Less pricey than those expensive cryotherapy treatments but more convenient than polar plunging oneself into a freezing ocean, ice baths have become a popular wellness go-to for the Hollywood A-list, from noted almond mom, vaginal-health guru and Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow to professional athletes like LeBron James, Cristian Ronaldo and Naomi Osaka.
Ice baths are pretty self-explanatory: they're a form of cold therapy where a person submerges themself in a bath or vessel filled with ice or ice water for a limited duration of time. Though ice baths have risen in popularity among the rich and famous only recently, they've been utilized for centuries—in Scandanavian countries, for example, it's customary to follow up a hot sauna session with a plunge into a freezing cold pool— and the purported therapeutic benefits are numerous, from reducing muscle soreness to aiding in pain management to reducing inflammation.
