The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Depression
Posted by Jasmine (Edmonton, Alberta) on 01/19/2008
★★★★★
GOD BLESS YOU EARTHCLINIC. Cold showers cured my depression. I have never felt so alive and so happy and grateful to be alive. Thankyou Earthclinic for sharing this great remedy. I have more energy and less stress. Oh and some other pleasant changes I've noticed - my hair is shinier and curlier (perfectly soft curls too, not frizzy like before), and my skin is clearer and softer than before. Right after I do my morning stretches and calisthenics routine I will jump into the cold shower (I almost can't describe how incredible it feels!)
Panic Attack
Posted by Lisa (Victoria, Texas) on 01/17/2008
★★★★★
I woke up early this morning and went right into one of the worst panic attacks of my life. Nausea, dizziness, heart rate going at about twice what it normally does... I found this site after looking for quick ways to lower my hart rate because I was having trouble breathing. I decided to give the cold shower treatment a try and, while I regretted it for the first five minutes or so, I am now feeling totally back to normal. I'll be sure to use this method in the future as it works so much faster than any medication I have tried.
Rash
Posted by Kathryn (Melbourne, Australia) on 12/14/2007
★★★★★
I had a terrible rash under my armpits a couple of years back now. I tried EVERYTHING! I remember it would flare up and the itch would increase 10-fold when I had hot showers. It got that bad that the skin had broken. In conjunction with a honey based cream and using bicarb. as a deodorant, the cold showers bought IMMEDIATE relief. With the water directed into the armpits, the itch would go straight away. Most certainly, the hot/warm water did 'something' to stimulate the bacteria (or whatever!) that was present. Thanks for such a wonderful site; I've been a long time reader and always visit whenever ailments inflict me or my family. ACV and H202 being my favourite remedies!!
Invigorates Mind and Body
Posted by JUANITA WADE (BASKING RIDGE, NEW JERSEY) on 11/26/2007
★★★★★
Hi, I just want to say that i am so glad for this site. I tried the cold showers and really love them, i have been taking the cold showers for a month and really love it. After I get out of the shower, i feel so good and have lots of energy.
So I will not be going back to hot showers, i am hooked. Thank you for the site.
Invigorates Mind and Body
Posted by Sandy (In the sticks, Nevada) on 11/24/2007
★★★★★
The cold shower therapy works really well for lifting my mood and making me feel alive. I am doing many other therapies, but I believe that the cold showers are the reason I have been so happy the last few months and have experienced moments of amazing joy that occur out of the blue and for no particular reason. I get cold easily and so starting this therapy made me question my sanity. I have to say that I started with cold showers in August of this year and that it is much easier to take cold showers in the summer than now! Even in the summer however, I was never able to stay in the shower until I felt warm. Now that it is winter, if I am even slightly chilled before I get in the shower, I will take a warm shower and gradually throttle it down so that I end the shower with a cold rinse. I think having the bathroom warm is important if you are going to try this therapy.
Skin Care
Posted by Scott (Pocatello, Idaho) on 10/10/2007
★★★★★
To add to the cold water effect, I did some reading about the quality of tap water in America and come to find out it is contaminated with pollution well above the EPA standards in most cities (quite disturbing in some cases). Adding chlorine and the presents of all the other contaminants found in the tap water are more readily inhaled and absorbed through your skin during hot showers (also consider the ingredients in hygiene products including soaps, shampoos etc., they contain sodium laurel sulfate which contains dioxin the most potent carcinogen known to man, this is also absorbed into the body). At colder temperatures the effect of these contaminants are greatly reduced whereas your skin pores will close preventing your skin from absorbing the toxins. Also hot showers stimulate the production of sebum to compensate for the loss during a hot shower, thus becoming prone to over production, which may lead to skin blemishes.
Fountain of Youth
Posted by Linda (York County, Maine) on 03/12/2009
Hi Chris....I've done a little cold showering and I'm not as dedicated as a lot of folks, but I like to start with a warm (not hot) shower in order to wash up...also, I haven't used soap in ever so long and haven't missed it, just scrub really well with a shower brush...once I'm finished washing, I turn the water just a little colder for a couple of minutes exposing my pulse points to the cooler water first, then allowing the rest of my body to be bathed in the cooler water...after 2 or 3 minutes, the water begins to feel not so cold - kind of like going swimming in the lake - once the water feels warmer, I turn it another notch colder for 2 or 3 more minutes, etc. until I feel like getting out of the shower. I read that it takes 3 minutes for our blood to completely circulate through our bodies; I have no set time that I stay in the shower but always feel really good afterward. When I do this in the evening, the boost in my circulation energizes me enough to finish my bedtime routine, get into some warm jammies and enjoy a good night's sleep!
Pain Relief
Posted by Burness Speakman (Fredericktown , MO) on 09/25/2007
★★★★★
I read about the cold showers here 3 days ago. I have experienced whole body pain for as long as I can remember. Recently it has become unbearable to try and sleep without double doses of over the counter pain killers. The legs throbbed, prickley needles in the soles of the feet, leg muscle pain, skin pain, hip pain, numbness in the shin area. It was building up for years. I was ready to check myself in somewhere but I do not go to doctors. Anyway to continue. After reading the messages, I went and took a cold shower. This was the afternoon. Just before retiring I took another. This one really affected my body. Gasping and panting but not painful I stayed in the shower. For the first time since I could remember I had a peaceful night sleep. No pain in the legs at all, no numbness, no prickleys. I took three the next day with the same good results at night but with one more added strangeness. My Bowel Movement turned green. Not a dark green a kackie green and I was not constipated as usual. I gathered my bile was flowing. I had come to think I had a gallblader problem years ago but never associated the whole body aches with it. There might be some siatic nerve situation involved also, but I don't know. All I do now is that this seems just short of a miracle for me. I certainly hope it continues, because I don't know if I ever want to take another hot bath again as long as I live. Oh, the energy and high spirits are there too as others reported. Bless you all.
Mood Enhancer
Posted by Dylan (Galway, Scotland) on 09/25/2007
★★★★★
yeah after trying a few cold showers we are totally addicted to it!! good for staying up at night during exam times. as foreign students we are broke after the bill skyrocketed this summer, i have made a deal with my flatmates to turn off the water heater from now on. means we only have cold water to use into the winter !! we shall see who can last the longest..i even placed a bet that i wont turn it on again.. not until next year..
Cold Shower Tips
Posted by Henry (Texas, Tx) on 06/20/2010
162 lbs with a medium build is far from being underweight with an eating disorder. People that are underweight with eating disorders would have a frail build and closer to 70-100 lbs.
Multiple Ailments Treated
Posted by Aron (Cluj-Napoca, Romania) on 09/02/2007
★★★★★
I started taking cold showers about five weeks ago. I started with Scottish showers (hot/cold) and then after a couple of days I tried the cold ones. I just love them: it gives me enough energy to last throughout the day and my overall mood has improved. Now my daily routine includes a Scottish shower in the morning and a cold one before I go to sleep. Usually it takes no more than 10 minutes to shower. I start from the feet, arms, armpits and then the chest. In the beginning I expected to catch a cold, which didn't happen (good thing), although I sneeze a lot more (bad thing). I've discovered that I have less BO and I am cleaner after showering, although I don't use soap or duche gel.
Also, for the ones who want to try it: take it easy; go from hot to lukewarm, and then gradually go to cold. Try it for 3 weeks and then decide if you don't like them. Try it.
Anxiety
Posted by JJ (VA) on 08/01/2023
But we are not talking about some situations that are life threatening. Just routine, daily activities that can avoid Tylenol, Advil and depressants etc. Are we going to compare post-heart surgery medicines or anethestics for surgery to Tylenol avoiding medicines and other over the counter medicines that can be easily avoided...not prescribed for cures but symptoms? Let's be serious again!
Cold Shower Tips
Posted by Adil (New York, USA) on 05/17/2007
★★★★★
I find taking cold showers hard (painful), but I discovered something that significantly helps: Bring a few ice cubes in a glass with you to the shower and keep an ice cube in your mouth as you shower. Take another when it melts.
Makes Hair Curly
Posted by Michael (Toronto, Canada) on 05/17/2007
★★★★★
ive been taking cold showers for about 2-3 weeks now and its really good, i feel better and everything, but since ive started taking cold showers my hair has been more curly. i just wanted to know if this is because of the cold showers or maybe something else.
EC: Yes, quite a few people have remarked about curlier hair after taking a cold shower!
Fountain of Youth
Posted by Terence (London, UK) on 05/08/2007
★★★★★
my water heater blew up during end of Jan, my landlord was away so i forced myself to take cold showers till he is back. every shower was freezingly cold at first and i shivered a lot, but once i endured pass the initial stage my body started to generate heat and i felt better, my whole body flushed after the showers and i felt warm!!
i like the challenge of it when the icy water first gush down to my skin, it is thrilling, and i found myself become healthier as i haven't catched a single cold since Jan, i have more cold tolerance i can go jogging in the cold shirtless and go to college with just one layer of shirt in the dread cold feb and march !!
when my landlord came back i didn't say a word about the spoilt heater, and continued with my cold showers, he noticed it somehow when the electricity bills dropoed, and was so surprise on how i went through the winter months, he fixed it for me but i just switched it off till now as i'm totally addicted to my cold showers !! can't wait for another winter to come !! going to challenge myself again !! something that i want to do when i'm still young and strong..
Depression
Posted by Lucy (North Vancouver, B.c Canada) on 08/24/2012
★★★★★
I been doing for more then 10 years, happy all the time, never ever sick!
Lowered Blood Sugar and High Cholesterol
Posted by Cory (Tacoma, Washington) on 03/26/2007
★★★★★
I have been taking cold showers every day now for almost three months, and I recently got the results of my latest blood and urine lab tests from my doctor. Blood sugar and cholesterol were markedly lower than the tests showed just prior to starting the cold shower regimen, with no appreciable changes in diet or physical exercise. My blood pressure was lower, and my pulse rate at rest has decreased from 72 to 54, which I find amazing. I am not in "great" shape physically, and I can only attribute these changes to the cold showers. This might actually be the 'fountain of youth'.
Anxiety
Posted by Igor (Moscow, Russia) on 02/21/2009
★★★★★
Dear Earth Clinic,
Thank you for this excellent forum on cold water therapy. I had an anxiety which seemed to 'come from nowhere'. Cold baths work on this much better than cold showers. Also swimming in the sea or lakes. There is a tradition of doing this in Russia and also northern China: but in modern times people think it is madness. In this time of credit crunch (2009) this is a practice which everyone can afford.
I have a question to people on this forum: what about time? I do it for 1-4 minutes, 2 times a day, before and after sleeping, every day, as my uncle showed me, like the brushing of the teeth. (The washing with warm water and soap I do before or after this: it seems not to matter which.) It seems that a longer time is not beneficial at all. So I am interested to know other people's ideas about timing.
Another question: I work sometimes in Arabia where it is very hot in the Summer times. There is no problem to make a bath of water, but it is not very cold. So do people know of any device/machine which can be put in a bath to make the water cold? Putting ice from the fridge is OK but this method needs a lot of ice.
Kind regards,
Igor.
Depression
Posted by Cory ( Tacoma, WA) on 02/26/2007
★★★★★
I am 52 and have been swimming in cold water all my life, and always enjoyed how the cold water made me feel afterwards. I only recently started taking cold showers, and I wish I had started years ago. I had been taking Prozac and other anti-depressant medications for eleven years and desperately wanted to get off them, but the withdrawal symptoms would hit like a nightmare. The cold showers have enabled me to get off these drugs cold turkey. I keep the water ice cold for at least five minutes, then switch to warm and finally hot. I aso discovered that targeting the armpits is absolutely essential.
Acne
Posted by Karthik (Hyderabad, India) on 02/01/2007
★★★★★
Cold Water -- It's really amazing how it feels to take a cold water bath in the mornings. I have had this acne problem for a long time and taking cold water bath has helped me a lot.
