For thousands of years, humans have been immersing themselves in cold water to cure what ails them. The beneficial effects were being noted as far back as 3500BC in ancient Egypt, but formal research into the topic didn't begin until the early twentieth century. Today, the benefits of ice bath therapy are backed by a steadily growing body of evidence.
Weightlifter Karyn Marshall takes an ice bath as part of her athletic training (July 2011). Original photo by Dr Dennis Cronk. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5.
What is ice bath therapy?
Ice bath therapy is the act of immersing oneself in a tub of water at no more than 15°C (ideally 10 to 15°C) for up to 15 minutes.
Ice bath therapy is technically two different complementary therapies combined into one:
- cryotherapy (cryo = ice)
- hydrotherapy (hydro = water)
Most of the benefits comes from the cold temperature. Similar results can be achieved with an icy shower, but immersion in an ice bath also allows the water to take the weight off your joints and maximise the effects of the cold on your body.
You may be wondering who would want to do that to themselves and what possible benefits there could be. Let's get into it!
Ice bath benefits
One of the main ways that ice bath therapy affects the body is by inducing vasoconstriction on the body part it's applied to—in this case, the whole body surface. Vasoconstriction is the reduction of blood flow, and when it happens, the blood gets redirected to the body core and the vital organs, where it picks up oxygen and nutrients.
Of course, you don't stay in the ice bath indefinitely. When you get out, the body starts to warm up, resulting in vasodilation—the opposite of vasoconstriction. At this point, the oxygenated and nutrient-rich blood can flow back to the rest of the body (i.e. the skin, the muscles and other organs).
This has a variety of beneficial effects, especially in reducing inflammation.
Now, inflammation is a normal part of the healing process. It commonly occurs in response to injuries and infections, for example. Acute (short-term) inflammation is normal and healthy, but we want to avoid chronic (long-term) inflammation, which is detrimental over time.
Here are just a few of the ways in which ice bath therapy can reduce inflammation and benefit the entire body:
Reduce muscle soreness
Ice baths have long been used by professional athletes after their training sessions, but they can benefit anyone who regularly works out.
When you exercise—whether it's cycling, lifting weights, or even a less traditional workout like ballet dancing—your muscles suffer small tears. To put it simply, they are injured in a very minor way. Don't worry, though: this is an essential part of getting stronger or building endurance, because upon healing, the muscles will be stronger.
The influx of nutrients and plentiful oxygen after cold immersion promotes faster recovery post-exercise by reducing the inflammation time that comes with healing. Ice baths may even reduce the intensity of delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS), a familiar foe to avid exercisers that often rears its head a day or two after an intense workout and can sometimes last days, impacting subsequent training sessions! Ice bath therapy is used by the pros to minimise the risk of this.
The rapid recovery that ice baths can facilitate is key to getting you back in the gym or pounding the pavement, helping you reach your fitness goals faster.
Reduce joint pain
Much like sore muscles, sore joints can benefit greatly from the anti-inflammatory effects of enriched blood flow after an ice bath. Water immersion also effectively reduces your body weight, removing pressure from your body joints.
Ice baths provide both of these benefits, making them an ideal choice for reducing joint aches and pains.
Reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease
Chronic inflammation is a key component in the development of cardiovascular disease. This can even result from the chronic inflammation caused by unrelated conditions (such as auto-immune diseases like arthritis) according to the British Heart Foundation. So reducing systemic chronic inflammation should be a key health goal for anyone hoping to live a long and healthy life.
Regular ice baths and their inflammation-reducing effects can lower the risk of developing chronic inflammation and, by extension, cardiovascular disease.
Boost the immune system and lower risk of infection
The immune system is intertwined with the inflammatory response, and chronic inflammation steals essential resources from the rest of the body.
Taking steps to reduce unnecessary chronic inflammation—for example, by immersing yourself in cold water—can help to free up the immune system so that it can better protect you from the bacteria and viruses you encounter every day.
In this way, regular ice bath therapy can help to keep you free from illness.
Increase metabolism and burn body fat
Moving on from inflammation, another benefit of ice bath therapy comes in the form of a metabolic boost.
The human body contains fat, but not all fat is created equal. There are two major types: white fat and brown fat.
White fat is the type we're all familiar with. It's how we store excess energy, and it can help us stay warm. However, an excessive amount of white fat increases your risk of developing things like heart disease. Some is essential, but too much can be deadly.
Brown fat is a little different. It's not an energy store—in fact, brown fat actually burns energy (including the white fat mentioned above) to produce heat. This process is known as thermogenesis, and it increases in response to certain conditions—including cold exposure.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, people with more brown fat tend to be leaner and healthier than those with less. So increasing the amount we have is beneficial—and again, research has shown that this occurs with cold exposure.
Ice bath therapy can therefore not only induce fat burning, but also increase the amount of tissue in the body responsible for fat burning. Double win.
Mood elevation
Cold water may decrease cortisol levels and, as a result, reduce stress levels. While more research is needed in this area, early studies suggest ice bath therapy has a positive effect on mood and can reduce depression.
Improve skin health
Icy water can have a number of positive effects on the skin, not least reducing puffiness around the eyes as a result of that vasoconstriction mentioned earlier in this blog.
Cold exposure may also increase collagen production, which in turn improves skin elasticity. Collagen production naturally decreases as we age, and there are all sorts of cosmetic treatments that purport to slow this process—but why spend time chasing the perfect skin lotion when a plunge in an ice bath benefits not just your skin but your whole body?
Are there any drawbacks to ice bath therapy?
Part of the way ice bath therapy works is via a stress response to cold water exposure. Just as muscles heal stronger and bigger after being broken down, this stress response should ultimately have a net positive effect on your health and wellbeing.
However, to limit the chances of experiencing cold water shock, it's important to take a progressive approach to ice bath therapy. Work your way up gradually. Start with less than a minute at a time and work your way up to a few minutes.
Ice baths shouldn't be anything beyond uncomfortable. Consider checking in with your GP first if you have any concerns or pre-existing conditions.
Safety is important in other ways, too. It might be tempting to assume you can get the same benefits by plunging into an icy lake or river, but where the temperature cannot be accurately gauged or where there may be strong currents, the risks far outweigh the benefits.
We recommend using a dedicated ice bath, like the Alaska Ice Bath Tub from Premier Hot Tubs. It's designed specifically for one person to get all the benefits of ice bath therapy, including close control of the temperature and extra features (like Aqua flow massage jets) for an extra-soothing experience.
To order your Alaska ice bath, click the button below or contact Premier Hot Tubs today.
Alaska Ice Bath Tub
