We ask Rosie Marcel: What is it that attracted you to cold water immersion?
Rosie Marcel is a British actor from London. You might recognise her as Jac Naylor, the senior surgeon from the BBC drama, Holby City. We asked Rosie, what was it that attracted her to cold water immersion, and how did she know it was time to buy an ice bath? Rosie began her journey with the cold in November 2022 and her life-changing results compelled her to share her story.
Twenty years ago, Rosie was diagnosed with Behçet's syndrome. A rare condition that causes inflammation of the blood vessels and tissues. Painful swollen joints, sores, memory loss, and severe headaches are just some of the symptoms she faced. Her doctors prescribed immunosuppressants, designed to inhibit the body’s immune response in an attempt to reduce the inflammation.
But suppressing her immune system caused its own complications, and so Rosie was left in a permanent state of discomfort with very little hope. Over the next 15 years, her physical illness began eating away at her mental health. She decided enough was enough. Something had to change.
She started researching the effects of cold water therapy and shifted her mindset to look beyond traditional medicine for sources of treatment. Against the advice of her doctors, she went cold turkey on her medication and turned to Brass Monkey for her first Ice Bath. The effects were almost instant. The pounding headache she’d tried to treat with painkillers that morning had lifted. Her limbs were humming with a tingling heat, a sign of the relief that finally was about to arrive.
In the first two to three weeks her Erythema nodosum, the painful lumps under her skin, and Rosie’s most painful symptom of Behçet's began to disappear. The agonising headaches, reduced immediately, and the depression and fatigue that had become another part of her life melted away as she bathed in the icy water.
Rosie’s days of relying on immunosuppressants are over, and her Behçet's symptoms are now managed by the cold. This life-changing and life-affirming decision for Rosie only fuels our belief in the awesome power of the cold.
Thanks to Rosie for sharing her story with the Brass Monkey team.
