Mammalian Diving Reflex

[bella27]

I read on another message board that sticking your face in cold water increases blood flow to the brain and lowers your heart rate via the mammalian diving reflex. Has anyone tried this? Here is some information on it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammalian_diving_reflex

[firewatcher]

Actually this can also be triggered (at least in "normal" people) by just bending forward as well. Notice all those sprinters who bend at the waist, with hands on knees at the end of the race? I bet they don't even know what they are doing! I'd be curious to see if it works for "us," but knowing how I respond to cold anything, I'm not willing to be a guinea pig on this one!

[flop]

I have tried it but not for POTS.

A few years before I developed POTS I was seeing a cardiologist for arrhythmias that inculded an atrial tachycardia. He taught me various "tricks" to terminate the tachycardia (I would go along at 180 - -220 / min). The first was the valsalva manouver, the second was to rub on a specific part of my neck to stimulate the vagal nerve, the third was to plunge my face into cold water. Reading the wikipedia article I realise that the water trick also stimulates the vagal nerve (wikipedia calls it "cranial nerve X" = 10th cranial nerve = vagus nerve).

I can remember having an episode of SVT whilst walking in the mountains of Snowdonia (North Wales, UK). I tried the valsalva and neck rubbing but nothing happened. Then I remembered the water trick and plunged my face into a huge puddle! Well either it worked or the shock of the icy water stopped the SVT!

I hadn't thought of trying it for my POTS tachy, but usually I just sit or lie down which will put my HR back to normal. I guess the cold water would slow my HR but if I carried on standing up it would probably just go right back up again. I might try leaving a sink full of cold water next time I take a shower and see if it helps me overcome the tachy from the warm shower water.

Flop