Ice Baths

Ice baths, also known as “cold plunges” are one of the hottest (or perhaps coolest) health interventions being talked about on the internet. They’re promoted for everything from post-exercise soreness, to helping mood and depression, and are even heavily promoted as a means to increase longevity.

But is cold exposure really worth your time (and possibly money)?

The answer is, it depends.

First, let’s look at the research so far and what the general findings are.

Ice baths / cold plunges probably don’t increase lifespan. The research just doesn’t back up this claim.

In addition to not doing ice baths for longevity, they also probably aren’t the best idea when done right after resistance training, as there appears to be an inhibition of muscle building following cold exposure. How long after exercise this effect occurs is still under investigation, but the general recommendation is, if you are going to do ice baths, wait at least several hours after exercise to minimize any inhibitory effects on muscle growth.

On the good news side, ice baths probably help reduce inflammation, whether it’s localized due to an injury, or systemic from something like an autoimmune disorder.

Ice baths also seem to help reduce depression and elevate mood, although it’s unclear to me whether this is an effect of the ice bath itself or getting out of the ice bath! I don’t know about you, but I’m pretty sure my mood would improve if you let me out of a tub full of ice water!

But outside of reducing inflammation and improving mood, the list of other proposed benefits of ice baths is currently pretty questionable in terms of actual research.

Practicality is also an issue. If you happen to live someplace where the climate is relatively cold and you either have access to one or more bodies of water for natural cold plunges or your home’s running water tends to be pretty cold, doing ice baths on a regular basis is not too much trouble. But if you live in a warm climate, having an ice bath will probably involve putting a substantial amount of actual ice into the bath. If you’re really dedicated to it, it’s workable, but it is time-consuming and if you’re doing it to be healthier, your time and effort is probably better-spent on other activities, such as exercise.

As an alternative to an actual ice bath or cold-plunge, some facilities offer whole body “cryotherapy,” which is typically carried out in a special chamber that is rapidly cooled with liquid nitrogen. Again, if you’re looking for help with inflammation and/or mood elevation, cryotherapy may be worth a try. Other health benefits may be found as research continues, but for now the research is pretty limited for most of the claims being made, and while cryotherapy sessions may have an edge when it comes to time (the rapid-cooling of the chamber allows for sessions that only last a few minutes) and convenience, the cost is quite a bit higher than buying a few bags of ice per week to make DIY ice baths.

While some may benefit from ice baths, for the majority of people, they probably aren’t worth the time and effort.

Until next time…

George F. Best, D.C.