Editorial standards
Every guide on this site links here from its byline. This page says plainly what those guides are and what they are not.
Who writes these guides
IceSoak is a directory. The guides are compiled from published sources by the same small operation that maintains the studio listings. Until August 2026 they carried the byline “By IceSoak Editorial.” There is no editorial department, and that byline has been replaced with one that says what is true: “Compiled by IceSoak.”
They are not medically reviewed
No clinician reviews this material before or after publication. No author on this site holds a medical qualification, and none is claimed. Where a guide describes a physiological effect, a temperature, or a duration, treat it as a summary of what is commonly published on the subject — not as a clinical recommendation and not as a substitute for advice from someone who knows your history.
Cold and heat exposure carry real risks that vary by individual. Cardiovascular disease, uncontrolled hypertension, Raynaud's, cold intolerance, thyroid conditions, pregnancy, and many prescription medications all change the calculation. If any of those apply to you, ask your doctor before starting or changing a practice.
How claims are handled
Guides describe what is commonly reported about cold and heat exposure. They do not cite studies, and as of August 2026 phrasing that appealed to unnamed research — “studies show,” “research has found” — has been removed rather than given sources after the fact. An unverified citation borrows confidence nobody has actually earned, so where a claim could not stand as plain description it was cut instead.
Guides that deal with a specific medical condition, or with a temperature or duration where the wrong number matters, carry a disclaimer at the top and do not carry product links. That suppression is enforced at build time, not by convention.
Affiliate links
Some pages link to products on Amazon and earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Those blocks are labelled where they appear. They are switched off entirely on guides about health conditions and on guides about safety limits — selling a cold plunge tub at the bottom of a page about autoimmune disease, or at the bottom of a page explaining when cold water is dangerous, is not a trade we are willing to make. Studio listings are never paid placements.
Corrections
If something here is wrong, tell us and it gets fixed or removed. Send corrections to corrections@icesoak.com. Point at the page and the sentence; that is enough.
The date on each guide is the last time its text actually changed, not a rolling freshness stamp.