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DELIBERATE COLD EXPOSURE FOR HEALTH

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Buckskinner:
Have you guys ever done cold water baths to reduce pain and inflammation?   My buddy sent me a podcast from a neurosurgeon named Andrew Huberman with the topic of cold-water treatment, he also has tons of other well-being topics.  Very interesting guy goes kinda deep into the science of it, but I like that stuff. so, I figured what the heck, see if it helped my back and shoulder pain.

Basically, you start out with about 54 deg water bath and submerge yourself to the neck for several minutes and resist the temptation to get out, because you definitely want to...  As you go along you reduce the temp with ice and stay in longer.  My well water was 52 deg in the tub so I went with that.  I've been doing it every other day for a week now. My first bout was 4 minutes, then a minute longer every time.  Every week I'm going to drop 2 deg and see how that goes.   

I will admit it is a very hard thing to get into a cold-water tub, takes your breath away and staying in is a mental game as well and when you get out you are numb all over. But after I get out and honestly feel 10 years younger, my back has not bothered me, nor my shoulder and I have way more energy than I did before.  Shockingly my wife, who hates the cold has started doing it as well after listening to the podcasts and seeing my results.

I highly recommend listening to this podcast and giving it a try, I truly believe it changed my life.

https://hubermanlab.com/using-deliberate-cold-exposure-for-health-and-performance/

Pappy:
My son is doing kind of the same thing, ice cold showers and says it really helps, I though about it but just don't think I can stand it, I like hot showers. :) Glad it is helping you out though. :)
 Pappy

Buckskinner:
He has another podcast on hot therapy also does different things but very good for you as well. Sauna, hot showers do the same thing. But the temps are pretty high.

Pappy:
That's good to know, must be something to the cold bath thing, I know when My son runs a 26 mile marathon he comes back and soaks in a tub of ice water at least a couple of time after and said it really helps to keep from being sore and stiff.  :)
 Pappy

Pat B:
I have not used cold immersion. I don't think I could but I have used ice in isolated areas on my lower back. It really helped to alleviate the pain when I was down with a bad back.
 What I did was fill a styrofoam cut with water and froze it. To use you tear off a bit of the cup to expose the ice and rub it over the area where its needed. You should only do this for about 10 to 15 minutes at a time as to not damage the shin. After use put the cup back in the freezer for later use.

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