What caused this when I was little?

[ohdaisydaisy]

I remember as a teenager coming home from school feeling boiling hot so ran myself a bath of cold water. I put my foot in and remember pain and what seemed like paralysis.

I always feel thankful that I didn't get in fully as I'd always assumed it would have been very serious ... but my husband just pointed out that people go from saunas to ice pools!

So, wouldn't it have been a problem if I'd got in the cold bath?

You'd have been fine. What you experienced was normal. Hot body and cold water makes the water seem icy cold. In your bath at home this would cause no problems apart from muttering it's bloody freezing.

Jumping into a lake on a hot day = cold water shock and causes a sharp, involuntary intake of breath - if your head's under water, you drown.

Oh, and your husband's right. Going from a sauna to an ice pool is controlled where you go into the ice pool gradually and keep your head above water. Same for paddling in the sea.

I can assure you jumping from a boat into a cold lake on a very hot day is fine, otherwise there would be no Canadians left 🤣

Did it happen as a teen and when you were 'little'?
What very serious thing do you think would have happened?

RNLI Water Safety - The Dangers Of Cold Water Shock

Sorry, should have said younger, not little. I think I was maybe 12/13

I thought the paralysis that happened to my foot would have happened to the rest of my body

Sauna to ice is very different because your core body temperature is raised so high that your perception of cold is very different. Simply feeling hot at room temp and then going into a ice cold bath probably causes a lot more pain and numbness, hence the paralysis feeling.

Depends on why you were boiling hot surely?I remember a school friend , he’d had a super high fever as a child and was put in a cold bath by parents. It has triggered some sort of seizure and he was left permanently disabled.
i always thought this was the reason it’s always tepid / warm water recommended for fever and never cold.

Are you sure it wasn't cramp. I get cramp in the arches of my feet when I swim in cold water. 1 Excruciating and 2 Paralysing

It was a really hot day in summer and I'd just walked a long way in the baking heat

Oh @Summitfunnyupthere that's awful! The poor child and the poor parents!