Cryotherapy is also known as cold therapy and refers to the use of low temperature in medical therapy. It is commonly used to relieve sprains, muscle pain, and swelling due to soft tissue damage. It is a well-known remedy to accelerate recovery in athletes after exercise. As cryotherapy in its simplest form is utilized to decreases the temperature of tissue surface to minimize hypoxic cell death (when oxygen demand exceeds oxygen supply), edema (excess fluid) accumulation, and muscle spasm, it helps to alleviate discomfort and inflammation.
Types of cryotherapies:
Cryotherapy is used in a variety of applications, ranging from ice packs, immersion in ice baths, cold chambers, to cryosurgery.
External cryotherapy:
Ice pack therapy is the simplest form of cryotherapy, with an ice pack placed over an injured area. The cold application results in an immediate decrease in blood flow, due to constriction of the blood vessels (vasoconstriction), as well as decreased local metabolism and decreased oxygen demand. It is a well-known therapy to alleviate the pain of minor injuries and decrease muscle soreness.
Cold water immersion is another type of cryotherapy that is utilized to soak a painful area, such as an arm or a leg, in an ice bath.
Skin conditions such as warts, moles, skin tags, or other abnormal tissue can be frozen and destroyed with liquid nitrogen. The temperature from liquid nitrogen is so cold that it creates damage to the tissues, resulting in the frozen skin blistering and subsequently peeling off to allow healthy new skin to grow.
Internal cryotherapy/cryosurgery:
Certain conditions inside the body, such as minor precancerous cells or tumors, can be treated by inserting a probe, called a cryoprobe, through a small incision in the skin to reach the tissue to be frozen with ultra-cold liquid. Abnormal cells that freeze and die, due to intracellular ice formation during internal cryotherapy, are cleared out of the body by the immune system. Compared to traditional surgery, cryosurgery is a minimally invasive treatment with less pain and bleeding, as well as a lower risk of damage to surrounding healthy tissue close to the abnormal cells. Cryosurgery is used to treat low-risk tumors, as it can target small areas of abnormal cells and destroy them, and is used in certain types of cancer, such as prostate cancer, bone cancer, cervical cancer, and liver cancer.
Whole-body cryotherapy:
his is a technology that is designed to cool the whole body by exposing it to subzero temperatures of at least -100 degrees Celsius for a short session of two to four minutes in either a cold room or in a capsule-like enclosure that cools the body from the neck down. The trendy whole-body cryotherapy is not deemed to be a medical treatment, although the manufacturers claim a wide range of health benefits (not borne out by scientific studies). The theory is that the cold temperatures can reduce inflammation and swelling in the body. These cold chambers are usually found in gyms, spas, or wellness centers, but the many claimed benefits are still unproven and risks unknown due to lack of proper studies, warns Harvard Medical School.
References:
Cryotherapy. Published online and reviewed 29 May 2020. Cleveland Clinic. (www.clevelandclinic.org)
Benefits of cryotherapy. Published online and reviewed 2 March 2020. Healthline. (www.healthline.com)
What is whole-body cryotherapy? Published online and reviewed 26 May 2021. WebMD. (www.webmd.com)
Is whole-body cryotherapy effective and safe? Published 1 September. 2018. Harvard Medical School. (www.health.harvard.edu)
Cryotherapy: Can it stop your pain cold? Published 18 April 2018. Harvard Medical School. (www.health.harvard.edu)
6 Cryotherapy benefits and what to consider before trying the trendy cool therapy. Published 25 August 2022. Prevention. (www.prevention.com)
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