What is Cryotherapy?

Cameron Smith

Comm 204

Final assignment

    What Is Cryotherapy?

    Have any of you sat in an ice bath after being significantly sore because of a sporting event or work out? Ice water immersion is a process that many athletes have used to speed up recovery of muscle pain or soreness. The particular degree of the water is roughly 55 degrees and the athletes will stay in the cold water for about 10-15 minutes (Lateef, 2010). Fatimah Lateef states that “the ice bath will cause constriction of blood vessels. This has been suggested as a mechanism that helps with the flushing of waste products, such as lactic acid, out of the affected tissue”(Lateef, 2010). Lactic acid is the body fluid that creates soreness and getting rid of the lactic acid is what will help the body become less sore. All athletes want to be able to come back and produce day after day so it is important for them to be fresh and not have any soreness to slow them down. As the athletes are evolving they are always looking for the new and quicker method of getting back to their full potential. A new method was created in 1978 by Dr. Yamaguchi is known as “Whole Body Cryotherapy” or “Air Cryotherapy” (Whole Body Cryotherapy). This started as he used freezing treatments of short durations for his patients arthritis and he noticed that he was able to significantly “reduce the soreness and pain in his patient’s joints where they felt pain” (Whole Body Cryotherapy). This created a new source of treatment and recovery for athletes with pain or soreness.

    Cryotherapy is a method that includes freezing cold air around the surface of the body that essentially does what ice baths do, but quicker than water does. There are two rooms that you walk into during the Cryotherapy method. The first room you walk into is to start you off with the freezing cold air. The first room is set at -76 degrees Fahrenheit and the second room is set at -166 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Cryotherapy Technology Chamber.” (2015). USCryotherapy. Retrieved from

http://www.uscryotherapy.com/expect/

Due to the fact that the air is so cold a person is asked to take their shirt off, or a female is to wear a sports bra. Then they are forced to wear socks, slippers, oven mittens, a beanie, and a doctor’s face cover so you don’t breath the air straight into your nose. When I first tried the process of Cryotherapy I was a little worried that stepping into a room that was as cold as that would freak me out and I would start to feel closterfobic because of how thick the frosty cold air is. It is very difficult to see in the room so if you are a person that has a problem when you can’t see everything around you then this is not the recovery method for you. One thing I noticed when in the second chamber was that it was very hard to breathe as I felt the very dry air in my nostrils and a pretty uncomfortable feeling in my lungs because of the air. However, other than that I don’t think it’s much of an issue. The room is big enough for up to four people total and each person stays in the room for up to 3 minutes. “Your skin temperature will decrease more than 30°F over 3 minutes (or less) inside the chamber; however, your core temperature will only lower slightly” (US Cryotherapy).

    As the idea of Cryotherapy becomes more popular and heard around the world more and more athletes are trying this method for themselves. “A growing number of elite soccer players, rugby teams, professional cyclists, track and field athletes, and basketball players in the United States and Europe have eagerly turned to whole-body Cryotherapy” (Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery, 2011). According to a group of French researchers put a group of runners through a 48 minute trail run on a treadmill. After the run, half of the runners entered a whole-body cryotherapy chamber once a day for five days, while the other half sat quietly for 30 minutes a day for those five days. The blood of these runners was drawn and the runners who entered the chamber showed fewer blood markers of inflammation than the group who did not (Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery, 2011). These results suggest that athletes could potentially save two to three days of training time compared with forgoing whole-body cryotherapy (Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery, 2011). This new method of recovery is not for everyone because of the different surrounding area and the uncomfortable environment for some people but this method is definitely productive and can help the recovery process speed up very quickly.

    There are still a lot of people who don’t believe in the Cryotherapy recovery method. A study shown by Mr. Costello, published early in 2011 found that “whole-body Cryotherapy did not lessen muscle damage among a group of volunteers who’d completed grueling resistance exercises with their legs before entering the chamber” (Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery, 2011). There are always going to be people against a new technology or a new find. Some people may not like it for themselves and some might think that it just didn’t work for them for one of the times they did it. Donnelly, a professor at the University of Limerick is also unconvinced. With a study of his own he points out that the muscles are not recovered after the process and that the athletes’ muscles were less inflamed but were still weak and damaged (Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery, 2011). Mike Moynihan recalls his experience saying that “the cold air floods your brain and you can’t process much more than putting one foot in front of another” (Holt, 2015). Some people don’t enjoy the freezing cold methods.

    Back in my hometown, Roseville CA. My friends and I have a Cryotherapy chamber right in the middle of our community and we were exposed to it a couple of years ago. All of the players on our football team have memberships to Cryotherapy and we use the chamber almost every time we have a tough practice or long game. All of us believe that it helps our soreness or any injuries that we had. It is a very quick and easy process. It takes no longer than 15 minutes to get done and it helps tremendously. It is also a great place to bring your family members or friends that have never done it before because it is a very exciting activity that everyone should really get a chance to experience. One thing that I like more about Cryotherapy than ice baths is that Cryotherapy doesn’t have the excruciating coldness like when you step into a cold tub. If I am about to step into a cold tub I feel so much more fear of the cold than if I am about to walk into a Cryotherapy chamber. The process can be for some people and just not be for other people. Just like any other activity some people may like it and some people may not, but from my experiences and my findings I believe that it works and I enjoy it much more than taking an ice bath.

(Sarriesrugbytv, 2013)

Why Cryotherapy is Better Than the Ice Bath

    The Ice bath has been found to affect the body in a completely different way than the Cryotherapy Chamber. Professional athletes have been using the ice bath for rehabilitation for as long as people can remember. In the article “Whole Body Cryotherapy The Three Levels of Influence” it states “during the 15-20 minutes of ice bathing, tissue freezes quite deep and frozen muscles temporarily lose capacity and needs time to return to normal”. After taking an ice bath the body needs rest, it doesn’t matter what time you took the ice bath the athlete cannot come back to the activity or practice no earlier than the next day (Whole Body Cryotherapy). “In the Cryotherapy process the freezing cold does not freeze muscle tissue it only creates a powerful illusion that that the body freezes, so only after 5-10 minutes an athlete can go back to the activity or to perform” (Whole Body Cryotherapy). This is very important for all athletes because each athlete's main interest when in recovery is to be back as fast as possible and perform in whatever sport or activity they are playing. There is a distinct difference for me after I get out of a cold tub or ice bath and after I get out of a Cryotherapy chamber. The first step out of an ice bath is like a baby deer taking its first step. You can’t feel your legs at all because of how numb they are and it takes a solid couple of hours to have your legs feel normal. The muscles are still way too tight to do anything athletic without tearing every muscle. After you get out of the Cryotherapy chamber the first thing you do is get on a stationary bike and warm your legs right back up. This is a perfect example of showing how fast a person’s muscles can recover after they come out of a chamber. Also, “While in the ice bath, oxygen supply to the skin surface is interrupted, and it causes skin surface injury that can promote skin disease if the procedure is often repeated” (Whole Body Cryotherapy). Although the ice bath recovery method can be very beneficial it can also bring some negative effects to the body especially for an athlete who needs their body to be in tip top shape at all times.

    They are many differences between ice bathing and Cryotherapy. I have done both and I do prefer the Cryotherapy chamber method because it fits my style and need more than ice baths do. The recovery process is different for every individual so everyone could prefer different methods. One person might enjoy ice baths, one might prefer Cryotherapy, and one might prefer not to do either and let their body get rid of the soreness by itself. Each person should try every method to figure out what they like most to help them get through the pain and soreness that they feel.

Work Cited

“Cryotherapy Technology Chamber.” (2015). USCryotherapy. Retrieved from

http://www.uscryotherapy.com/expect/

Holt, Sarah. (2015, February 17). “Cryotherapy: Would You Freeze Yourself Fit?”. CNN.

Retrieved from http://edition.cnn.com/2015/02/17/golf/freeze-yourself-fit-with-cryotherapy/index.html

Lateef, F. (2010). Post exercise ice water immersion: Is it a form of active recovery? Journal of

Emergencies, Trauma and Shock, 3(3), 302-303. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.4103/0974-2700.66570

Reynolds, Gretchen.( 2011, September 7). “Freezing Athletes to Speed Recovery”. The New York

Times. Retrieved from http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/07/freezing-athletes-to-speed-recovery/?_r=0
Sarriesrugbytv,(2013, July 31). "BOC Cryotherapy Chamber". Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnRUClewD8w

“What to Expect”. (2015). USCryotherapy. Retrieved from

http://www.uscryotherapy.com/expect/

“Whole Body Cryotherapy: The Three Levels of Cure”. (2015). Biological Medicine Network.

Retrieved from

http://www.marioninstitute.org/biological-medicine-network/treatment-therapies/cryotherapy