Myth or fact: ice baths and cold showers cure stress

• Cold immersion may lower stress for a few hours, but evidence is limited.
• Cold showers reduced sick days in one trial, but not days of illness.
• Ice baths right after strength training may slow muscle growth.
• Sudden cold water immersion is dangerous for people with heart disease.

Myth: a daily ice bath is a universal cure for stress

Cold plunge videos promise less anxiety, stronger immunity, more energy and faster recovery, and home cold plunge tubs have become a booming market.

Fact: some effects exist, but they are modest

Stress and well-being. A systematic review and meta-analysis of cold water immersion found that it may lower stress for up to about 12 hours afterward and possibly improve sleep and quality of life. But there were few studies, they varied widely and most involved young, healthy people (Cain et al., 2025).

Cold showers and sick days. In a randomized trial of more than 3,000 workers in the Netherlands, those who ended a warm shower with 30 to 90 seconds of cold water took 29% fewer sick days. The number of days they were ill did not change, so they were sick as often but perhaps felt more energetic (Buijze et al., 2016).

Recovery from workouts. Regular cold water immersion after strength training for 12 weeks reduced gains in muscle mass and strength (Roberts et al., 2015).

Safety

Sudden immersion in cold water triggers “cold shock”: a sharp rise in breathing, heart rate and blood pressure. For people with heart disease, this is dangerous.