In Poland, a man sits meditating on Mt Snezka, at 5,300ft, the pinnacle of the Silesian Mountain range. The temperature is 10 degrees below zero and he is naked except for a pair of shorts, his name is Wim Hof. The re-emergence of cold therapy is mostly due to Hof who has trailblazed the popularisation as well as the research into the health benefits of cold exposure.
You only have to hold some ice cubes in your hand for a few seconds to register discomfort, yet, learn to master the body’s response to cold and you may be able to unlock some surprising benefits. Cold therapy or cryotherapy is an ancient practice – Egyptians used it as far back as 2500 BCE – that has found its way to contemporary prominence and with the onset of the colder months in Canberra, what better time to explore its potential benefits.
First, a caveat: don’t go jumping into Canberra’s lakes or waterways! Rapid immersion in cold water can cause dangerous changes in heart rates and breathing. Cold therapy advocates suggest controlled and gradated exposure to cold with some surprising results.
Pain relief and muscle healing
Ice baths are a common feature of post-game recovery in elite sport, where it’s used to mitigate muscle soreness. Studies have shown that cold therapy can combat the pain of rheumatoid arthritis as well as speeding healing more generally.
Aids fat burning
Being cold forces the body to work harder to stay warm. Studies have shown that cold exposure increases the body’s stores of naturally occurring brown fat tissue (BAT) which, unlike white fat tissue, is active in burning calories and using energy. Cold exposure essentially turns calories from food into heat.
Fights inflammation
Studies have shown exposure to cold temperatures raises levels of a protein called adiponectin that is linked to reducing inflammation.
Hof advocates a method of combining cold exposure with breathing techniques to influence both the sympathetic nervous system and the immune system. Learning to regulate your response to stress is the key here.
Results have been impressive showing increased production of anti-inflammatory mediators and a subduing of the pro-inflammatory cytokine response, which suggest promise for utilising these methods to combat conditions like auto-immune disease.
To try cold therapy for yourself, try finishing your morning shower with a blast of cold water. Start by counting to 10 and work your way up to a minute. Initially, your breathing may become ragged, but try and breathe steadily and evenly and notice how the discomfort of the cold eases and becomes tolerable.
Congratulations, you’ve just wired a new pathway in your nervous system that gives your body and mind a different way of dealing with stress.
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