A Cold Shower Works Wonders!

If we are not used to the cold water yet, we can lower the temperature gradually. The room temperature of the bathroom should be high enough so that the contrast between the shower and the air in the room is greater

We know that many people take a cold shower regularly . But is the cold shower really as healthy as everyone always says?

Most of us are used to taking a warm or even hot shower, depending on the ambient temperature. It takes a lot of effort to change these habits, especially when we don’t know what good a cold shower can do for our bodies.

In this article, discover how you can improve your health by taking a shower with cold water. We’ll also tell you how it works so that you don’t have to suffer.

Cold or warm water?

In reality , when we know how to use them , cold and warm water have different health benefits.

The problem is that generally only warm water is used, often too warm water, and that for a long time. We find the warmth to be much more pleasant. When it is warm, the peripheral blood vessels are widened and we can relax.

If we overdo it, however, we achieve a completely different effect: the blood pressure drops, the blood sinks in the periphery and we feel weaker.

It is therefore advisable to combine cold and warm water. In many cultures of the world there are baths and centers for hydrotherapy, which offer their guests to bathe in pools with different water temperatures.

The contrast is especially good for health.

The combination of cold and warm water can also help us to get used to the cold shower in the first place : To do this, we alternate intervals of lower and higher water temperatures.

Cold water benefits

• Cold has an anti-inflammatory effect.
• A cold shower causes the peripheral blood vessels to contract and improves blood flow to the body. Varicose veins can be prevented in this way.
• The cold shower can help with sagging skin. It helps to tone them up and improve their appearance.
• This makes it part of the cellulite prophylaxis.
• The metabolism is stimulated.
• A cold shower gives us vitality and energy and only delays relaxation.
• The immune system can be strengthened step by step.
• The nervous system also benefits from cold water.

And how do I take a cold shower?

• A cold shower doesn’t have to be very long. Five minutes is enough.
• Avoid showering your head too coldly. We should use the cold water no more than neck height.

• It is important that the bathroom is warm enough, especially if we feel slightly cold before showering. The best contrast is created between warm room air and cold shower.
• We start with the lower and side parts of the body and then slowly approach the stomach, back and chest with the cold water.
• The best thing to do is to alternate cold and warm intervals. One minute of cold water is followed by one with warm water, then two minutes cold, two minutes warm, and so on.
• At the end there is always cold water.
• People with heart problems shouldn’t use excessively cold water to shower. We recommend that you use lukewarm water and that you take enough time to get used to the cold shower and see how your body reacts.
• When we’re done showering, we need to help our bodies get warm again. A little exercise is very good, but a massage while applying the body lotion or simply rubbing it vigorously with the towel also serve the purpose.

• A cold shower before going to bed is also highly recommended, as the warm bed will be waiting for you immediately after the shower.

Bathing in the fresh air

As we get our bodies used to the cold shower, we will increasingly feel the need to cool off and refresh ourselves.

Then the time has come when we can also think about other possibilities: a swim in the lake, in the sea, in the river. In cold water.

In summer we are certainly in good company here, but a dip in the cool water is also very good for us on warm spring and autumn days. It’s best to do some exercise beforehand to warm up, and then take a cold bath.

Then a few more exercises follow and we go back into the water. Of course, you can also dry yourself off and dress warmly right after your first bath.

Exercise and fresh air increase the positive effects of the cold bath enormously, especially when it comes to the immune system and the nervous system.

Be careful if you want to swim in unapproved waters and do not take unnecessary risks.

Local baths

If you suffer from diseases that affect the limbs, such as arthritis or osteoarthritis of the joints, then cold-blooded baths are appropriate to support the therapy.

Even if you don’t choose to take a cold shower, you can alternately bathe the affected areas in cold and warm water.

To do this, you need two sufficiently large bowls of water in which you can put your arm or leg. We fill one with cold water and the other with warm water. However, you shouldn’t freeze to death or burn yourself during the bath.

As we have already described for the cold shower, you bathe the sick limb alternately in both bowls, always for the same period of time.

If you do this on a daily basis, you will soon notice how the inflammation-related pain is relieved.  Even if you have had it for a long time and it is already chronic.