What is Cold Hot Therapy?

author: Jerry

2024-01-26

What is cold hot therapy?

The so-called cold hot therapy is a practice that combines cold plunge and sauna to obtain the benefits of both. Nowadays, it is welcomed and favored by more and more people, and this practice is even promoted in some specialized spa centers. This practice has been popular in Finland for centuries. Are you ready to try this new approach? This blog will introduce it to you, please continue reading.

Benefits of sauna and cold plunge

Before we learn about cold hot therapy, let’s first take a detailed look at the benefits and advantages that sauna and cold plunge can bring to our health.

Sauna benefits

Promote blood circulation: Exposure to high temperatures in a sauna dilates the body's blood vessels and promotes blood circulation, which helps improve blood circulation and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Detoxification and cleansing: High temperatures can cause the body to sweat, which removes toxins and waste from the body. This helps in flushing out harmful substances from the body.

Relax muscles: The high temperature in the sauna helps relax and reduce tense muscles, reduce muscle pain and stiffness, and is very helpful in relieving muscle soreness after exercise.

Boosts the immune system: Some studies show that saunas can also help improve immunity.

Relieve Stress and Anxiety: The environment of a sauna helps relax the mind and body and reduce stress and anxiety.

Improves skin health: Sweat clears pores and helps improve skin clarity.

Reduces joint inflammation: Sauna also helps reduce pain and discomfort caused by joint inflammation.

Benefits of Cold Plunge

Reduce muscle pain and inflammation: Cold water immersion helps reduce muscle pain and inflammation after exercise. The cold temperature helps the contraction of blood vessels and slows blood flow.

Promote recovery: cold plunge is used to help rehabilitate athletes, reduce the process of tissue damage, and relieve pain. Promote recovery.

Increases metabolism: Exposure to cold water activates the body's brown adipose tissue, a type of energy-burning fat tissue, which helps increase metabolism.

Enhance the immune system: cold plunge can also stimulate the immune system, enhance your tolerance to cold, and improve the body's resistance to disease.

Improves cardiovascular tissue: cold plunge stimulates vasoconstriction and promotes good circulation

Improves mental health: Like a sauna, a cold plunge can reduce anxiety and stress and improve mental health

Improve concentration: cold plunge stimulates the nervous system and improves concentration

Here is a more self-explanatory table:

Benefit	Sauna	Cold Plunge
Promote blood circulation	✔	✔
Detoxify and cleanse the body	✔	✖（Detoxifies mainly through sweat）
relax muscles	✔	✔（Reduce muscle pain and stiffness）
Boost immune system	✔（possible）	✔（possible）
Relieve stress and anxiety	✔	✖（Controversial, different people have different reactions）
Improve skin health	✔	✖（May cause dry skin requiring extra care）
Reduce symptoms of joint inflammation	✔	✖（Some people may feel unwell）
Reduce muscle pain and inflammation	✖（Hot water is better suited for this purpose）	✔
promote recovery	✖（Cold water is more suitable for this purpose）	✔
Improve metabolism	✖	✔（By activating brown adipose tissue）
Improve focus and clarity	✖	✔
Improve cardiovascular health	✔	✔
Promote sleep	✔	✔

General tips for saunas and cold plunges

We recommend that you set your home sauna temperature between 140-200°F before starting cold hot therapy, while the cold plunge can be set to around 37°F. Everyone has different tolerances for cold and heat. You can make slight adjustments according to your own situation. Here are some suggestions:

1. The most important thing is to keep a water bottle within easy reach so that you can stay properly hydrated throughout the cold hot therapy process.

2. We recommend that the sauna time should be kept between 12-15 minutes, and the cold plunge should not exceed 5 minutes.

3. Depending on your comfort and tolerance, alternate cold plunge and sauna for 2-3 cycles.

4. If you want, you can do cold plunge and sauna every day. If you are a beginner, two to three times a week is enough.

5. When performing cold hot therapy, always put the sauna in front and the cold plunge in the back. If the order is changed, the heat of the sauna may aggravate swelling and inflammation.

Precautions for cold hot therapy

Before undergoing cold hot therapy, it is very important to consider certain precautions to ensure your health and safety.

Here are some precautions to know:

First, if you have a pre-existing condition such as heart disease or diabetes, it is recommended to consult with a health care provider to confirm that it is safe to do so before starting.

Stay well hydrated before, between and after using a sauna and avoid alcohol and caffeine as they can also cause dehydration

Frequently Asked Questions about Cold hot therapy

Should you do the cold plunge or the sauna first?

When doing cold hot therapy, we recommend you start in a sauna and finish with a cold plunge, which can reduce your underlying swelling and inflammation.

How long should you stay in saunas and cold plunges?

Cold plunge and sauna do not require you to spend too much time. In terms of cold hot therapy, it is recommended that you do cold plunge for no more than 2 to 5 minutes, and sauna for no more than 12 to 15 minutes. It is not necessary to stay for a long time to get the benefits. In fact, if you are just starting to practice this therapy, it is perfect to steam in the sauna for a while and then soak in cold water for a while.

Is cold hot therapy good for the body?

For people who are healthy and have no other diseases, cold hot therapy can promote our physical health. But if you have high blood pressure or are pregnant, then I suggest you consult a medical professional because there are certain risks.

Enjoy the benefits of sauna and cold plunge at home

At Alphasauna, our sauna and cold plunge options provide you with a premium ice water and sauna experience.