Cold Water Therapy Death

[StridTheKiller]

www.thesun.co.uk/news/18383425/woman-dies-celebrity-cold-water-therapy-coleen-rooney/

This is so sad. Is this therapy safe?

Cold water therapy isn't a new thing at all...
But it is important to climatise and do it in a safe way by adhering to water safety rules.

Hasn’t this been done for ages in Scandinavian countries? Sauna followed by a cold plunge?

I’m leaning towards this being a tragic event rather than something reasonably preventable. I can’t see anyone participating being subject to a full cardiac check up beforehand being workable.

Well what can you do? If you're sensible you look into things thoroughly before you do them. If not you suffer the consequences.

if you Google it, there are quite a few articles about it. Improved circulation is one supposed benefit, but I think the biggest one might be mental health benefits

i did google it. There is ongoing research, but currently it’s either proposed or theoretical benefits, or anecdotal.

there’s a couple of studies linking cold water immersion to a stress response, but then how do we know whether the stress response is a good thing?

nothing to show actual real positive effects on health. It may be mental, but how much of it is placebo- in which case it seems an awfully risky think to do to make yourself think you feel better.

there was the death of a mum in front of her kids recently too when she jumped into a plunge pool. It’s bloody terrifying.

we have so many drownings every year with people swimming in open water. It seems mad to be selling doing it in freezing water as “therapy”

I do ice swimming in Sweden and it's great for my arthiritis. I have been doing it for the last 5 years or so whenever I went to visit my family, now I live there and do it every morning. Although the ice is starting to melt on my lake, but it is still cold enough to have the desired effect for another couple of months.

It has therapeutic quilities, at least for me. I feel so good afterwards mentally, and my joints can tell if I haven't been doing it in a while.

I knew a man in his thirties who collapsed on a golf course and died as a result despite an immediate, trained response.
Such things do happen out of the blue sadly.

I did one of those courses back in December (our instructor was called Emma I think), it was wall to wall hippies, and great fun!

I felt so good after the dip, it gave me a taste for it and I've been doing dips (not swims) in local spots since then.

I just think it's crazy and doesn't suit some people at all. I hate HATE cold water, and wouldn't touch it with a bargepole. Swmming in the sea and in lakes is wonderful, but I don't do it unless I know the water will be a reasonable termperature. Some people love it, my MIL swam in a cool pool once and enjoyed it and I got in the same pool and couldn't warm up at all and felt like I was going to die if I didn't get out and get warm quickly. It's horrible.

@Reallyreallyborednow I don’t disagree. It seems there isn’t enough research so far to declare definite health benefits (though plenty of anecdote, as you say). I agree with you that it is questionable to label it ‘therapy’.

But if people feel that it is helping them, even if only by placebo, then it’s a good thing for those people. Equally, people should be able to try it, provided they’ve been informed of the risks beforehand, and provided it hasn’t been labelled as therapy!

But then the word therapy gets used metaphorically at times doesn’t it? Retail therapy, for example! If someone finds a particular activity therapeutic, perhaps it is therapy to them.

Actually, this article claims that studies have shown cold water swimming boosts the immune system by increasing white blood cell count. It doesn’t seem to cite the source of that research though.

www.iprshealth.com/news/8-benefits-of-cold-water-swimming/

The headline is misleading. People die after doing all kinds of things, it is a shame but many people will have undiagnosed conditions.

I believe there is a tv series where contestants partake in this 'therapy'

I assume they do it with medical on standby and with rigorous health screening. They didn’t just put an advert on the local Facebook page offering it to anyone who rocks up with a hundred quid.

Cold water swimming/dipping/showering is all the rage at the moment. It’s apparently really good for you

And yet yesterday our local police force posted a warning on Facebook about swimming at this time of year because the water is colder than you think.

So what? Intentionally taking part in cold water swimming or whatever is not the same as going into a lake expecting it to be warmer.

I am sorry for this woman and her family but this isn’t a new, dangerous thing. This was an unfortunate incident. My dad worked with a man who dropped dread on a treadmill, that doesn’t mean using one is dangerous.

Another person who swims outdoors year round. My English lake is 13° right now. The River Goyt wasn’t “ice cold”.
Poor, dramatic reporting.
A tragedy, but no-one can say why on the basis of that sensationalist twaddle.
Can you imagine reading that and thinking, my wife is DEAD and the focus here is clickbait mentions of “celebrities”?

Yeah sorry the more I think about this the more irritating it gets.

This woman didn’t die because of negligence, she didn’t drown, it has nothing to do with the fact that Colleen Rooney has also done it. Saying the therapist now has a 1 in 1100 death rate is alarmist and quite frankly ridiculous.

Would you have the same reaction if it was a heart attack after just completing a sky dive? Because that’s about equivalent I would say.

It’s good that your local force are raising awareness that it can be dangerous. I’ve heard that the sea is at its coldest at the moment because obviously such a large expanse of water takes time to respond to the air temp, which is why Sept/Oct is probably the best time to go sea swimming in the UK because the sea has been warming nicely all through the summer. It makes sense that the police have issued that warning now as we’ve had so much lovely weather recently (in my part of the UK at least), so more people are spending time on beaches. When people are at the beach on a sunny day, some of them will want to go in the sea and many will not know that the sea is particularly cold at the moment after a long winter.

The fact that swimming in cold water (and swimming full stop) can be dangerous doesn’t preclude it from also being a healthy thing to do for many people. Lots of things can be good for you but can also be dangerous in rare cases. Skiing was mentioned upthread. It’s excellent exercise and for those who enjoy it, it’s wonderful for your mental health. But sometimes people crash into trees or other skiers and get injured or worse. It’s for each individual to inform themselves about how to attempt the activity as safely as possible, and decide whether they find the risks proportionate to the benefits.

So what? Intentionally taking part in cold water swimming or whatever is not the same as going into a lake expecting it to be warmer.

I am sorry for this woman and her family but this isn’t a new, dangerous thing. This was an unfortunate incident. My dad worked with a man who dropped dread on a treadmill, that doesn’t mean using one is dangerous.

When you buy a treadmill or join a gym, there are warnings about safe exercising. That people die doing other things, doesn’t mean we should be blasé about this woman’s death.

When you buy a treadmill or join a gym, there are warnings about safe exercising.

And these participants signed a waiver and completed a medical questionnaire before taking part in the cold water activity. She would have read about the possible risks before taking part.

it is a really sad thing to happen and my heart goes out to her family.

*I did one of those courses back in December (our instructor was called Emma I think), it was wall to wall hippies, and great fun!

I felt so good after the dip, it gave me a taste for it and I've been doing dips (not swims) in local spots since then*

@SageCardy We had Emma too! She was great, I even enjoyed the wild garlic soup despite my initial reservations.

It's very sad, and awful for the family of the lady who died.

As many have said upthread, this is a growing trend, probably with interest probably raised further due to the current Wim Hoff programme on BBC.

My husband and I (me less frequently than he) have started having cold showers over the last couple of years as a consequence of features in the media on the health benefits. It makes you feel good afterwards, even if at the time it takes your breath away. My DH went for an open water swim last week, for the first time, and managed really well, but he swam in a managed lake with a temp of 16 degrees. i think a gradual approach is needed for many people and risk factors need to be considered.

I think like others have suggested, many, many activities and sports carry risks. Some people sadly have undiagnosed or hidden health conditions which mean they are more at risk from certain activities. To suggest this activity should be banned is sensationalist and an overreaction I think, regardless of how very sad this incident is.

I’m in Scotland so your talk of 13 degrees is pure luxury - even in the height of summer! 😂

despite swimming in water as low as 1 degree, I personally am not sure my body could take a plunge pool.

it’s well known for improving mental health and there was a bbc documentary on it a year or two ago. Might’ve been dr creepy Cristian.

@EdgeOfSeventeenAndThreeQuarter for those of us that love the sting of the properly cold water, it’s you that has the luxury 😂

@Testina 😂 it’s why the Scots are so good at swearing. Several millennia of entering icy waters cursing and squealing whilst attempting to beat off the cold by shielding our nipples with hands.

I am one of them Scandinavians and cold water swimming is not a new thing at all. Even the ancient Greeks were at it! There are many health benefits even though random over cautious mumsnetters try their best to discredit them.

Back home it's common to jump into a pile of snow after the sauna. Some folks go swimming in a frozen lake early mornings before they set off to the work (local councils make and maintain these holes in the lakes). No sauna or anything, just a cossie and a quick dip in the water.

This is a tragic accident, doesn't sound like the provider was at fault and there is no reason to ban the activity.