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A decade ago celebrities and unknowns alike took the Ice Bucket Challenge to raise funds and awareness for a disease-related charity. But the tradition of shocking the human body with ice-cold water – voluntarily – goes back far longer.
If saunas originated some 10,000 years ago, as archaeological evidence suggests, the tradition of jumping into a nearby lake to chill out must be at least that old.
The social media age, however, means that even ancient practices are being rediscovered and promoted. In 2022, the actor Chris Hemsworth, who played the superhero Thor, starred in a Disney series designed to test his physical limits. In one episode, Hemsworth forced himself to swim 250 yards in 37-degree water in the Norwegian Arctic. In peak physical condition at age 39, he lived to tell the tale.
That doesn’t mean everyone will.
Wetsuits were invented for a reason
Dr. Mario Gössl, structural interventional cardiologist with the Allina Health Minneapolis Heart Institute, fielded a number of inquiries from the media in the wake of Hemsworth’s series. He addressed many questions about the value and safety of cold plunges in a recent On the Pulse webinar (Chilling Insights: Cold Plunges, Hydrotherapy & Heart Health) from the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation.
The effects of jumping into cold water can be instantaneous – and deadly.
Dr. Gössl cites the National Center for Cold Water Safety, which notes that “With very few exceptions, immersion in cold water is immediately life-threatening for anyone not wearing thermal protection like a wetsuit or drysuit. When cold water makes contact with your skin, cold the shock causes an immediate loss of breathing control. The result is a very high risk of suddenly drowning – even if the water is calm and you know how to swim.”
“Cold shock,” says the National Center, “is the first threat to your survival.” It causes a sudden increase in heart rate, respiration and blood pressure. Blood rushes to the body’s core to protect the vital organs, which means it rushes away from the extremities – and makes it harder even for strong swimmers to stay afloat.
We know, from millennia of evidence, that cold water can kill. More recently, some people are claiming cold plunges can do the opposite: lengthen the life span.
Dr. Gössl asserts there is little scientific proof for such claims – although the benefits of “regular winter swimming” are beginning to be understood. These include positive effects on tension, fatigue, memory and mood.
Water therapies have been understood as part of a healthy life for centuries, if not longer. Its 19th century revival in the west was led by Sebastian Kneipp, a German priest who published a book called My Water Cure in 1886 and whose methodologies – along with products bearing his name and sold on Amazon, among other places – are still used today. In France in 2019, more than 100 thermal spas welcomed hundreds of thousands of their countrymen for three-week water “cures,” paid for by the national health service.
Which is to say that while the evidence is minimal for the health-giving properties of cold plunging, a long tradition of “taking the waters” exists.
But if the cold plunge has piqued your interest or imagination, be thoughtful and check with your doctor before undertaking such a shock to the system – even if you don’t have known cardiovascular issues.
“One thing is for sure,” says Dr. Gössl: “Take it slow.” Anyone with known heart disease should “talk to your cardiologist. . . The more comorbidities you have, the more risk you have and the slower you have to engage. And the more questions you have to ask.”
Hear more on this topic in the Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation’s On the Pulse webinar, Chilling Insights: Cold Plunges, Hydrotherapy & Heart Health.
