Cold water is good for you!
By Dr Jo Coldron, Tavyside Medical Centre
Over the last few weeks, I have been trying to emulate two women who I have a great respect for and find hugely inspirational. The first is one of my GP partners who always seems so calm and cheerful no matter what the day throws at her, and radiates such an intense enjoyment of life and its adventures. The other is a woman who is learning to live with the grief of her partner’s death, and working out how to navigate this new world with such a huge, permanent hole in it.
Both these incredible women credit wild swimming with bringing resilience and joy to their lives, and after an entire adulthood of avoiding anything cooler than a hot bath I decided I had to leave my inner wimp at home and literally dive into the world of wild swimming. Admittedly I chose to do this on the hottest day in May on record, but we’ve all got to start somewhere. And I haven’t looked back. I’ve found I love it. Now walks are planned around a dunk in a river or the sea, something my children and dogs are very happy about.
Wild swimming feels good for me, but what does it actually do? A lot of the evidence people quote is a bit removed from the situation of wild swimming in Devon - it’s either in extreme sports environments, or immersing in ice water - but the following conclusions seem to be valid. Cool and cold-water immersion seems to cut down on muscle soreness and possibly joint pain; aids our immune system - especially decreasing our risk of contracting viral respiratory infections; improves our mood helping relieve anxiety, depression and stress; and boosts our metabolism which can in turn lead to weight loss, lower blood pressure and result in better cholesterol and blood sugar readings.
Scientifically no mention is made of the difference between dunking in an ice bucket, having a cold shower and swimming in a beautiful bay, but there must be one. Add to these basic metabolic effects the excitement of swimming in the sea at dawn, or laughing with your children and friends as you dive into a deep pool, and the sense of accomplishment when you do something you’ve been too scared to do for many years, and my hunch is that this is every bit as powerful when it comes to making us feel better.
It takes some working up to though, and as good as wild swimming is, it can also be dangerous. We have an innate ‘cold shock response’ which means that as soon as we immerse in cold water, we take an involuntary breath in, we breathe fast and our heart beats harder. Although this is just at the start and fades, it’s important not to have your head underwater when you first get in, otherwise you might drown, and be careful if you have underlying cardiac disease or are on medications. Please also swim with a companion to improve safety for each other. With repeated cold immersions over some weeks, it’s possible to decrease this cold shock a little and increase your tolerance for staying in the cold water. Initially start with very short dunks, but as you get hardier and stay in longer beware of hypothermia. Luckily all the health benefits seem to come within the first minute or so. Make sure you have warm dry clothes to change into and do it relatively quickly after exiting the water because as long as you are still wet you are losing a lot of heat. Have a warm drink and something to eat, as both increase your core body temperature. But most of all enjoy it - it really is wonderful.
There is a wealth of information and there are groups out there for those wanting to start wild swimming but devonandcornwallwildswimming.co.uk is a great place to start, and has a wonderful section called ‘Top Tips for New Swimmers’.