I'm sketical too. Anything below 110 degrees I shy away from. I'd take a PTA before stepping into a cold shower.
When I was around 5 years of age, we took a trip to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan Canada to visit with some relatives. It would seem that the only thing that was worth remembering was when the men (including myself) took a foot trek in the snow to go to the steam lodge. If I remember correctly, everyone disrobed, entered the lodge and had an extremely joy filled time shooting the bull and passing around the bottle. I do not know how much time we spent in the hot house but I do know that the end result of the experience was not pleasant at all. Almost as if a signal had been given, some idiot opened the flap of the sauna / steam room and ran out of it followed by everyone else with myself in tow by my dad. As if it were a punishment for resisting the pull out into the snow and cold, my naked self was lifted up and thrown into the nearly sub-zero weather and finally found myself sprawled full body into the freezing white stuff. I guess my instincts took over because I instantly knew that getting up and running for the warmth of the sauna would only garner me an additional experience of someone grabbing me and throwing me anew into the snow. So, like the others, I stood up and jumped around a lot and even rolled in the snow as I saw some others doing thinking and hoping that I would at some point find some kind of thrill to the entire thing. Nope, there was no thrill to be found no matter how hard or how many times I jumped up and down and flailing my arms looking like a naked Pentecost at a revival. Obviously, I lived through it and do remember gathering a new appreciation for my winter coat and less appreciation for snow. They said later that it was healthy and looking back on it, it probably is but would I do it again? Not unless I was on my death bed and that was the only cure! All that said, I do occasionally finish in the shower with a “cooler” dousing just to close the pores But not too cold mind you. Some things just do not like cold in any way, shape or form.
I did that crazy thing that they do each winter in some Northern areas, where people would dive into the freezing waters of a lake. In this case, it was Lake Michigan. I have heard that they don't do it that way anymore but, at that time, they would cut two large holes in the ice of the lake at the Menominee (Michigan) Marina, and the object was to dive into one of them, swim under a short span of remaining ice and come up out of the other hole, the added thrill being the fear of encountering two feet of ice when you came up, having missed the hole. That never happened, and I think they had safeguards in place, like some kind of a barrier that would prevent someone from overshooting the second hole. But the experience was, let's say, exhilarating. It's not one that any sane person would want to do more than once in his life, but I'm glad I did it once.
I had my usual Warm shower this morning, then gradually made water colder. Was not bad, tingly all over.
I grew up near a number of springs and the water is VERY cold. I could handle it as a kid, but certainly not now.
I remember swimming in a little creek down behind our house. It was probably spring fed because the water was chilly; not exactly cold but cold enough to feel good after barning tobacco on a hot summer day. Still, that's as close to a cold shower as I ever want to come.
Well my Grandma from American Indian heritage always broke ice off the cattle trough before daylight and took a quick dip before getting in the sweat room. I inherited the getting up early before daylight and doing my patio workout even in cold weather, but my shower is cool in summer and warm in winter, but never cold. My Grandma started into Alzheimer at my age, so I am questioning that health benefits from such drastic behavior might result. My goal is to reach 100 with a sharp mind.
If it has anti gravity powers, then I am all in! My lashes are fine, but my skinny butt and school girl boobs are trying to journey to the center of the earth.
Ha ha - never thought of that ! But I think they would stand to attention, ice cold has that affect surely Paul Newman stuck his head in ice every morning - didn't do 'im no harm
An idea that might have a similar effect without being uncomfortable (saw this on a medical show years ago) is to place ice packs on your upper back for several minutes. It was supposed to help with weight loss.
I'm trying to figure out how this would possibly help. Maybe your arms get to frozen up to spoon in ice cream.
I don't know that there are any actual health benefits from a cold shower but it does make me feel better for a little while afterward. Frequently, after taking a hot shower, I'll rinse off with cold water. The shock of it is not particularly pleasant but I come out of the shower feeling more awake and alert.