However, if you're dealing with a more severe illness like the flu, it's probably best to avoid cold plunges until you're feeling better. A general rule of thumb is this: if your illness is affecting your respiratory system (such as a cold or flu), it's wise to skip the cold plunge.
While cold plunges offer numerous health and wellness benefits, it's important to exercise caution when sick. The added stress of cold exposure can strain your body and potentially hinder recovery. During illness, the priority should be rest and self-care to support your body's healing process.
Powell, a vascular surgeon, says cold plunging is safe if you're reasonably fit and have no history of arrhythmias, high blood pressure, diabetes, poor circulation or heart problems. He also advises that anyone with Raynaud's phenomenon, which causes decreased blood flow to the fingers, avoid cold plunging.
If you have a cold, flu, or nasal allergies that cause your sinuses to clog up, drinking warm or hot water may help ease your symptoms and make breathing easier. By contrast, drinking cold water may make you feel worse by thickening nasal mucus.
But it's possible cold plunging could boost immune system health in general. “Repeated cold water immersion has been shown to increase the circulating concentration of certain immune system cells and proteins,” McMullen says.
Whether or not you'll want to skip your cold plunge when sick depends on your symptoms and the severity of your illness. For minor illnesses, taking an ice bath might be a welcome respite. Ice baths can reduce inflammation and muscle soreness, which could ease some of the aches and pains that come with being sick.
Cold water causes your blood vessels to constrict, which raises your blood pressure and forces your heart to work harder. According to the American Heart Association, cold plunging can cause a sudden increase in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure.
Overall, cold drinks can benefit a sore throat by: Decreasing pain1. Decreasing inflammation1. Decreasing swelling.
Popsicles, ice chips or Jello can help them stay hydrated when they do not want to drink. Drinks with electrolytes or hydrating powders which include combinations of salt and sugar can be helpful too. Even without GI symptoms, hydration is key to helping treat those with other illnesses.
There's no evidence that cold showers help with weight loss. But they still may provide other benefits for your metabolism. Cold water immersion can activate brown fat cells, which then burn fat to create more energy. Some studies suggest this can help regulate insulin levels and help prevent diabetes.
Avoid taking a cold bath or shower, and avoid using ice. A cold bath may sound like a good idea if you're burning up, but it can cause shivering that can increase—rather than decrease—core body temperature. 1 Also, shivering consumes calories, which can make you exhausted if you aren't eating well due to illness.
While cold plunging has numerous benefits, staying submerged for too long can introduce potential risks. Prolonged exposure to colder temperatures may lead to hypothermia, where the body loses heat faster than it can produce, resulting in symptoms like shivering, confusion, and fatigue.
For example, if you take a 10-minute cold plunge every day, you could burn around 80-90 calories per day, or 560-630 calories per week. While this is not enough to cause significant weight loss on its own, it can be a helpful addition to a weight loss program that includes exercise and a healthy diet.
Entering a sauna during a bout of cold or flu can lead to dehydration, dizziness, and potential skin irritations. The sauna's heat induces sweating, and prolonged exposure can result in excessive fluid loss. Remember, hydration plays a pivotal role in combatting colds and flu.
Myth: Taking a warm or cold bath brings a fever down quickly. Reality: False. People often do everything they can to try to lower a fever, to no avail. You should never take a shower or a warm or cold bath, which would cause a sudden change in temperature that prompts the body to recover its thermal balance.
Water is a great choice, in general. If you're dehydrated because you've been sweating a lot — from vigorous exercise, for example — a sports drink might be your best choice. If you're dehydrated from vomiting or diarrhea, choose an oral rehydration solution.
While occasional use of cold drinks may not pose significant risks to kidney health, excessive consumption, particularly of sugary and artificially flavoured beverages, can have a severe impact on renal function and general health, especially in those with kidney disease.
Some beverages, such as carbonated drinks, caffeinated beverages, or those high in sugar, may actually exacerbate throat irritation. It's advisable to choose cold drinks that are gentle on the throat and avoid those that could potentially irritate or dry out the throat further.
But never try this with children under 5, who may choke. Try ice or cold foods. You can also try sucking on ice chips or popsicles to ease sore throat pain. Drink soothing liquids.
Ice baths can reduce inflammation and muscle soreness, which could ease some of the aches and pains that come with being sick. They also give you a boost of feel-good chemicals and energy. If you have a fever, though, it's probably best to skip the ice bath until your body temperature returns to normal.
Afterdrop is the continued cooling of your body's core temperature after exiting cold water. This can cause symptoms such as shivering, hypothermia, and feeling unwell. It occurs because your body shuts down circulation to the skin during cold water immersion as a survival mechanism to preserve heat in the core.
Cold plunges help burn fat, improve mood, and boost sleep by activating "cold-shock proteins" in the body which could preserve muscle mass, and reduce cognitive decline and inflammation. Saunas have been linked to heart health, lower cholesterol, reduced inflammation, and better immunity.