What Is Contrast Therapy?

Contrast bath therapy, sometimes called contrast bath therapy, involves alternating heat exposure with cold exposure using water. This practice has risen in popularity for the numerous body and brain benefits. Alternating hot and cold exposure can be achieved in two primary ways, one using only water and another using a hot sauna before cold water immersion.

Contrast bath therapy is a recovery intervention that produces rapid changes in your circulatory system by triggering increased blood circulation. This is achieved by transitioning between hot and cold water. An essential principle is always starting with heat therapy first and ending with cold therapy.

When you submerge part or all of your body in cold water, it induces the small blood vessels called capillaries to get smaller, a process called vasoconstriction.

Immersing yourself in warm water creates the opposite effect in the circulatory system, causing the blood vessels to rapidly open up, a process known as vasodilation.

Alternating hot and cold water temperatures also cause fluctuations in heart rate. In general, cold water immersion causes the heart rate to speed up and hot water causes it to slow down.

Beyond the cardio benefits, what other health benefits can come from contrast bath therapy?

Improved Blood Circulation With Contrast Baths

By cycling between hot and cold environments, your body naturally increases blood flow by the pumping action caused by alternating between constriction and dilation of blood vessels. This pumping action improves vascular and cardiac response and overall health.