Cold Water/Hot Water baths

I've noticed some of my friends take cold water baths after they run. Pros. They love the ice bath after a nice run. They say, "It helps me recover. It helps me flush waste products from my muscles, and reduce DOMS (delay-onset muscle soreness)."

I was watching a video on Runnersworld.com about Dathan Ritzenhein jumping into a Cryosauna. Yep. a CRY-O-SAUNA. It uses liquid nitrogen (um, as a gas) to cool the muscles. Ritzenhien's coach, Alberto Salazar, also jumps in and notes how his athletes maintain quicker healing periods and more energy after jumping into the sauna.

There is something really warped to me about all of this madness, and I'm a marathoner. There is something in all of this ice bath stuff that doesn't make total sense to me.

First, I'm obviously not a doctor. I'm not even a track coach. I've just done a little research and a lot of running. I couldn't find research indicating ice baths really help recovery.

In one article I found here, the author indicates: "They found that the athletes who used the ice baths reported no difference in physical pain measurements such as swelling or tenderness. The athletes did, however, report more leg pain the following day, when going from a sitting to a standing position than those who had the tepid water bath treatment."

Interesting.

I've taken ice baths, and idea is the ice bath temperature helps in the healing process. Do they though? Ice is going to reduce the swelling in the area. Running causes microtrauma to the muscles resulting in small tears. These small tears cause both muscle hypertrophy (after healing) and DOMS.

Ice is going to reduce blood flow. My logical problem with all of this is this: Don't we want more blood flow to our muscles after a hard workout? One would think our muscles need more glycogen, protein, nutrients, etc after a hard work out. Would not an ice bath slow that process down assuming there is less blow flow to the general area?

The strange part is I've decided to take a hot bath after running, and recognized I was pretty sore the next day. The one thing I didn't note however, is how did I feel 48 to 72 hours later? Something tells me sports coaches and doctors have already determined a hot bath after intense workout is probably also not a good idea.

So what then? The study I pointed to earlier does indicate cold baths over ice baths are a better idea. It also says hot baths may decrease recovery time.

The only idea I have is to ensure we are properly hydrated and we've consumed the proper amounts of carbs (for replenishment purposes) and protein (to aid in muscle hypertrophy). A bath the doesn't shockingly freeze the muscles but adequately cools the muscles and allows blood flow would be ideal.

Any ideas?