To what extent is either a cold shower or an ice bath similar to the cryotherapy used in this experiment?
You probably know about Wim Hof and the various sports/human performance things involving cold (no doubt as touted on Joe Rogan as every fruity health fad seems to be). Personally I think it probably does do something, though every individual reaction is different. I've always done the cold water at the end of the shower James Bond thing. I recently moved from the Bay Area where it is 70F all year to a place where it was recently -30F with the wind chill. The cold seems to fill me with vigor; love it. Love the Sauna as well. Generally speaking I think the human organism thrives best with a little hormesis.
Wouldn't that just be a "you're-about-to-die-adrenaline" kind of response?
There's nothing quite like the first deep breath going outside on a 0F day. Vigor really is the right word. Another would be clarity.
Unless you have the mindset of "I hate the cold, this is terrible" then it's just suffering.
Your point is well taken, but at least those 3 bits are probably safe from these types of containers.
I started getting itchy skin and no amount of moisturizer helped. Now I need very little moisturizer. I think is is a gain.
Cold water immersion also helped me with fidgety legs. I tried with simple 10 seconds of cold shower at the end of bath but then liked it and increased it to 10 minutes of immersion on good days.
After a stressful day at office, a cold shower helps with sleep.
My guess is that it is near as efficient as a cold shower. So you can go for Wim Hof method. It costs almost nothing comparatively.
As far as I am concerned, being hit with mild anxiety for more than 10 years, WBCT (3 minutes in a giant fridge cooled at -113° C) which I tried for 10 sessions didn't improve my symptoms. My physical recovery was a bit better.