Can plunging into an agonisingly cold ice bath REALLY ease your pain?  Holby City’s Rosie Marcel says it’s all but banished the debilitating symptoms of her autoimmune condition…

Sitting in an ice bath for three minutes a day, five days a week, is an unconventional treatment that Holby City’s no-nonsense character Dr Jac Naylor is unlikely to have endorsed.

But actress Rosie Marcel, who played the heart surgeon in the popular BBC drama for 16 years, is a devotee of ice baths to combat the pain caused by her rare autoimmune disease.

“I get drowsy when I’m in the ice bath, but you quickly get used to it,” says Rosie, 46, who lives in Hertfordshire with her husband Ben, 41, a gym owner, and daughter Beau. eight.

‘When I get out of the ice bath my skin is bright red. But then the endorphins and dopamine kick in and I feel amazing.”

Rosie takes ice baths to relieve the symptoms of Behcet’s disease, an agonizing immune condition that causes painful red bumps all over the body.

Behcet syndrome, as it is also known, is caused by an overreaction of the immune system, which is believed to be due to a combination of genetic, immunological and environmental factors. In addition to swollen lumps, symptoms can include painful mouth and genital ulcers, joint stiffness and pain, eye inflammation (causing red eyes and blurred vision), and hypersensitive skin.

Treatments include steroids, immunosuppressants, and biologic medications (made from human or animal proteins, which reduce inflammation) to relieve symptoms.

In Rosie’s case, it causes outbreaks of “red, hard, painful bumps” all over her legs, “varying in size from a fivepence to a tennis ball,” as well as “lots of mouth ulcers.” .

She was first diagnosed with this disease when she was 20 and had been taking immunosuppressants for almost 20 years, but with side effects such as an increased risk of infections (Rosie says she was constantly sick), she decided to try ice baths afterwards. her reading about the potential benefits on social media.

Ice baths, traditionally used for centuries in Scandinavia and Russia for their “healing” properties, have become a trend on social media, popularized by Wim Hof, an endurance athlete who once held the Guinness World Record for swimming. under ice.

Hof maintains that cold water and deep breathing can provide a number of benefits, including speeding up metabolism to boost weight loss.

Rosie takes ice baths to relieve the symptoms of Behcet’s disease, an agonizing immune condition that causes painful red bumps all over the body.

Ice baths, literally bathtubs filled with ice water at a temperature between 0°C and 15°C, are available in gyms and spas, but can also be purchased for home use. Some people are resorting to filling wheelie bins with ice, according to social media sites.

But while ice baths may promote feelings of euphoria and well-being, can they really benefit your health? And what about the risks?

The scientific evidence of its benefits is far from conclusive.

Certainly, when it comes to muscle recovery, the case is stronger, and elite athletes such as runners and footballers have long used cold water immersion therapy (which includes ice baths and cold water swimming). ) after intense training sessions: helps relieve muscle inflammation. .

A review of 17 trials (in which the water temperature was 15°C or lower) by the prestigious Cochrane group concluded that the practice did reduce muscle soreness, but said more research was needed into its safety.

Spend or save? How you can reduce the costs of medical devices

This week: remedies for athlete’s foot

SPEND: Canesten Dual Action Athlete’s Foot Cream, 30g, £5.65, sainsburys.co.uk

SAVE: Clotrimazole 1% Cream, 20g, £2.39, chemist-4-u.com

Pharmacist Ben Merriman says: “When the balance of fungal cells that naturally live in our skin is disturbed – for example, when our feet become too hot and humid for a prolonged period – it creates the perfect environment for fungi to grow, causing athlete’s foot ( symptoms include itching, especially between the toes, and peeling or softening of the skin. There are two main medical treatments: antifungals made with azoles (such as clotrimazole) or terbinafine. They work slightly differently but ultimately They stop the growth of fungal cells.

‘No cream alone will do without good foot hygiene: this means drying them properly, wearing non-synthetic socks and keeping nails short to reduce the risk of infection. Both products here contain clotrimazole; I’d be happy to use either, although the generic version is better value for money.’

Another more recent review, published last year in the journal Sports Medicine, found that cold water immersion therapy was effective after high-intensity interval training (HIIT) among people considered physically active or involved in sports. Those who used it reported greater muscle power and less soreness 24 hours after exercise than those who simply rested. The researchers noted that cooler temperatures after HIIT might be more effective in removing the enzyme creatine kinase, a marker of inflammation.

Beyond muscle repair, a 2022 review of 194 studies of cold-water swimmers, ice swimmers, and ice bath users found that they experienced a variety of health benefits including possible weight loss, a reduction in fats in the blood and better control of blood sugar levels.

The researchers suggested that one reason for this could be that cold water activates the body’s stores of “good” brown fat, which burns energy as fat to keep the body warm and helps regulate blood sugar and metabolism. The fats. (In contrast, white fat, which makes up the largest proportion of fat in the body, stores energy as fat.)

One of the review’s authors, Professor James Mercer from the University of the Arctic Circle in Troms, Norway, told Good Health that it was difficult to draw definitive conclusions due to the large variability between studies.

Although everyone he knows who uses cold water therapy “swears by” its benefits, he adds: “The jury is still out in terms of the science behind cold water immersion and more high-quality research studies are needed.” quality”.

Any health benefits may arise from the body’s response to cold, explains Dr Mark Harper, consultant anesthetist at Brighton and Sussex NHS Trust and author of Chill: The Cold Water Swim Cure.

He says: “What happens initially is that the body tries to protect itself against the cold, so all the blood vessels supplying the skin close and the body concentrates on providing warm blood to the vital organs.”

He adds that inflammation levels decrease over time as the body adapts to cold water immersion therapy.

On the other hand, cold water swimming is being tested as a possible treatment for depression.

Led by Dr Harper, the study, which is being carried out at the University of Portsmouth, will compare outdoor swimming with standard therapy for depression in 400 volunteers over two years.

Results from the study, which is being funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research, the research funding arm of the NHS, are expected in 2026.

Although the exact mechanism is not yet clearly understood, cold water therapy appears to trigger an increase in white blood cells, part of the immune system, explains Professor Mercer, who has studied temperature regulation in the human body for 50 years.

“I get drowsy when I’m in the ice bath, but you quickly get used to it,” says Rosie Marcel, 46 (pictured).

Dr Fadi Jouhra, consultant cardiologist at St George’s University Hospital and Harley Street Clinic in London, says the fact that cold water immersion stimulates the production of immune cells, particularly interleukin-6, B and T cells, could help with autoinflammatory conditions. , like Behcet’s, by reducing inflammation.

Although he stresses that there are currently no trials to support this, and that he cannot yet recommend it based on science, he adds: “Behcet’s disease is a very difficult disease to treat, so if relief can be obtained this way, it could It is worth trying if you do not have any heart disease.(This is because the heart may have difficulty coping with the sudden increase in blood pressure and heart rate caused by immersion in cold water.)

Rosie started taking cold showers last year after Holby City finished. She was so pleased with her results that she bought an ice bath. “I would say ice baths improved Behcet’s symptoms by 95 percent,” she says.

‘Maybe it’s partly the placebo effect, but I’m much better. Now, if I have lumps on my arms or legs, they are smaller and go away about 75 percent faster than before.

“I’m also much healthier: I get a cold from time to time, but it never lasts long.”

But experts agree that it is too early to recommend cold water therapy and that there are potential risks.

Dr Heather Massey, senior lecturer in sports health and exercise science at the University of Portsmouth, says that although some people may experience health benefits from cold water immersion, “the level of evidence is not sufficient to recommend it.” .

Disadvantages include “very painful, cold, numb and swollen hands and feet” and, worse still, “some people have suffered cardiac arrest from immersion in cold water, as well as strokes.” In most cases, those affected had underlying heart disease or another medical condition, and while some may be aware of their condition, others are not.

Dr. Massey advises checking your health with a doctor before trying an ice bath.

Having another person on hand when experimenting with cold water immersion can be a good idea if you’re feeling unsafe, “so that if you’re struggling, there are people available to support you.”