Doctors called the risks of swimming in the hole and told how to avoid them

For healthy people, swimming in an ice hole is safe, but for people who have problems with blood vessels or have had a CORONAVIRUS, cold water can provoke vascular spasm, an angioneurologist, HEAD of the Stop Stroke service Evgeny Shirokov told RBC.

“In cardiovascular diseases, dipping into an ice hole can lead to a sharp vascular spasm. Therefore, for people with chronic coronary heart disease, angina pectoris, hypertension, such a procedure is undesirable: it can provoke an angina attack or a hypertensive crisis. For those people who suffered a transistorized ischemic attack, stroke, myocardial infarction, I would not advise plunging into the hole, ”said Shirokov.

The specialist also does not recommend swimming in the hole for those who have recovered from the coronavirus. “Within three to four months after the illness, they have disturbances in blood microcirculation - in small arteries, in capillaries. If you want some kind of vasodilating procedure, I would advise, for example, a bath, ”said the expert.

Infectionist, DOCTOR of Medical Sciences Nikolai Malyshev noted that the chance of contracting covid-19 when bathing at Epiphany is low. “As a rule, there are not very many people there, the queue moves quickly. Compared to the possibility of catching the virus in transport, this is unlikely, ”Malyshev said.