It is common knowledge in the area of “sports medicine”, that if you apply ice, or ice bath to a newly injured limb, any damage will be substantially reduced. After the injury has stabilized (1-3 days), alternate hot and cold soaks accelerate the healing by up to 8 times the normal healing process. Most professional athletes have been able to stay in the game using this practice.
We (our bodies) are primarily water based: Water expands and increases in volume with heat and water contracts and decreases in volume with cold. When you get yourself hot, your tissues expand and super saturate with oxygen and fresh nutrients, and when you get cold, they contract and evacuate Co2 and other waste products. This is a very subtle way of ringing out our tissues all the way down to the cellular level.
Different cultures over time have engaged in the practice of doing hot and cold soaks and have benefited to some extent, it is a part of their culture because of this. Since I first engaged in the practice of doing extended soaks in very hot (114F) and very cold (48F) in 1973, I have spoken with and questioned many physical therapists, doctors, chiropractors and healers about this subject. None had a clue that this is what was really going on and all were convinced that what I was saying was true, or at least made sense to them.
Some fine points: In the following links, you can follow the (sub links) into the scientific study’s related to what I am about to say :
- The body’s immune system is strengthened (Hot & Cold Water Therapy)
- Cryotherapy (Wikipedia)
- Heat destroys cancer (Heat treatments can literally destroy cancer overnight)
It has been demonstrated (scientifically) that the body’s immune system is strengthened through exposure to hot/cold soaks. Somehow the production of T-lymphocytes is triggered. I might add, that the new cells are not only greater in number, but are also healthier and more virulent. Out of control cell development (cancer, tumors etc.) cannot handle heat, and are weakened and destroyed when the body reaches a mini fever (103-105F) for 15 minutes. They are also exposed to high levels of oxygen and they can’t handle it and many harmful bacteria and viruses cannot handle this kind of environment either. Add the contracting of the tissues all the way down to the cellular level and they are evacuated after being weakened and destroyed. When I speak with people about doing soaks in very hot and very cold temperatures, many tell me that they don’t like to get hot or cold because of the discomfort. Discomfort doesn’t really have to come into play. If a person transitions slowly and remains still, in the very hot or very cold, the extreme temperatures only make contact with the aura of radiating heat or cold that hovers over the skin.
One get’s so hot, because they got so cold, and they get so cold because they got so hot. Two hours of transition is not uncommon for me, but I have been at it for some time. In this extreme, I do approximately 15 minutes in 114F and my core goes up to 105.8F, and in 6 minutes of 48F my core goes down to 89.6F. I can tell you without reservation, that I can relax more completely in the cold than most people can imagine in 103F. The cold is not directly touching my skin. The body pumps copious amounts of endorphins into the blood stream and any pain, tightness, fatigue etc. are neutralized. A feeling of well-being sets in as the brain begins functioning on a higher level. Looseness and elastic strength, and the mind/body/spirit connection are strengthened profoundly. Something an athlete would benefit from I believe, without a shadow of a doubt. Besides the cumulative health benefits, I believe that the aging process can be slowed down, stopped, or even reversed. The DNA within the cell is the duplicating factor of our cells. The aging process is the losing of resolution like a Xerox copy of a copy of copy phenomena. Aging affects athletic performance and is a limiting factor in an athlete’s career. Just look around you. Because the DNA is water based, it will respond to hot and cold by expanding and contracting as well. It will be healthier, cleaner and more efficient. It will be a part of a body system that is conducive to and supportive of a much more balanced existence, reducing and possibly eliminating the effects of aging on the human body.
Designing and manifesting a dual tank and the associated apparatus to create the ideal conditions for this type of contrast immersion (Hyporarithy) has been on my plate for many years. I built a system and a healing center around this concept back in 1998. It was destroyed by fire and I have been away from it, except for a few rare trips to Deep Creek Hot Springs near my homestead in Apple Valley.
Are you interested in creating an anti-aging treatment/spa/clinic in a choice mountainous area close to the international airport in Nicaragua SC?
…. Organic foods… aquaculture, fish & vegetables… crops.
Feed poor local people, employ skilled local doctors, and provide therapies and treatments that are much needed but prohibited in “the rapidly declining so-called 1st world countries”….
… Building MUCH needed earthquake resistant housing is a “blessed event’…
This is just a “shot in the dark”.. I know most people are not yet ready to leave the US for safer havens…. but if you don’t state your case you will never know.
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N.E. Vinal
Canutillo Texas