Controversial cold baths

Abstract

This article analyses the controversial claims to the benefit of bathing in cold water, adding an historical point of view. The desire to take winter baths outdoors is a growing trend in Sweden, but the great expansion of cold medical baths occurred in the middle of the 19th century, linked to cold-water cures launched under the heading of hydrotherapy. They were initially created by autodidacts with no medical training, notably the Austrian peasant Vincenz Prießniz (1799–1851) and the Catholic priest Sebastian Kneipp (1821–1897), who advocated barefoot walks in freshly fallen snow. Their ideas were picked up by fully trained medical practitioners in Sweden, who established popular cold-water spas. The cold-water cure was subjected to both admiration and satire, depicting mummy-like patients, wrapped in wet sheets. Scientific publications have hitherto not been able to prove that the alleged medical benefits are due only to cold-water baths. This article exposes historical conflicts between different opinions, as well as diverse personal experiences of the pleasures and pains of cold baths. Both methodological and epistemological problems contribute to the controversy. The article shows how the conflict between scientific, medical, and cultural knowledge makes the assessment more complicated. However, the charismatic leaders and the secluded world of the cold-water spas seem to offer a singular experience as well as a potentially enticing escape from the rapidly changing modern society.