contrast showers?

[dmaziuk]

I was reading the TDI blog post on decompression theory, linked by @boulderjohn else thread, and the part about endothelium made me wonder: has anyone ever looked at contrast showers in our context?

For those unfamiliar: you start as hot as you can get, then go full cold, repeat a few times. The idea is hot makes peripheral blood vessels dilate, dropping the core BP. Cold makes them contract and squeeze the blood into core pipes, raising core BP. So you're basically doing "reps" on your vascular system. (Don't try this at home, void where prohibited, etc.)

They are commonly used in sports to accelerate recovery although AFAIK the jury is still out on what they actually do and why.

 

[tursiops]

I'd ask this on a Scandinavian forum.....

 

[Rred]

Soviet sauna, followed by jumping out for bath in icy pond, nyet?

Cold shocking the body that way can trigger all sorts of things, including heart attacks. Especially if you're over 50. Might want to run it past an MD, not just the crowd.

 

[dmaziuk]

That was @tursiops joke I take it but no, thank you for playing. Hydrotherapy can trigger all sorts of things including, according to some articles, nothing. I was hoping @Duke Dive Medicine or @Dr Simon Mitchell or someone with a clue abut sports medicine read this and chime in.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

What is the purpose of doing this?

 

[northernone]

Influence of contrast shower and water immersion on recovery in elite netballers. - PubMed - NCBI

Medical research on it seems to be fairly subtle in any context.

Can't find anything specifically dive related besides thinking that cold slows off gassing and sauna post dive can increase DCS risks.

Cameron

 

[dmaziuk]

What is the purpose of doing this?

Depends on who you ask. The claim is it speeds up removal of lactic acid and accelerates muscle recovery post-workout.

These guys: Influence of contrast shower and water immersion on recovery in elite netballers. - PubMed - NCBI claim the effect is purely psychological, these ones: Contrast Water Therapy and Exercise Induced Muscle Damage: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis say there may be something to it, while these: Scientific Evidence-Based Effects of Hydrotherapy on Various Systems of the Body list all sorts of things that seem to be happening during cold & hot water immersion.

 

[dmaziuk]

I was wondering about effect of repeated changes in core blood pressure that's supposed to be happening there. Specifically, what that might do to the lining of blood vessels.

PS. not necessarily in terms of taking contrast showers post-dive.

 

[aquacat8]

It sounds like a craps shoot... it could dislodge a bubble but it could also lodge a bubble somewhere methinks.

 

[The Chairman]

Hot showers are not your friend after a dive. Besides, if you have to flush lactic acid out of your system after a dive, you're probably doing several things wrongly. I'm not a doctor, but this sounds contra-indicated to a Nitrogen-rich diver.