What Does Cryotherapy Do?
What does cryotherapy do?
Many people ask what does cryotherapy really do? Most people know that cold therapy (such as icing a sprain) can reduce inflammation. Cryotherapy does something similar, but for the entire body all at once. Ice packs can only get as cold as the frozen pack, about 32°F, and once they are placed against the skin they warm and melt. In contrast, cryotherapy uses cold air that is -230°F below zero and causes a shock to the body.
Cryotherapy and Ocean Swimming
Swimming in cold water produces a multitude of effects. Temperatures of 60°F and up can provide a refreshing and rewarding experience. But temperatures lower than 60°F can become deadly, reducing a person's ability to hold their breath by one-third.¹ This response is cold shock, and in the open ocean it can become deadly. During cold shock the body interprets the cold as life-threatening and begins a protective response. Whole Body Cryotherapy attempts to harness this same response by immersing the body in ultra-low temperatures. Many sports teams and professional athletes now use cryotherapy because of the science behind it. Peer reviewed, clinical studies have shown the following results in controlled experiments with cryotherapy:
These studies and many more are available here for review. The common link between all of them is the experimental use of whole body cryotherapy for positive results.
What Cryotherapy Does to the Body
A session of whole body cryotherapy in the XR will submerge you from the neck down in -230°F chilled dry air. The goal of this 3 minute treatment is to reduce your skin-surface temperature 30-40 degrees. This results in vasoconstriction of the surface area blood vessels. Vasoconstriction pushes the blood towards the body's core to keep warm. But after a sustained time period in the extreme cold the body interprets the cold as a potential threat and responds in a way similar to cold-water immersion. In 2010 Sports Medicine published a highly cited study by Professor Giuseppe Banfi wherein he states cryotherapy produced positive results in "muscular enzymes creatine kinase and lactate dehydrogenase, and [cryotherapy] should be considered a procedure that facilitates athletes' recovery."²
Learn more about the benefits of cryotherapy and go through the many cryotherapy clinical studies.
Founded on facts: for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly journals, and articles cited above please see the below sources.
http://www.coldwatersafety.org/ColdShock.html
Banfi G, Lombardi G, Colombini A, Melegati G. Whole-body cryotherapy in athletes. Sports Med. 2010;40(6):509-517. doi:10.2165/11531940-000000000-00000
NOTICE: Information contained within this website and on all materials, communications, or presentations by Cryo Innovations and Cryo Recovery Lounge is for informational purposes only. Whole Body Cryotherapy, infrared sauna, hyperbaric chamber, and any and all recovery methods described and/or offered by Cryo Recovery Lounge or Cryo Innovations are neither designed nor advised for treatment or cure of any illness or disease. No cryotherapy chambers (including the XR) have been tested or approved by the FDA. Please consult with your medical professional before beginning any cryotherapy or recovery method. All material contained within this site is copyrighted and may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. All rights reserved. For permissions contact Cryo Innovations.