Cryotherapy

nossmf
nossmf Posts: 16,046 Member
in Health and Weight Loss

Have you tried it?

My gym has been doing a number of renovations lately, among them adding a cryotherapy option to the spa. Cryotherapy is the use of super-cold air (liquid nitrogen helps cool it down) to encourage the body into a survival state, accelerating blood flow, helping to relieve muscle and joint soreness, etc.

I've only read about it and seen it on TV. I am NOT a fan of cold, but the proponents of cryotherapy are very adamant it helps.

Has anybody tried cryotherapy?

Replies

  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,990 Member

    No, but if you do try it please tell us what it’s like - I’d be really interested. I tried red light therapy but all it did was give me hives and worsen my rosacea!

  • jmgirard7
    jmgirard7 Posts: 1 Member

    I've read that cold therapy is not as effective on women because our biology doesn't allow us to drop to the effective temperature. We work better in saunas. Dr. Stacy Sims has done some great research on it.

  • yirara
    yirara Posts: 10,794 Member

    I'd be curious about it. When I'm in sudden cold climate my blood vessels contract and blood flow is biggly reduced. And I freeze badly. No increased blood flow here.

  • DiscusTank5
    DiscusTank5 Posts: 1,017 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48850956#Comment_48850956

    As a woman, this is great news! Skipping the cryotherapy option in favor of the sauna if there's ever a choice. :)

  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,990 Member
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/48850956#Comment_48850956

    I haven’t read any studies so I may be wrong, but I suspect that cryotherapy plunges the body to an extreme cold temperature - and it would be physically impossible for women not to freeze. I have however read a lot of studies on cold vs warm for treatment of injuries and sports recovery. Ice baths have a minute advantage on hot baths for athletes, but it’s a tiny difference. The general opinion seems to be that ice is more unpleasant than heat and only a tiny bit better, so either is fine.
    I’d love to know if cryotherapy works!

  • briscogun
    briscogun Posts: 1,275 Member

    I saw a show recently talking about the use of extreme heat and cold temperatures on the body, it focused on people in like Iceland or Norway or something like that, but the people there used both (ice baths/cold and then saunas/hot springs) and they are some of the healthiest. longest-living people on the planet so there must be something to it! I guess alternating has some benefits?

  • samgettingfit25
    samgettingfit25 Posts: 133 Member

    I wish my gym had a cryotherapy machine. I would like to try it out of curiosity. I sometimes go to a sauna/cold plunge and find it relaxing and helps with soreness when I have the time/money to go (it's a different facility than my gym). I'd like to do it more often. The sauna facility I go to has a few temperatures of cold plunge, I just use the "warmer" one (I believe in the low 50s Fahrenheit), which seems consistent with Stacy Sims' advice (for those interested https://www.drstacysims.com/newsletters/articles/posts/cold-plunging-for-women)

    I have used contrast cold/hot therapy in the past when rehabbing an injury, and it seemed to help, or at least gave me something that feels good to focus on. That was pretty localized, my osteopath at the time recommended putting ice cubes in a wash cloth and using it in the shower to contrast with the heat of the shower. It seemed to help, or maybe it was a placebo.

  • MarjMJMM
    MarjMJMM Posts: 22 Member
    edited December 4

    years ago I had the chance to try it on a visit to a rehab centre in Poland with my job. It involved going into a chamber about 12ft square that was cooled with liquid nitrogen. I can’t remember how cold it was in F or C unfortunately but it WAS cold. (Edit - like colder than minus 20 C or a cold store). You had to wear T-shirt, shorts, long socks, shoes, gloves and a woolly hat. I remember being in for about 10 minutes ish. You had to keep moving, sort of shuffle jogging round. The facility focused on seniors rehab and rest of the folks there were definitely over 60 with various conditions. They all seemed pretty up for it.

    It was invigorating, and in terms of enduring cold I would place it over doing a cold water plunge or ice bath in terms of comfort - I’d do it again if I was asked to. It would however be a month of Sundays to get me in an ice bath.

    Whether it did me any good, who knows. I’m sure a search on Google Scholar for some contemporary evidence would be a good place to start.

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