Is it bad for you to go from sitting in really hot water to really cold water?

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I'm a new owner of an inground hottub and swimming pool. Now that it's almost winter, the swimming pool temps are getting in the lower to mid 70F's (i'm in Houston TX). Sometimes when I'm tired of sitting in the spa, I feel like going for a swim, but the 70-80F water temp of the pool is a bit shocking sometimes. Is it bad for you to go from one extreme to the other? Can it really make you sick (like your mother would always tell you?) I've found if I get in the hottub fully clothed for a few mins and then get in the pool, the cold water doesn't shock me so quickly - it helps 'gradualize' it a bit. Am I causing any health issues by changing my body temp this quickly? Is the clothing really helping or is it my imagination?



Comments

  1. littlesht says:
    November 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    maybe, but nothing happened to me… ive done that. i was at my uncles house and it was freezing out like 45-50 degrees. which is why i was in the pool house in the hot tub. my brothers dragged me out of it took me outside and threw me into the freezing 40degree pool. it hurts but nothing happened. i just went right back into the hot tub

  2. tentagil says:
    November 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    Depends on the temperature differences. I’ve actually found that going from a hot tub to a pool is rather refreshing and going from a hot tub where your sweating lightly to a cooler pool is good for the completion since it opens and closes your pores and helps clean them out.. As long as the temperature difference isn’t to extreme you shouldn’t have any problems, of course your own general health is going to factor in as well. If you have a weak heart or circulation issues you might want to be more careful with such activities.

    And as for you question about the closes they probably help a little as they insulate you and retain the heat from the hot tub longer so that it takes longer for the cold of the pool to sink in. Of course wearing clothes in hot water will also cause them to shrink so be mindful of that.

  3. Rtoups says:
    November 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    I do it all the time. I don’t see why it would cause any major health issues. If you immerse your neck in extremely hot water and than very quickly shift to EXTREMELY cold temperatures (ice, for example), you can cause your body to go into shock. But in your case, I doubt that would happen.

  4. Merideth S says:
    November 8, 2009 at 10:02 pm

    yes. immediate changes from hot to cold causes strokes.

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