is getting reversed again. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2012, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/5 "2012-10-07T23:11:47Z")
[FWIW](http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/news/20120214/ice-baths-for-sore-muscles-can-work): > [@](#): > > Feb. 14, 2012 … According to a new review, it is better than doing nothing and equal to other remedies such as compression stockings or stretching. > > Ice baths are favored by some elite athletes and have become a habit of other exercisers as well. > > “We only found an effect in favor of cold water immersion when it was compared to doing nothing – that is, passive rest after exercise,” says Chris Bleakley, PhD, a researcher at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. > > The ice bath reduced muscle soreness by about 20%, he says. > > “There were no differences when cold water immersion was compared to other popular recovery interventions,” he says. So the best active treatment is still unclear, he tells WebMD. > > The review is published in The Cochrane Library. … > > … Experts are not sure how an ice bath works. “A number of studies used blood samples to examine the effect of immersion on various biomarkers of inflammation and muscle damage,” Bleakley says. > > However, he says, no studies found an effect on the inflammation response. The researchers did find a reduction in pain, and that can follow inflammation and muscle damage. > > The ''placebo" effect – a measurable effect that isn’t due to the treatment – may be at work, Bleakley says. > > “My advice to athletes is to find the strategy that they feel works best for them,” he says. This could include a combination of water recovery, compression, stretching, and other methods, he says. … > > … Many other treatments can help reduce muscle soreness, Sforzo says. Massage, for instance, ''is a lot more fun than doing ice water immersion," he says. Actually I don’t mind being a bit sore after having exercised. I know that “no pain no gain” is not in fact true but psychologically a wee bit of pain makes me feel like I must have worked hard enough and more self-satisfied. Any one else odd like that or is it just me? ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cold-baths-for-sore-muscles/637000/6 "2012-10-08T01:27:13Z")
I thought too that ice-packs are dandy after contusions, but they only work within 10 minutes or something after the bruise. The Wiki entry (and some of its cites) presents a lot of evidence as to it’s maybe-yes maybe-no-ness. (There must be a better word for what I just used.)