Research Suggests Women Need Warmer, Shorter Cold Plunges

Audrina Patridge has added supervised cryotherapy to a series of wellness experiments she shares online, saying it may help with soreness, recovery and alertness. Gwyneth Paltrow’s at-home routine features a sauna, hot tub, steam room and cold plunge, but she favors a brief, roughly one-minute dip or a cold shower over extreme, prolonged exposure. The broader debate over cold and heat therapies is increasingly considering sex-based differences: limited studies suggest women may experience greater cardiovascular strain during cold immersion and distinct metabolic or hormonal responses, while some experts say women may tolerate heat better. Researchers and clinicians caution that responses vary, and celebrity routines are not a substitute for individualized guidance or evidence-based care; cryotherapy should be conducted in a trained, supervised setting.