Swimming in cold water can help relieve menopausal and menstrual symptoms in women. For example, anxiety, mood swings, and hot flashes in menopausal women are significantly relieved by cold water swimming.
In a recent study, a research team led by Prof. Joyce Harper from University College London examined how cold water swimming affects menstrual and menopausal symptoms in women. The results are published in the specialist magazine “Post Reproductive Health”.
Menstrual and menopausal symptoms
Many women suffer from physical and psychological symptoms during menstruation, such as abdominal pain, headaches or mood swings, which can be a burden in everyday life.
Likewise, women during menopause are often affected by physical and psychological complaints, with hot flashes and dizziness, for example, anxiety and depressive moods being possible symptoms.
Does cold water swimming help?
Using an online survey with 1,114 participants (785 in menopause) who regularly swam in cold water, the researchers now checked whether swimming in cold water can relieve menstrual or menopausal symptoms.
According to the researchers, the participants with menstrual problems particularly reported relief from their psychological symptoms through cold water swimming. Around 47 percent said that their anxiety was relieved and around 38 percent each had their mood swings and irritability reduced.
In menopausal women, however, there was significant relief from anxiety (around 47 percent), mood swings (around 35 percent), bad moods (around 31 percent) and hot flashes (around 30 percent), according to the research team.
According to the researchers, the majority of women with symptoms also used swimming in cold water specifically to alleviate these symptoms (56.4 percent for menstrual problems and 63.3 percent for menopausal symptoms).
Relief of symptoms
Women with menopausal symptoms in particular reported a significant reduction in physical and psychological symptoms through cold water swimming, the experts concluded.
“Cold water has already been found to improve mood and reduce stress in outdoor swimmers, and ice baths have long been used by athletes to aid muscle repair and recovery,” explains Professor Joyce Harper.
The new study shows that cold water swimming can also be used by women to relieve menstrual and menopausal symptoms. Further research now needs to be done to determine the frequency, duration, temperature and exposure required to reduce symptoms.
According to the data obtained, how often and for how long the women swam in cold water and what they wore (swimsuits or wetsuits) apparently played a role and “the effects were more pronounced in those who swam longer,” said Prof. Harper.
Cautious entry required
Despite the benefits of cold water swimming, it should also be noted that the sport is associated with certain risks. “Caution is advised when swimming in cold water, as you can expose yourself to the risk of hypothermia, cold water shock, cardiac arrhythmias or even drowning,” warns the expert. (as)