It’s no secret anymore that cryotherapy is the new and improved way to recover after working out. But can it also aid in injury recovery? Let’s discuss cryotherapy benefits.
Let’s say you have had a sore back or sprained ankle nagging you for the last few weeks. Wouldn’t it be great if there was something easy that could act as a catalyst and propel you towards recovery? Well, you’ve come to the right place! Learn more about cryotherapy benefits in this article.
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What is cryotherapy?
To start, what is cryotherapy, and how does it benefit muscle injury and inflammation?
Cryotherapy, (also known as cold therapy), is a treatment that involves the use of freezing (or near-freezing) temperatures. This treatment can help to reduce inflammation and relax your muscles, such as your sore knee, ankle, or back. At Xperience Fitness, you can benefit from cryotherapy with our orange card.
It is still a relatively new treatment, so it’s benefits are yet to be fully discovered.
How does cryotherapy help with injuries?
Cryotherapy has been shown to speed up the recovery process of joint and muscle injuries. For example, let’s say you have a hyperextended knee. Anyone who has experienced that knows that it’s not a pleasant feeling.
With localized cryotherapy, as opposed to whole-body cryotherapy in a chamber, we can target a specific joint or muscle on your body. This means we can directly point a cold air stream right at your knee which will help reduce any swelling, increase blood circulation, and result in greater mobility. Remember, sometimes moving your affected joint or muscle is the best thing you can do for it to prevent it from stiffening up.
Five Benefits of Whole-Body Cryotherapy
For whole-body cryotherapy specifically, you’ll experience the following benefits:
- Your hypothalamus will release endorphins and norepinephrine, which serve to block pain signals. This helps to boost your mood and energy, and is anti-inflammatory.
- During the treatment, your blood will travel from the extremities to your vital organs.
- Once the whole-body treatment is complete, as your skin rewarms, the blood, high in oxygen, nutrients, and chemicals, returns to sites of injury and inflammation for repair.
How often should I use cryotherapy?
How often should I use cryotherapy? This is an important question. When using cryotherapy, you will want to keep using it (and other treatments) repeatedly to heal properly. One session won’t always be enough to get you back to normal. This goes for any kind of physical therapy.
Make sure you consult our professionals with any questions you have about the prognosis, and if necessary, see your primary care doctor or a physical therapist if your injury worsens.
How Cryotherapy is Changing the Way You Recover
Cryotherapy Benefits
You may be wondering what are all the benefits of using cryotherapy. There is more to cryotherapy than helping out a lingering injury.
Cryotherapy benefits include the following:
- Reducing inflammation,
- Relaxing muscles,
- Increasing blood circulation,
- Gaining better mobility,
- Providing overall pain relief after an intense workout.
Whether you’re a star athlete or casual gym member, cryotherapy will do you wonders and change your regimen for the better. If you have any questions about cryotherapy benefits, please reach out to our personal trainers and staff. We will assess your current struggles with inflammation or swelling and determine if cryotherapy treatment is right for you. Learn more about cryotherapy benefits here.
Cryotherapy FAQs
Below are some common questions we get that many have regarding cryotherapy and whether it can really help them:
Yes, absolutely! Cryotherapy can help reduce your muscle pain. It can help with some joint and muscle disorders (e.g. arthritis.) In addition, cryotherapy can help to promote faster healing of an athlete’s injuries. There are few cons, and risks of cryotherapy are small.
As discussed in this post, cryotherapy is the use of very cold temperatures to freeze and remove abnormal tissue. Doctors have used cryotherapy to treat skin conditions, but, used repeatedly, has also been found to be effective for muscle injuries. This treatment has been found to not only provide overall pain relief, but also improve blood circulation.
How much does cryotherapy cost? For this treatment, you can expect to pay around $60 to $100 for your first session. If you enjoy the treatment, you could benefit from a cryotherapy package with a discount price for multiple sessions.
Cryotherapy machines work by reducing your blood flow to a certain area. This can help to significantly reduce inflammation or swelling in that area, such as helping to relieve pain in a joint or tendon. Cryotherapy machines can even help to temporarily reduce nerve activity (which, in turn, also helps to relieve pain).
You can do cryotherapy at home. Compact local cryotherapy devices are available on the market. In addition, there are over-the-counter products (e.g. Compound W Freeze Off) that are commonly used for the removal of warts. Talk to an expert about doing cryotherapy at home before proceeding, as they will be able to give you the best advice for how to treat inflammation and pain. Another alternative is an ice bath.
Ice baths have been utilized for decades to help athletes and gym enthusiasts recover from injury, or to help reduce pain. The most distinct difference between cryotherapy treatment and cold weather, or ice baths, is that during the first 20 minutes of an ice bath, the soft tissue and muscle which are located deep in the body start to freeze and, as a result, lose their capacity. Also, following an ice bath, the person will need to continue to rest. They will not be able to return to their exercising until the next day at the earliest. Meanwhile, with cryotherapy treatment, the muscle tissue does not actually freeze during the session. Rather, cryotherapy is perceived by your body’s nervous system as freezing. What takes 30 minutes of multiple sessions with an ice bath, can be achieved in just 3 minutes with cryotherapy. An athlete may return to their routine following a cryotherapy treatment.
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