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The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

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Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#131

Post by a2tech »

OnACoffeeBreak wrote: post #77
michalu wrote: post #17

I've been taking cold showers exclusively for 11 years now. It doesn't get much easier but you'll get addicted to the great feeling after. It's similar to running or exercise, it sucks to do but you do it anyway because the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort. The trick for me was to never use warm shower again and never compromise ... only coldest water available counts. First thing in the morning. It mak…

Obviously you don't feel that using cold water negatively impacts how effectively you can clean yourself otherwise you wouldn't do this, but I was interested to know because I assumed hot water is better. So, I did some searching, and results appear inconclusive [1]: > The impact of handwashing techniques on infectious diseases among the general public in community settings has not been extensively studied.Hot water…

It certainly discourages lingering in the shower. When I was doing it (cold tap open, no hot water at all, Michigan, winter) when that water hit you you definitely moved quickly. With hot showers 20 minutes isn't uncommon if I'm tired and enjoying the hot water in the winter. With cold showers...5 minutes from turning on the faucet to hopping out. I never noticed any reduction in my cleanliness, but what I absolutely noticed was an improvement in my skin. Hot showers in a dry environment like a Michigan winter leads to very dry and cracked skin. With cold showers my skin was in much better shape. No cracking, no flaking.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#132

Post by ericskiff »

kaliali wrote: post #114

Conclusion: "A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical reduction of self-reported sickness absence but not illness days in adults without severe comorbidity." So less people were sick but everyone still took just as many sick days. Hmm....

I think you got that backwards. Just as many people reporting being ill (illness days), but the cold shower group went to work anyway more often (sickness absence).

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#133

Post by ericmcer »

jph wrote: post #3

https://hbr.org/2018/03/cold-showers-lead-to-fewer-sick-days The link is an interview with the study author, and excerpts are below. This is the first high-level evidence showing that cold showers can benefit your health. People who took them for at least 30 seconds for one month called in sick 29% less than our control group — and 54% less if they also engaged in regular physical exercise. Participants who took the…

It makes sense to me that our body would behave as conservatively as possible with nutrient stores in normal conditions. Plunging them into a crisis state, like a cold shower, would then trigger some kind of “use it all we are in trouble” type response.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#134

Post by Angostura »

Izkata wrote: post #103
Angostura wrote: post #72

The group studied seem to have a extraordinarily high rate of sick-days no? Around 30% taking a sick day in a 90 day period? I've probably had 2 sick days in 3 years (data point: mid 50s, a nice hot bath with my toe stuck out of the bubbles, good book, cup of tea).

If I'm doing my math right, and your two sick days aren't correlated with each other, I think you would have had a 16% chance of one or both of them occurring during a random 90-day period. Multiply out a few hundred of you, and that 30% in the study would be about 16%. So no, doesn't seem like an overly high rate at all to me. (4 sick days in 3 years would jump to 29%)

Thank you for doing the maths. Insightful

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#135

Post by ericmcer »

kyuudou wrote: post #108

If this is the only bathing you do, I would think all the fatty and oily residue particularly on the face, neck and chest would be harder to wash off. That's kind of the point of a hot shower, IMO. Still, I do experience the aftereffects of a cold shower and I think it's useful to do from time to time. But every day? Ew!

Your skins natural oils are healthy. I wonder if some of the health benefits of cold showers come from not scouring all your bodies natural oils off everyday.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#136

Post by samatman »

michalu wrote: post #17

I've been taking cold showers exclusively for 11 years now. It doesn't get much easier but you'll get addicted to the great feeling after. It's similar to running or exercise, it sucks to do but you do it anyway because the benefits far outweigh the temporary discomfort. The trick for me was to never use warm shower again and never compromise ... only coldest water available counts. First thing in the morning. It mak…

I had to look up the James Bond shower: it's when you take a warm shower, and finish with cold water.

I've been doing that since I was a young lad, it's how my father taught me.

I grant that it might make it more difficult to establish the habit, but I wouldn't know. To my taste it's the best of both worlds.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#137

Post by kaliali »

ericskiff wrote: post #132
kaliali wrote: post #114

Conclusion: "A routine (hot-to-) cold shower resulted in a statistical reduction of self-reported sickness absence but not illness days in adults without severe comorbidity." So less people were sick but everyone still took just as many sick days. Hmm....

I think you got that backwards. Just as many people reporting being ill (illness days), but the cold shower group went to work anyway more often (sickness absence).

Ok that makes more sense. The word sickness absence is a bit confusing.

Re: The Effect of Cold Showering on Health and Work (2016)

#139

Post by caleb-allen »

joncrane wrote: post #13
lbj wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That doesn't sound healthy at all. If the only difference is that they went to work sick, then I see little benefit. Except to the disease of course, it get spread around more effectively.

The takeaway I get is that it increases perseverance. So basically, "doing something physically unpleasant every day increases ability to push through/withstand other physically unpleasant events" is my big takeaway. Seems pretty straightforward. Not necessarily novel, especially when you add in the exercise portion. I think there's some value to pushing yourself harder than the minimum to be comfortable and survive.…

I wonder if mouthwash is similar, if to a lesser degree? Every morning I use mouthwash until I've "felt" all the pain of it, which is when I am done. And I always hate it, and it never gets easier, but I always feel better afterwards because I accepted the pain.
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