3 ms·
I can offer my anecdotal experience. Been shutting off the hot water at the end of my morning showers and enduring the cold for a few minutes for the past 3 yea
by arkaic 9y ago
I can offer my anecdotal experience. Been shutting off the hot water at the end of my morning showers and enduring the cold for a few minutes for the past 3 years. I have noticed that I get fewer colds. And with the colds I do get, their symptoms are lighter, and they go away much quicker, often gone in a day or two. And I haven't caught anything real bad, like a flu, since.
- jacobolus 9y agoCompeting anecdote: I once dunked for a few minutes into a very cold bath at a Budapest bathhouse, and the next few days suffered one of the worst flus I’ve ever had. Keep doing whatever works for you, but I don’t think either of these provide especially convincing general evidence. (Note I’m not blaming the cold bath; for all I know I would have had identical symptoms either way.)
- Scea91 9y agoI don't even think your anecdote is competing. I think it is a common wisdom that you should allow your body to adjust to cold gradually.
- jacobolus 9y agoThe “common wisdom” being investigated in this study and discussed in this thread was whether short and “shocking” cold showers would improve health. The top-level commenter claims that transitioning directly from a hot shower to a few minutes of cold shower at the end has made him less susceptible to respiratory viral infections. I agree that there are often several directly contradictory pieces of “common wisdom” floating around about health topics. That’s one of the chief difficulties with folk advice in general.