Cold Therapy Benefits: Unlocking the Power of Cold Showers and Plunges

Cryotherapy or Craptherapy?

Cold therapy is all the rage right now. It’s been around for a long time, probably dating back hundreds of years. Is it worth taking the plunge, or will it simply leave you cold and sad?

Cold therapy or cryotherapy is pretty simple. You put yourself in a cold environment for a predetermined period of time. That’s it. This can mean an ice bath, a cold shower, a polar plunge, standing outside in your underwear, or whatever.

Of course, some methods of cold therapy are more effective than others. Ice baths have become increasingly popular because they chill the entire body evenly and thoroughly. Something like walking around outside in the cold may work but probably doesn’t get you cold enough to show significant benefits. Cold showers are somewhere in the middle.

With that out of the way, let’s get into the benefits.

Physical Benefits

Everyone on earth suffers from inflammation to some degree. Some people have chronic low-grade inflammation. This can present in many different ways depending on the person and where the inflammation is located. Fatigue, brain fog, joint pain, abdominal distress, and countless other issues.

Chronic inflammation predisposes you to chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, and others. It also predisposes to cancer.

Cold therapy is a fantastic way to reduce inflammation. Immersing the body in cold water for a couple of minutes will reduce whole-body inflammation and likely improve your symptoms.

The same goes for acute inflammation. This is the type of inflammation we feel when we injure ourselves. It gets red, feels swollen, and hurts. Cold has the same effects. In this case, cold can be applied locally. Although, there is nothing wrong with whole-body cryotherapy for acute injuries.

Your skin will never look better when you incorporate cold therapy into your routine. Improved blood flow improves skin health and promotes collagen production. You’ll notice a difference pretty quickly.

Cold therapy seems to benefit the circulatory system as well. Cold plunges stress the body and activate the vagus nerve. This activates the parasympathetic nervous system. This promotes increased blood flow to the core (organs) and reduces blood flow peripherally (hands, feet, etc).

Getting your blood moving like this is certainly a benefit, but it’s likely this is a side benefit. The major benefits seem to come from reduced inflammation.

Another side benefit of cold therapy is the immune system boost. Cold therapy has been shown to reduce the number of sick calls and even improve cancer outcomes. Admittedly, these are very weak studies. I wouldn’t rely on them for any decision-making.

---

Can you trust mainstream medicine? After the last 3 years, the answer is no.
That’s why we created Renegade Health Magazine.
Available in both digital and print.

---