A COLD

water plunge may succeed where painkillers fail, doctors have suggested.

They made their discovery after the drugs failed to help a 28-yearold man recovering from surgery.

The patient, a keen athlete, went for a coastal swim in a bid to take his mind off his operation and found his pain vanished when he dived into the sea - and it hasn’t returned.

They told the journal BMJ Case Reports that more investigations are necessary.