While cryotherapy treatment offers many benefits for practical use, there are also some risks associated with it. In this post, discover some useful information about it that every therapist should generally know. We also know cryotherapy as cold therapy or ice treatment. This is an application that lowers body temperature at the tissue and cellular level to provide therapeutic benefits. However, there are some side effects that you should also be aware of in order to protect your health.
Sitting in a cold tank seems like a strange way to improve health. However, the trend known as cryotherapy treatment is becoming increasingly popular. People claim that extreme cold can improve mental and physical health and even extend life. At least that's what some of the science says. Research into cryotreatment is as new as the trend of the treatment itself, so doctors don't understand all of the potential benefits and risks of the process. For this reason, in this article we look at some of the possible benefits of healing. Furthermore, we will consider other facts that a person may need to know before opting for such low temperature physical therapy.
The cryotherapy treatmentuses the low temperatures where you can freeze your body for a few minutes. There are some potential benefits, but they are not yet fully proven. However, cold therapy can be a safe alternative and prevention of many complaints, such as rheumatic diseases or chronic pain. The process itself can be somewhat uncomfortable, especially for those who are not used to the cold.
So the most popular form of therapy is sitting in a cryogenic chamber for 3-5 minutes. Some people even use it to perform facial treatments. In these cases, the cold treatment is only applied to the face. Others use a wand to target specific areas, such as a painful joint. However, most people mostly use the term to refer to the whole body treatment. In most cases, this is part of non-medical therapy in a spa or similar setting. However, doctors also use cryotherapy. For example, they can use the very low temperatures to treat warts, scars or even cancer cells with freezing cryotherapy. Although initially uncomfortable, the treatment tends to get better with each visit as the body adapts to the aforementioned low temperatures.
The process is generally safe, but it's important to speak to a doctor before trying cryotherapy. Pregnant women, children, high blood pressure patients and those with heart disease should not take any risks at first. Cryotherapy treatment for more than a few minutes can also be fatal for some patients. A person should never fall asleep even during the manipulation and he should set a time limit for each session. This ensures that the procedure does not take longer than the recommended period.
Pain relief and muscle healing
Research may ultimately compromise other purported benefits. However, preliminary studies indicate that the therapy may provide the following benefits. It can help against muscle pain, as well as some joint and muscle diseases such as arthritis. Cold treatment can also promote faster healing of sports injuries. Doctors have long recommended using ice packs for injured and sore muscles. This can increase blood circulation after the ice pack is removed to aid healing and pain relief.
A study published in 2000 found that the method provided temporary relief from the pain of researched rheumatoid arthritis. Research also found that cold therapy with ice packs can reduce the harmful effects of intense exercise. People who used cryotherapy reported suffering less pain.
Another study from 2017 also supports the benefits for relieving muscle pain and speeding healing. However, this study also found that cold water immersion may be more effective than the full-body treatment. Not all studies support its positive role in muscle healing. For example, the 2015 Cochrane Review explored muscle pain relief with four studies and found no significant benefits.
Lose weight successfully with therapy?
Cryotherapy alone does not cause weight loss, but it can aid the process. In theory, cold forces the body to work harder to stay warm. Some providers claim that a few minutes of cold throughout the day can increase metabolism. Ultimately, you don't feel this cold because your metabolism is tooreaction to low temperaturesadjusted and increased. A small study in 2016 found no significant changes in body composition after 10 sessions. Because ice treatment helps with muscle pain, it may make it easier to get back into a fitness program after an injury. This potential weight loss is primarily limited to people who are unable or unwilling to move due to pain.
Inhibit inflammation with cryotherapy treatment
The inflammation is a challenge for our immune system, which has to fight against infections. Sometimes it reacts excessively actively, which can lead to autoimmune diseases. The result is chronic inflammation, which is linked to health problems such as cancer, diabetes, depression, thyroid disease, dementia and arthritis. Reducing inflammation can also improve overall health and reduce the risk of many chronic diseases. Some studies suggest that cryotherapy can reduce some inflammation. However, most research has been conducted on rats. Further human studies are needed to confirm the data.
Prevent dementia and prevent cancer
If cryotherapy reduces inflammation, so could thisMinimize the risk of dementia. A 2012 paper associates cryotherapy with the possibility of reducing inflammation. The process could therefore be able to stop stress and dementia, as well as mild cognitive impairment and other age-related forms of cognitive decline. Because whole-body cryotherapy can reduce inflammation, it could also reduce your risk of cancer. To date, there is no evidence that cryotherapy can treat cancer once the disease has developed. However, medical therapy is a well-established treatment for certain forms of the disease. Doctors may use cryotherapy to freeze cancer cells on the skin or cervix and occasionally remove other cancers.
So, when planning a cryotherapy treatment, you need to ask your doctor a few questions before deciding on this type of physical therapy. To do this, you should note the following:
- What are the goals of treatment?What expected benefitswill this provide for the patient?
- What type of therapy is financially realistic for the patient?
- How many treatment sessions can the patient attend? What is the patient's schedule for current physical therapy treatment (three times a week, twice a week, etc.)?
- Can the treatment be carried out as part of a home training?
- Does the patient have any contraindications to cryotherapy?
- Additionally, remember that cryotherapy is most effective when used relatively continuously, in conjunction with physical therapy, a home exercise program, or during physical activity (sports rehabilitation). Generally, 10 to 20 whole body cryotherapy sessions are recommended to achieve optimal therapeutic effect. However, the number of sessions depends on the severity of the condition (i.e. acute injury versus post-operative treatments versus chronic pain).
Local treatments versus whole body cryotherapy
Localized treatments are typically used for acute injury situations such as sprain/strain, tendonitis, edema, postoperative pain, or fever. These include the use of ice or gel packs, ice massage, or cryotherapy machines (for post-surgery) for 20 to 30 minutes each, several times per day, especially after physical therapy or exercise. Localized cold therapy affects superficial tissue as early as 5 minutes after application. However, it takes about 20 to 25 minutes of local application to reach deeper tissue. Whole body cryotherapy treatment is used for chronic illnesses or to reduce muscle pain and fatigue in athletes. However, as mentioned above, in some cases, such as pregnancy, this is contraindicated.
How does a cryochamber work?
A whole body cryotherapy treatment exposes the entire body to an extremely coded environment for five (or less) minutes. Most cryogenic chambers (also called “cryosauna” or “freezing laboratory”) use liquid nitrogen or an electrical system to reach the temperature of -70 to -100°C, which lowers the patient's skin temperature within minutes. Of course, patients do not come into direct contact with liquid nitrogen when therapists use it to cool the chamber.
The intense cooling causes a number of physiological changes, such as vasoconstriction of blood from the limbs, which accumulates in the vital organs. In addition, you reduce the inflammatory mediators, which accordingly leads to a strong immune system reaction. Finally, fight-or-flight hormones are released, giving the patient a “pleasant endorphin rush.”
Side effects of therapy
There are some side effects of cryotherapy treatment that therapists should be aware of:
- While it can reduce unwanted pain and nerve irritation, occasionally the tissue may be affected with unusual sensations such as numbness or tingling.
- It can cause redness and skin irritation. However, these effects are generally only temporary.
- Leaving a local cold pack or ice on the skin for too long can cause damage to the skin (including frostbite in extreme cases). Therefore, local cold therapy should never be used for longer than 30 minutes and skin integrity should be monitored during treatment.
- Whole-body cryotherapy should not exceed five minutes (typical treatment sessions last two to three minutes). It leads to a decreased heart rate, increased blood pressure and decreased breathing. The patient's vital signs and physical condition should be monitored before, during and after treatment. The oxygen level in the chamber should also be checked.
- The patient should ensure that all clothing and skin are completely dry when entering a cryotherapy chamber. Metal or jewelry should also be removed. Lastly, sensitive body parts should be covered with a face mask, earmuffs, gloves, and socks or slippers. Skin burns or frostbite can occur if a patient does not follow proper procedures when entering a cryogenic chamber.
Possible contraindications
Cold therapy, especially whole body cryotherapy, should be avoided in the following cases:
- Any respiratory disease
- A history of heart attack in the past six months
- High blood pressure
- UnstableConditions of anginapectoris
- Cardiovascular diseases or arrhythmias
- Circulatory disorders such as peripheral arterial or venous disease
- Anemia tumors
- History of a stroke or cerebral hemorrhage
- History of seizures
- Raynaud's syndrome
- Bleeding disorders
- Acute or chronic kidney disease
- Metal implants or pacemakers
- Pediatric patients (younger than 18 years)
