The debate about what is more beneficial between a cold shower and a hot shower is never-ending. Likewise, while each of these has its own advantages and disadvantages, it is essential to understand the science behind them to get an idea of how each of these impacts your body physically as well as psychologically. That is why, in this article, we have given an overview of the benefits of cold showers and hot showers, their psychological effects, mechanisms of action, and disadvantages.
Do you know:
- Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) include diseases that affect normal blood circulation and heart functioning. According to the World Health Organization, or WHO, these diseases are responsible for almost 17.9 million deaths globally every year. 1
- Similarly, problems related to muscles and the skeletal system also have a negative impact on about 1.71 billion people worldwide. Therefore, musculoskeletal conditions are one of the leading causes of disability in around 160 countries of the world. 2
- Apart from this, the number of people suffering from mental health disorders like anxiety and depression was as much as 970 million in 2019. 3
Hence, along with medications and other therapies, various studies have also suggested that the benefits of cold showers include improving circulation, mental health, and muscle recovery and promoting the health of your immune system. It can also work as an excellent natural remedy for the above-mentioned conditions. 4
Potential Benefits Of Cold Showers
Here is an overview of 5 potential benefits of cold showers:
1. A Cold Shower Improves Circulation
One of the most crucial benefits of cold showers is that they help improve blood circulation. The mechanism behind this is that when your body gets exposed to colder water temperatures than its normal temperature, then it has to work a bit harder. So, when it starts working harder than its used capacity, its efficiency in maintaining blood circulation is ultimately enhanced. This makes cold water showers highly beneficial for your overall health in the long run.
Apart from this, by improving blood circulation, a cold water shower also works as a great home remedy for patients having—
- Diabetes
- High blood pressure
2. A Cold Shower Is Beneficial For Mental Health
Cold showers help in releasing several types of hormones called endorphins. These are generally referred to as the 'happiness hormones' in your body. Hence, the release of endorphins improves mental health by inducing the feelings of—
- Positivity
- Psychological and emotional well-being
Apart from this, a cold shower also benefits patients with depression because bathing in cold water works similarly to electroshock therapy. As a result, after you take a cold shower, your mental health elevates because of an increase in—
- Alertness
- Clarity
- Energy levels
Hence, if you are wondering about how to reap the maximum benefits of cold showers for depression and other mental health-related issues, the answer is simple: Take a cold shower for at least 5 minutes for a minimum of 2 to 3 times every 7 days. 5
3. A Cold Shower Supports Muscle Recovery
One of the most helpful benefits of cold showers for athletes and people who engage in regular sports (as a hobby) and other physical activities is their ability to help you recover from—
- Muscle injuries
- Soreness
- Fatigue
These can happen as a result of indulging in heavy sports activities and bring down your performance by making you less capable of practising further.
Cold Water Immersion Technique: What Is It And How Is It Beneficial?
The technique for muscle recovery using cold showers to heal injuries is called cold water immersion. 6
By temporarily bringing down your body temperature, cold water immersion drastically speeds up the delivery of freshly oxygenated blood to the affected area (injury or bruise). Hence, it is one of the quickest natural methods to promote wound healing by decreasing inflammation and pain. That is why muscle recovery is one of the best benefits of cold showers.
4. A Cold Shower Is Good For Your Immune System
As already mentioned above, cold showers give your body a gentle and temporary shock-like sensation. This sensation is beneficial for your immune system because it helps in stimulating the production of leucocytes (white blood cells, or WBSs). WBCs' main function is to help fight against infections and develop resistance to common immunity problems such as cold and flu.
Apart from this, cold water showers might also be suggested as a preparatory step for people who have to undergo surgery that can potentially result in decreased functioning of your immune system.
5. Cold Shower Benefits For Weight
Do you know that people who are overweight (obese) can potentially increase their metabolism (which can result in weight loss) by taking cold showers at least 2-3 times in 7 days? Weight loss is, therefore, one of the most surprising and less-regarded benefits of cold showers. However, it is important to note that cold showers won't help; you must combine them with healthy lifestyle changes and other weight loss remedies for visible results.
Potential Benefits Of Hot Showers
Right from blood circulation to improved sleep, a hot shower benefits your health in many ways. Below, we have described 4 of the ways in which hot water is beneficial for you:
1. A Hot Shower Improves Circulation And Cardiovascular Health
A randomised intervention study to analyse the physical and mental effects of bathing that was published in 2018 concluded that a hot shower benefits the blood circulation of your body in numerous ways.
Likewise, taking a hot shower in water (by completely immersing yourself in water) that doesn't exceed a temperature of 40 degrees Celsius warms up your body and results in vasodilation (expansion of your blood vessels to make more room for blood flow).
As a result, it leads to improvement in your circulation and ultimately enhances your overall cardiovascular health (heart health) by increasing oxygen supply to different body organs through proper blood flow. This is one of the most prominent and important hot shower benefits. 7
2. A Hot Shower Enhances The Health Of Muscles And Joints
A hot shower also benefits the health of your muscles and supports better joint functioning. This is because when you completely immerse your body in hot water, your muscles relax, and the collagen that is present in your ligaments and your articular capsules (the connective tissue surrounding your joints) softens. When this happens, the functioning of your muscles, as well as joints, improves significantly.
3. A Hot Shower Is Beneficial For Brain Health
Apart from physical benefits, a hot shower also has benefits for your brain and mental health. As already mentioned above, if you take a shower by immersing yourself in hot water, your blood flow improves.
This improved blood flow increases the oxygen supply to your brain, too. As a result, there is a short-term improvement in your brain functioning because of a sudden increase in the substances that allow the production of neurons (new cells of the brain). 8
Apart from this, a hot water shower also benefits your mental health by allowing mental relaxation, decreasing mental fatigue and reducing your overall stress and anxiety levels.
4. A Hot Shower Encourages Better Sleep
Among other benefits of a hot shower, improved sleep is one benefit that has a drastic impact on your overall quality of life. This was proven when a meta-analysis combining the results of many studies on the relationship between hot water baths and sleep was released in 2019.
The meta-analysis concluded that to get the sleep-related benefits of a hot shower, a person must take a bath with hot water for around 1 to 2 hours before going to bed for at least 10 minutes. This happens because hot water (not exceeding the temperature of 42 degrees Celsius) brings your body to the ideal temperature, which makes it more comfortable and ultimately increases the quality of sleep you get. 9
The Psychological Effects of Cold and Hot Showers
Now that we know the benefits of cold showers and hot showers, here is an overview of the psychological effects of each of these:
- Antipsychotic Effect: Research has shown that cold showers might work similarly to electroconvulsive therapy, which is specially designed to exert antipsychotic effects on the brain. As a result, there is a temporary reduction in stress-induced pain and emotional suffering. Therefore, when it comes to people dealing with extreme psychological stress or suffering from a mental health disorder (examples include schizophrenia and other depressive disorders), this is one of the most important benefits of cold showers. 10
- Anti-anxiety Effect: As we have already mentioned before, a hot shower benefits your mental health by bringing down your anxiety levels, inducing relaxation, and casting a positive effect on your brain. Hence, it works great for your overall psychological well-being. 11
The Science Behind Cold and Hot Showers
Cold showers increase alertness, while hot showers induce relaxation in your body. Both of these mechanisms can work great towards improving your productivity, relieving pain, and bringing out an overall state of well-being both physically and mentally. In fact, you can also alternate between hot and cold showers to get their maximum benefits.
When to Choose Cold Showers vs. Hot Showers?
The choice between cold showers and hot showers for their benefits depends on personal factors such as: What kind of benefits of cold showers or hot showers do you want to seek?
Generally, cold showers are recommended in the morning because they energise your body. Hot showers, on the other hand, are recommended to take at night because they offer the benefit of better sleep by encouraging the relaxation of your brain.
Possible Drawbacks of Cold and Hot Showers
Apart from the benefits, there are certain drawbacks of cold showers and hot showers. These include—
Hot Shower Drawbacks
A hot shower may cause—
- Dryness
- Itching
- Sudden increase in blood pressure
- Aggravate the symptoms of skin conditions like eczema and several others
Cold Shower Drawbacks
A cold shower can—
- Cause arrhythmias
- Worsen lung problems
- Can be harmful to pregnant women 12
Who Should Avoid Cold or Hot Showers?
Undoubtedly, the benefits of cold showers and hot showers are many. Still, for some people, it might not be the best idea to switch to these under particular circumstances. This is because, in these cases, the drawbacks might be greater than the benefits of cold showers or hot showers.
So, here is a list of situations under which a person should avoid taking cold showers and hot showers, respectively:
People Who Should Avoid Cold Showers
Cold showers bring about a sudden change in your body temperature. While this is beneficial for a normal healthy person, people having the following diseases can be at risk because it might exert added pressure on their body by making it overwork out of its capacity—
- People with weaker immunity
- People have advanced-level heart conditions like CHF or congestive heart failure
People Who Should Avoid Hot Showers
Regardless of how many benefits a hot shower can provide, some people might start feeling dizzy or experience other negative symptoms after or while taking it. Examples of such cases can include people having conditions that affect their
- Blood circulation
- Neurological functioning
- Cardiovascular (heart) functioning 13
Conclusion
All in all, both hot showers and cold showers have their own benefits and drawbacks, respectively. However, while one type of shower may work well for one person, it might have no effect on another based on their particular requirements.
At the same time, it is essential to understand that one should not rely completely on hot and cold showers when trying to deal with a particular issue, whether it is psychological or physical. For best outcomes, you must always combine these showers with other medical and natural remedies.
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