“The douche is the most powerful and valuable of all tonic measures.
There is no drug known to man that is possessed of such marvelous renovating
and permanently restorative properties.”
Dr John Harvey Kellogg (1852-1943)
Although many see the shower as a daily routine, to provide the necessary physical hygiene or to relax, showering can also be used for our well-being. One way to do that is to take a cold shower.
You can do the cold shower at the end of your hot shower. The cold shower doesn't have to take long. Half a minute can be enough.
Effect of a cold shower on the body
The cold shower at the end of a hot shower is fantastic and has many positive effects.
Physical health
The cold that follows the heat promotes blood circulation. The heat opens the blood vessels, and the cold water constricts them again. This stimulates circulation.
"For the life of the flesh is in the blood," Leviticus 17:11. Better blood flow ensures that more oxygen and nutrients are brought to the cells and waste products are removed. This is essential for the health of cells and therefore for your entire body.
Exposure to cold is an incentive for the body to warm up through an increase in metabolism. This process of heat production is called thermogenesis. The increased metabolism may not directly lead to weight loss, but it will make you more resistant to the cold.
Participants in a Dutch scientific study showered cold for 30-90 seconds every day after a hot shower. After three months it turned out that they had less sick days than the control group, who only took hot showers.
Mental health
The cold shower is also said to have positive effects on mental health. It takes you out of your comfort zone for a while and appeals to your willpower. It takes character to switch from the comfortable hot water to cold.
The cold water stimulates the parasympathetic nervous system, which calms you down and helps you cope better with stress. It also ensures that noradrenaline is produced, which increases your mood, attentiveness and focus.
Cold showers are even mentioned as (part of) a possible treatment for depression.
Indication and contra-indication
The cold shower is a daily form of hydrotherapy to promote your general well-being and can be a part of a healthy, natural lifestyle.
The purpose of taking a cold shower is, among other things, to train your body to better deal with the cold. Lowering the core body temperature or cooling down is not the reason for this short form of hydrotherapy. Cold water stimulates the body to generate more heat.
When is it better not to take a cold shower? The cold shower can be used without any problems for those who are physically healthy. In the case of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, severe kidney failure and thyroid problems, it is wiser not to apply this form of hydrotherapy. This also applies to very frail persons, those with rheumatoid arthritis and those who do not feel the temperature or cannot indicate what they feel.
Be careful with acute and chronic inflammations and infections. If you want to stimulate your resistance, read my blog about the contrast shower.
Talk to your healthcare provider if you have any questions about using hydrotherapy combined with your personal health. Sometimes it is possible to apply the cold shower by using milder temperatures.
Step-by-step
1) Start with a warm shower. The blood vessels open and more blood flows to the
skin. This is the first step in stimulating circulation.
2) Pay attention to your breathing when going into the cold shower. Breathe calm
and deep from your belly to relax. Rapid and shallow breathing gives stress and you
want to prevent this, so take a deep breath.
3) Turn the tap to cold water. Let your body get used to the cold by running water
over your hands. Or start with your feet, then do your legs and so gently go up and
over the whole body.
4) Build up the duration of the cold shower from 15 seconds to 30 - 60 - 90
seconds.
Practical Tips
ADJUSTING - Give yourself time to get used to taking a cold shower. There's no right or wrong in this. Start in a way that suits you and how you like it. For example, start with just your lower legs. Or do your whole body, but with lukewarm water and lower the water temperature step by step.
DURATION AND TEMPERATURE - The less cold the water, the longer the cold shower must take to achieve the effect.
STIMULATING - Cold shower has a stimulating effect, so preferably apply it in the morning and not before going to sleep.
You can enhance the stimulating effect by using a more powerful shower jet or by rubbing the body during the cold shower.
More Hydrotherapy
If you are interested in more forms of hydrotherapy, read my blogs about the contrast shower and the hot and warm foot bath.
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