What are the health risks of getting wet in ice water?

I saw many celebrities such as Bill Gates taking part in the "Ice Bucket Challenge" online. I want to know if pouring a bucket of ice water over your head will have any impact on your health and make you more likely to catch a cold?

The "Ice Bucket Challenge" is a public welfare activity originated in the United States, which aims to let more people know about ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) and also to raise funds. Recently, many big names and celebrities in the fields of technology, entertainment, and sports in the United States have participated in it, making this activity quickly become the focus of media attention.

The challenger has to pour all the ice water in the ice bucket onto himself, take a video and challenge three friends. Now this activity has finally arrived in China after traveling across the ocean.

Friends who like cold water baths should know that cold water stimulation can improve the body's ability to adapt to cold and achieve the purpose of physical exercise. However, pouring a bucket of ice water over the head all at once is not something everyone can bear, and it may threaten physical health.

First of all, if you are a person who works overtime for a long time and has poor immunity, the cold stimulation of ice water will easily allow bacteria and viruses to invade, causing colds, pharyngitis and respiratory diseases.

Secondly, since the activity was held in the hot summer, the temperature difference caused by pouring ice water on the head would increase blood pressure and cause the cerebral blood vessels to contract rapidly, thus producing a series of stress reactions, which could easily lead to headache symptoms. In severe cases, it could even cause cerebral hemorrhage.

Third, patients with coronary heart disease should not do activities that involve pouring cold water on their bodies. Clinical studies have shown that cold stimulation in patients with coronary heart disease will cause contraction of small arteries throughout the body and increase myocardial oxygen consumption. However, patients with coronary heart disease have lesions in their coronary arteries, and the blood flow in the coronary arteries cannot increase accordingly, which can lead to myocardial ischemia and angina pectoris. In severe cases, it can cause acute myocardial infarction or sudden death.

Fourth, the ice bucket challenge requires water to be poured from the air, and the water has a certain gravity during the falling process. If the gravity is too great, it may be bad for the cervical spine, but the chance of such an accident is small. As long as you keep the head at a suitable distance from the bucket when completing the challenge, you can avoid cervical spine injury.

In short, for people who are in very good health, pouring ice water on the body does not pose a big health risk. However, friends with related diseases should be cautious. Finally, I would like to remind everyone that although charity is good, don’t be greedy for coolness!

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.