Thanks for the elaborate feedback. I'm not surprised with what you said about breathing. I think if one can control their breathing, they can control how they respond to external stimuli that may either shock or scare them i.e. decrease the intensity of the internal response.

Skin and hair being softer makes sense since it's the hot water that dehydrates, but I'm still somewhat surprised by the aches and pains going away. I thought that warm-hot water would help soothe better.

So do you turn the water on cold and immediately jump in during those 30-45 seconds or do you kind of slide into the water slowly and slowly get used to the cold?