The doctor warned about the danger of a cold shower while turning off the hot water
While turning off the hot water, a cool shower can benefit your health, but it is important to consider the possible risks and contraindications. Olga Ulankina, an expert at the Hemotest Laboratory, told Izvestia on May 6 how safe this practice is and who should avoid cold water procedures.
According to her, water with a temperature below 20 degrees has a pronounced effect on the body: upon contact with it, blood vessels constrict, blood pressure temporarily rises, and the heart rate increases. Cold water also stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, causing a stress reaction. For healthy people, this is safe in most cases and can even be useful: regular short-term exposure to cold strengthens the immune system and improves blood circulation. However, for people with cardiovascular diseases - hypertension, arrhythmia — a sharp narrowing of blood vessels is risky.
"For patients with cardiovascular diseases, a cold shower is dangerous because of a sharp vasospasm - it can provoke a hypertensive crisis, a violation of the heart rhythm. The temperature difference puts a lot of strain on the heart, and even short-term cooling can exacerbate the chronic condition. It is better for such patients to avoid cold water procedures and use warm water, even if it has to be heated independently," the doctor noted.
The expert explained that a cold shower can harm not only "cardiac" patients: with arthritis, rheumatoid diseases or other inflammatory processes in joints and muscles, hypothermia is likely to worsen the symptoms of the disease or provoke an exacerbation. Pain may appear or worsen, and joint mobility may worsen.
Severe prolonged hypothermia is also not beneficial for people with bronchial asthma or chronic respiratory diseases (bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). In them, cold can provoke bronchial spasm, difficulty breathing, increased coughing, shortness of breath, up to an attack of suffocation.
"The situation is complicated by the fact that not everyone knows about their illnesses: a person may not suspect that they suffer from, for example, hypertension or coronary heart disease. In this case, serious consequences can arise literally "from scratch" — and this is not uncommon," Ulankina added.
However, washing with cold water may be unsafe not only for people with chronic diseases. Even in a completely healthy person who does not regularly practice hardening, severe hypothermia can cause a stress reaction: thermoregulation worsens, susceptibility to viral infections increases, latent inflammatory processes may worsen. This is especially dangerous for people with reduced immunity, children, and the elderly, the expert emphasized.
"When exposed to low temperatures, blood vessels constrict, including in the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, which reduces their blood supply and nutrition. With continuous cooling for several minutes, local immunity decreases, protection against viruses and bacteria weakens," Ulankina said.
The doctor also drew attention to the fact that cold can slow down the activity of white blood cells and the production of antibodies — this makes it difficult to fight infections, especially with an already weakened immune system. At the same time, the risk of developing respiratory and urinary tract diseases increases.
In her opinion, a cool shower is an excellent tool for hardening, but you need to get used to the load gradually, and practice douching regularly throughout the year. She did not recommend starting tempering in an emergency while turning off the hot water, because this would not benefit health, but on the contrary could lead to illness.
Earlier in the day, an expert of the Popular Front project. Analyst Pavel Sklyanchuk told Izvestia that hot water is turned off every year in the summer to avoid accidents. This is necessary to reduce the risk of pipe bursts during the winter heating period.
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