There is no other way to say it - I’ve tried them and my nuts scream in agony. Does anyone have a good way to do ice baths? Surely freezing water can’t be too good for the testicles.
Sit in room temp water, not cold, for a few minutes and gradually add the ice.
Bad idea to just jump in ice bath.
I an no doc but As far as the testicles go, I actually think and ice bath is good…I think I remember reading somewhere that heat is actually bad for your sperm or something, so I would assume cooling them down couldn’t be too bad…just a thought…
On the ice bath note, I used to take them all the time in High School. Our track coach would run us ragged 5 days a week straight with improper training and intensity. No structure or real plan to training just whatever he felt like. Thus we all had our share of shin splints, so I used to take an ice bath everyday after practice. A way I found to kind of work up to real ice, is just turn your bath tub on as cold of water as possible and don’t use ice. it will be alittle warmer and you can get used to it. Once you do it for a bit, you won’t have the shock factor and it will actually feel pretty relaxing. Only do it for 5 mins or less though, more than that and you can actually be reversing some of the benefits of icing.
Brent
lol! i’m sorry, but this just sounds hilarious! lol!
Actually you have to go longer than 5 minutes to have the “reverse” effect. The recommendations for applying any type of cold treatment is no longer than 20 minutes, I usually shoot for 15.
When I played rugby, we did it for 5 minutes.
It’s just not possible to do it for 15 minutes. Is it?
…and as for the ice bath.
IrnBru
It’s possible.
When I was playing football our coaches dumped gallons of ice into a cool hot tub and we stayed for 20 minutes.
Thanks for this thread.
Totally cracking me up.
Wear shorts or a swim suit. Takes the “edge” off.
If you’re in your bathtub, just kneel so that your nuts aren’t in the water. Get a pad or something to kneel on, so you don’t kill your knees. You can still get most of your legs in, so you’ll get the desired effect on your legs. And don’t stay in longer than 20 minutes, or you might not be able to walk afterwards.
I have found that moderately cold water is much harder to tolerate than actual ice water. I can only stay in for 3-4 minutes when it is just the cold water from the tap. I can do 15+ minutes if I buy a couple of ice bags from the gas station and dump them in. I think it has something to do with you legs going numb. If they are numb then they are not going to feel it. You need to make sure you get past that numb threshold point, then you will be fine. BTW, it seems to work really well. As far as the nuts go, don’t move…at all. If you move then the water moves around and seems to diminish the numbing feeling and you actually feel how cold it is. I guess under armor short would work…
something that helps me is just standing in the water for a minute before immersing myself – that way the temperature is not a total shock to your system. also i take my cell phone in there so that i’m not just counting the seconds till i can get out – whoever i call is usually pretty amused when I explain my circumstances.
If you are only doing 5 minutes, you’re only in there long enough for the pain and torture part. Right around 5 minutes is when things start to go numb (a good thing), that’s when you approach the zen state of the ice bath. Stay in long enough to enjoy it, the first 5 minutes are usually miserable. I usually have a small towel by my side so I can stick it between my teeth and bite on it to supress the screaming.
A bathing suit helps A LOT. Really. I also wear a sweatshirt. And find it is a good time to read, since otherwise you think “how much longer” every 1/2 second…
“Wear shorts or a swim suit.”
Went scuba diving in Lake Ontario early in the season. Water was really cold and I was wearing a 7mm wet suit rather than a dry suit.
At the end of the dive I was shivering and peeling my scuba suit off. Underneath the wetsuit I was wearing a speedo.
My wife looks over, glances down, smiles and says to me’ “Hmmm, cold water huh Honey”.
She had me there totally. Couldn’t think of any come back line. 
The gym I used to work at had a cold plunge (48 degrees). I thinght that it was awesome and I used to use it after long training sessions. It always felt like it helped with my recovery.
With regards to the testicals. It was a unit that you stood in. It had a sairwell that you walked down into the water. I never went deep enough for that to be an issue. However my feet were affected the most, so I got a pair of neoprene shoes and it was never a problem again.
My after long run routine:
Start tub filling with cold water.
Make large mug of hot tea.
Put on fleece pullover top(friend has a cut off sweat shirt just for ice baths)
Slide into tub adjust so fleece stays above water - dump in first sack of ice
Drink tea
@ 5 mins add 2nd sack of ice
Drink what ever is left of tea
@10 mins add 3rd sack of ice
15 mins get out
The hot tea and fleece pullover covering the torso do wonders for my abliltie to stand ice baths
Steve
sit in the tub full of water from the tap for a couple of minutes and then start pouring the ice
peace
.
It’s just not possible to do it for 15 minutes. Is it?