Cold plunge, shower after sauna to cool off not your thing? Doctor says they’re not a must

A plunge into icy water doesn’t have to follow a sauna unless after sports, says a rehabilitation expert, who suggests ‘gently’ cooling down

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A cold shower after a post-workout sauna aids muscle recovery; otherwise continue relaxing by cooling down at a “feel good” temperature, a doctor specialising in rehabilitation says. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 4:15pm, 21 Jan 2025

Are you one of those sauna-goers who dreads the subsequent cold plunge or shower but does it anyway because it is supposed to be good for you? Well, you need not worry if you do not, a medical expert says.

“You don’t have to be so hard on your body,” says Dr Karl-Ludwig Resch, a specialist in physical medicine and rehabilitation, and vice-president of the Federation of German Spa Doctors.

“To avoid stress, you can try to gently bring your body back to normal temperature,” for example by taking a warm post-sauna shower.

A bath in a pool with a “feel-good” water temperature of 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) would be ideal, he says. “It’s a wonderful way to normalise your body temperature very pleasantly, without gasping and your internal organs sounding the alarm.”

Dr Karl-Ludwig Resch says you don’t have to be so hard on your body; taking a warm shower after the sauna can gently bring your body back to normal temperature without the stress. Photo: Dr Karl-Ludwig Resch

As a general rule, do not subject yourself to temperatures lower than what you are comfortable with, Resch advises.