Contrast Therapy is Associated with Higher Thermal Comfort for a Similar Acute Inflammatory Response Compared with Sauna Therapy

Authors

• Rene Barbier, St. Mary's University
• Benjamin Enslow, St. Mary's University
• Jace Nicolet, St. Mary's University
• Louis Hein, St. Mary's University
• Kelvin Wu, St. Mary's University
• Sven Hoekstra, St. Mary's University

Files

Digital Publisher

Digital Commons at St. Mary's University

Publication Date

Spring 2026

Description

Passive heat therapy, through sauna or hot water immersion, can improve cardiometabolic health outcomes. An increasingly popular thermal modality is contrast therapy, during which sauna therapy is interspersed with cold exposure. However, the acute physiological and perceptual responses to contras therapy in  comparison with traditional sauna remains unknown. This study compared the acute inflammatory, physiological, and perceptual responses to contras against heat therapy in predominantly young, healthy individuals

Format

pdf

Size

1 poster

City

San Antonio, Texas

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.