Health benefits of cold showers

[Leo_Bloom]

@Scumpup

The old-timey strongmen and health gurus, like Charles Atlas and Eward William Barton-Wright, were great believers in the benefits of cold showers. They praised cold showers as a “tonic to the nerves” and reducer of unclean urges.

Makes you shrink when you’d rather not but need to. Preserves energy and strength, and is a test of self control.

You’ve seen Raging Bull, right?

[Scumpup]

In the interest of science, I took a cold shower this morning. If we take “tonic to the nerves” to mean “shocked wide-awake by the achingly cold water” then that part is true. Any unclean urges that I might have been tempted to gratify were overridden by my intense desire to finish the shower quickly.
Charles Atlas was a believer in applying cold compresses to one’s groinal regions, in addition to the cold showers. Clearly, this whole cold = good hypothesis owes its existence to the old timey obsession with not flogging the bishop. If anyone wants to take the time to search for Dr. Harvey Kellogg’s opinion on the matter, I’m sure he approved of cold showers too.

[lazybratsche]

@Surreal

Really no point in engaging you when it’s obvious you don’t understand anything about science. Your username suits you perfectly.

I’m with ExcitedIdiot on this one. You posted a wall of links as evidence that “Cold water therapy has been shown to improve mood, reduce fatigue, and promote non-shivering thermogenesis”. Your links were only tangentially related to that claim, about all they say is (1) people who swim in the winter say it improves their mood, and (2) cold water showers slightly reduces fatigue after exercise.

[Leo_Bloom]

@Surreal

Do you have links to better examples of studies that answer the OP’s question?

Put up or shut up.

@Surreal

I never made such a claim. Try reading for comprehension next time.

@Surreal

Really no point in engaging you when it’s obvious you don’t understand anything about science. Your username suits you perfectly.

Surreal, chill, OK?

[Surreal]

@lazybratsche

I’m with ExcitedIdiot on this one. You posted a wall of links as evidence that “Cold water therapy has been shown to improve mood, reduce fatigue, and promote non-shivering thermogenesis”. Your links were only tangentially related to that claim, about all they say is (1) people who swim in the winter say it improves their mood, and (2) cold water showers slightly reduces fatigue after exercise.

The OP asked for actual studies indicating health benefits of cold showers. In response, I claimed that cold water therapy has been shown to (1) improve mood, (2) reduce fatigue, and (3) promote non-shivering thermogenesis. I then proceeded to link to studies that indicate that cold water immersion (1) improves mood, (2) reduces fatigue, and (3) promotes non-shivering thermogenesis.

What exactly is your point again?

[SanDiegoTim]

Is shrinkage a good thing?

[FinnAgain]

@Surreal

What exactly is your point again?

You haven’t substantiated your claims and, as pointed out, several of your links were either off topic of totally irrelevant. The proper response is to fix your position, not double down.

[Surreal]

@FinnAgain

You haven’t substantiated your claims

:rolleyes:

[Great_Antibob]

@Surreal

:rolleyes:

:dubious:

You really haven’t substantiated anything about cold showers providing a health benefit. A swimming pool is not equivalent to a shower.

Further, while it’s nice that there may be a correlation between improved mood and fatigue after cold water therapy (again, limited data on showers vs pools here), you haven’t shown how this is actually a health benefit vs a nice short-term bonus.

So, yeah, there’s precious little substantiation of your claims here but substantiation of a related but not precisely the same question.

[Surreal]

@Great_Antibob

:You really haven’t substantiated anything about cold showers providing a health benefit. A swimming pool is not equivalent to a shower.

This is a fair criticism but I wasn’t able to find any studies that specifically looked at showering with cold water. Swimming in cold water or wearing a cold suit is not the same but I left it to the OP to choose which of the studies I linked to are relevant to his situation. I have not made any claims about showering.

[constanze]

@Rubixcube

In my random searching on the interwebs I’ve come across a variety of the so called “health benefits” of taking cold showers, everything from improved circulation to longer life and weight loss. Most of these sound absolutely and utterly ridiculous, and I’ve had no luck finding any actual studies on the subject, just pseudo scientific claims from various locations. Although I have little doubt that most claims are outright false I was curious if there was any real evidence for any benefits of cold showers.

Just out of curiosity:

1. Do you have any provable reason for completly dismissing the work of Sebastian Kneippand the doctors who use his method? Or is this simply part of the usual game?

2. Just what kind of evidence would convince you? Peer-reviewed medical journals are mostly not free and difficult to search.

[Rubixcube]

@constanze

Just out of curiosity:

1. Do you have any provable reason for completly dismissing the work of Sebastian Kneippand the doctors who use his method? Or is this simply part of the usual game?

2. Just what kind of evidence would convince you? Peer-reviewed medical journals are mostly not free and difficult to search.

I’m not dismissing his work, mostly because I had never heard of him, but it seems I’ve got some reading to do. I’m not necessarily asking for peer reviewed work, I’m simply asking if there is any real medical opinion or evidence for any health benefits. Like I said I’ve found a large number and variety of claims made, but most all of them come from either uncited articles online, or from those “healthy living” type sites whose claims are often over exaggerated at best.

[aceplace57]

Cold showers relieves my woody without getting callouses on my hand.

[ExcitedIdiot]

@constanze

Just out of curiosity:

1. Do you have any provable reason for completly dismissing the work of Sebastian Kneippand the doctors who use his method? Or is this simply part of the usual game?

[QUOTE=Wikipedia]
Sebastian Kneipp (May 17, 1821, Stephansried, Germany – June 17, 1897 in Bad Wörishofen) was a Bavarian priest and** one of the founders of the naturopathic medicine movement.**
[/QUOTE]

You can’t disprove any claims of the naturopathic movement, they refuse to submit them to proper evidence based studies.

[QUOTE=American Cancer Society]
Available scientific evidence does not support claims that naturopathic medicine can cure cancer or any other disease, since virtually no studies on naturopathy as a whole have been published.
[/QUOTE]

[Ferret_Herder]

@constanze

2. Just what kind of evidence would convince you? Peer-reviewed medical journals are mostly not free and difficult to search.

Not true, actually. (NB, that link may only work in the US, I don’t know for certain.)

[SanDiegoTim]

@aceplace57

Cold showers relieves my woody without getting callouses on my hand.

To say nothing of warts and blindness.

[constanze]

@ExcitedIdiot

You can’t disprove any claims of the naturopathic movement, they refuse to submit them to proper evidence based studies.

That’s not true. It’s also not true that they claim to cure cancer or anything.

Moreover, this is not about naturopathy as whole, but only the hydrotherapy part of it.

Generally, a lot of treatment methods were grandfathered into modern medicine, because they did work.

It’s also very difficult for real doctors to evaluate treatment methods dobule-blind with placebo, because it’s unethical and against the Hippocratic oath to intentionally give half of sick people (patients) placebos instead of working drugs, or a new treatment instead of an established one.

That’s why drug companies testing against placebos use scientists instead of doctors who aren’t bound by ethical oaths.

[constanze]

@Rubixcube

I’m not dismissing his work, mostly because I had never heard of him, but it seems I’ve got some reading to do. I’m not necessarily asking for peer reviewed work, I’m simply asking if there is any real medical opinion or evidence for any health benefits. Like I said I’ve found a large number and variety of claims made, but most all of them come from either uncited articles online, or from those “healthy living” type sites whose claims are often over exaggerated at best.

Well, I don’t know where you got those articles, but real doctors here as well as health advisors like the health insurances* recommend cold showers as well as the Kneipp therapy. They don’t promise exaggerated claims, but:

if you have low blood pressure or circulation problems or have trouble getting into gear in the morning**, try hot-cold-hot-cold showers (done the proper way), starting slowly and increasing until about 5 min. Over a period of several weeks you should notice an improvement.

if you have problems with cold, weak immune system etc., cold showers and Kneipp methods strenghten the immune system a bit. Again, done the correct method. E.g. you don’t simply walk in cold water: you need to have warm feet before, step like a stork no matter it looks funny, and stop before you feel cold. (Another part of hardening your body is Sauna - which also uses heat and cold to stimulate the body).

If you have problems with vasoconstriction and have consulted your doctor (warm showers often contraindicted) cold flushes have a beneficial effect.

• Because Health insurance is mandatory for normal employees, the health insurance has a big interest in keeping people healthy to save money, so they offer a lot of adivce on easy methods to keep healthy. They also pay for reha measures and cure stays in spa to make burn-out people fit again, because that’s cheaper than having people out of work permantly.

** That is provided you have had enough sleep, but are still slow to wake up.

[constanze]

The Medical University of Hannoverhas an institute for balneology - the study of baths, which includes using water as treatment. (There is a link to an english version of the page, but it doesn’t offer much. Seems they haven’T got around to translating beyond the title yet…)

[ExcitedIdiot]

@constanze

It’s also very difficult for real doctors to evaluate treatment methods dobule-blind with placebo, because it’s unethical and against the Hippocratic oath to intentionally give half of sick people (patients) placebos instead of working drugs, or a new treatment instead of an established one.

It’s not difficult at all to use evidence based medicine. Real medicine uses it all the time.

Naturopathy is quackery, pure and simple. To ignore facts and claim it can’t be tested is willful ignorance.