The Secret to Drug-Free Chronic Pain Management
In September, we recognize chronic pain, but being in pain is much more than a monthly event for those who experience it on a chronic level. Chronic pain is as ingrained in everyday life as waking up in the morning or taking a shower.
Chronic pain relief usually hinges on medications or frequent doctor’s visits, but what if there was another way to find relief for your pain? Cryotherapy may be your answer.
What is cryotherapy?
Whole-body cryotherapy, a practice that has been around since the late ‘70s, has been gaining popularity in the United States in more recent years. Cryotherapy, literally cold therapy, is the concept of healing the body through the use of cold temperatures. Although the practice of applying cold temperatures as a treatment can be dated back to 2500 BC, whole-body cryotherapy has revolutionized the practice.
Whole-body cryotherapy involves entering a sub-zero temperature chamber filled with oxygen-enriched air for a few minutes.
Is there empirical evidence?
Fortunately, there is evidence to back up the health benefits of cryotherapy.
A study published on PubMed Central found that trained runners showed fewer blood markers of inflammation after entering the cryotherapy chamber. The study followed a group of trained runners and put them through a 48-minute trail run on a treadmill. The workout was specifically designed to elicit muscle soreness and damage.
After the workout, half of the runners underwent whole-body cryotherapy once a day for five days. The rest sat still for 30 minutes a day after their workout for those five days. Blood was drawn regularly throughout the experiment from both groups.
From the first day onward, the runners who entered the chamber showed fewer blood markers of inflammation than the group who sat still.
While this study followed athletes and not necessarily those with chronic pain, it still shows a reduction in blood markers of inflammation in general.
Another study published on Europe PMC followed 120 participants with chronic diseases with a mean duration of symptoms lasting about four years. The patients were treated for two and a half minutes on average in a nitrogen-free whole-body cryotherapy chamber. The study found that the patients’ pain levels decreased significantly throughout the treatment and for over 90 minutes after the treatment had ended.
Would cryotherapy benefit me?
Cryotherapy can benefit just about everyone, especially those who suffer from chronic pain or inflammation.
However, certain conditions are contraindications to whole-body cryotherapy so speak to your doctor before partaking in cryotherapy.
Ok, where do I sign up?
Xperience Fitness has partnered with US Cryotherapy, the industry leader in whole-body cryotherapy. Through US Cryotherapy, Xperience offers four cryotherapy options.
- Whole-body cryotherapy: 2 to 3.5 minutes of full-body cold exposure that reduces pain, inflammation, and stress while rejuvenating your body, skin, and mind. Our whole-body cryotherapy chambers are nitrogen-free, free oxygenated air.
- Localized cryotherapy: Targets specific muscle areas or joints directly with cold air for 2 to 3 minutes to decrease pain and inflammation while improving circulation.
- Normatec: Uses compression therapy to increase circulation and moves fluid through the body to promote faster recovery.
- Theragun: An advanced massage device that breaks up muscle tightness, reduces soreness, and restores range of motion in as little as 30 seconds.
Visit Xperience Fitness Woodbury, Coon Rapids, or Roseville club for more information regarding cryotherapy. Living your life trying to suppress and stifle your chronic pain, try cryotherapy today to see if this is the relief you have been waiting for. Cold is a powerful energy, use it to get your life back today.