Cold Water Therapy

Cold water can have some fantastic health benefits! Water that is around 10-15 degrees centigrade can help a number of health conditions (including the swelling we face with Lipoedema) or promote other health benefits. There are some simple ways that you can adapt cold water therapy into your day to day. Cold showers, ice baths or outdoor swims. You can also source cold water immersion therapy sessions. There are lots of cold water swimming groups around the UK, which are worth checking out if you are interested in trying out cold water outdoor swimming.

What are the benefits? Cold water therapy can help to improve your circulation, improve sleep decrease pain and improve your energy levels. The key one for lipoedema is it can reduce inflammation in your body. If you are feeling hot, cold water can really help to cool you down quickly as well as reducing muscle soreness following a workout. Cold water therapy can for some people improve their mood.

Suffering from lipoedema can often mean that you can struggle with illness and a lower immune system. Cold water therapy as well as improving inflammation can for some people boost their immune system. Practicing cold water therapy and deep breath techniques together can have a positive impact on your immune response in some people. We know that deep breathing is great for lymphatic flow in the body, this along side cold water therapy can help some people some people even see a boost in their metabolism.

Cold water therapy is free, you can get started at home in your shower or bath. Some people like to go into the sea or into a loch or lake. There are lots of sites and advice on how to get started check out if you are interested https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

I tried cold water therapy and found some great benefits! I had more energy, I saw a a visible reduction in swelling and pain. If cold water therapy is something you are interested in trying always take advice from your doctor to make sure that it something that is suitable for you. I found that alongside my usual ways to manage lipoedema like dry brushing and compression that cold water therapy had a positive impact for me. It had a big enough impact for me that I decided to kept going and now include cold water therapy as part of my day to day self management for my lipoedema.

If cold water therapy is something you are considering or interested in I would recommend it!