Take Me to the Cooler:  How Cryotherapy can Help You Heal
By Jay Cardiello
Updated July 18, 2016

Your body is absolutely magical - it’s capable of healing itself from so many of the ailments that plague you. All it needs is the right environment. Cryotherapy is a special type of cold therapy where your body is immersed in sub-zero temperatures to turbo –charge its ability to heal. Thanks to modern-day innovation, you won’t have to wear a cryogenic suit like Mr. Freeze. Cryotherapy is a very fast and effective treatment to improve health and wellness and is much more comfortable than you think.

How Cryotherapy Works
During a typical whole body cryotherapy treatment, you stand in a cylindrical chamber that fills with nitrogen vapor dropping to sub-zero temperatures of (minus) -180 to -220 degrees F. One treatment lasts approximately 3 minutes. 

We’ve all iced an injury at some point in our lives. Ice helps relieve discomfort because it constricts the blood flow to an injured area so swelling and inflammation can go down. With typical cold treatments such as icing, cold water, ice baths, cold plunges, and just walking out in the cold, your skin itself doesn’t get very cold but the cold does penetrate your body, making these treatments uncomfortable and not very effective. Cryotherapy is different. In a whole body cryotherapy chamber, even though the air circulating in the chamber is much colder, it’s completely dry so you won’t feel the excruciating chill effect that you’d get from cold water.
 
The absence of moisture in the air makes for a much more comfortable experience.

Cryotherapy stimulates the temperature receptors on your skin to send signals to your brain, telling you that you may be freezing. In response to this immensely disruptive message, your brain immediately tries to protect your body as best as it can, so it stimulates certain physical reactions to unleash natural healing resources.

Essentially, cryotherapy treatment forces your body to rapidly heal itself. These reactions include raising your endorphins, speeding the growth of new connective tissue and speeding up your metabolism.

As soon as treatment begins, your skin surface temperature drops to approximately 30 degrees in under a minute. This causes your body stop trying to regulate your skin surface temperature and instead, your brain draws your blood to your core in order to protect it from the immense and sudden cold. While your blood is in your core, it picks up oxygen and nutrients which stimulate your body’s natural healing. As soon as your treatment is over, your brain decides where it should send that oxygen-rich and nutrient-rich blood first.

The Benefits of Cryotherapy Treatment
The result? Fatigued muscles from your hard workout receive such oxygen-rich blood as soon as the treatment session is over. You’ll step out of the cryotherapy chamber with unparalleled and essentially instant recovery effects.

This is why many professional athletes opt for whole body cryotherapy treatments on a regular basis. The NBA, NFL, and US Olympic teams are using cryotherapy in their training facilities to decrease recovery time for their athletes while increasing both athletic performance and metabolic rate. Some athletes have even invested in their own expensive cryotherapy chambers because the results are so profound.
Some of the many benefits of cryotherapy include decreasing muscle soreness, decreasing pain, reducing swelling and inflammation, increasing range of motion, improving sleep, boosting energy, accelerating metabolism, strengthening immune system, increasing endorphins, mitigating anxiety and depression, reducing signs of aging, improving skin, and relieving joint disorders, rheumatoid diseases and fibromyalgia.

Many European studies have shown enormous improvements in anxiety and depression with cryotherapy because it raises endorphin levels. Nearly everyone has reported increased energy and better moods after treatment. Another benefit is an accelerated rate of new connective tissue growth, which is extremely helpful to alleviate suffering from chronic pain, arthritis, overuse injuries, and tendinitis. Faster connective tissue growth also reduces post-workout recovery time and promotes superior athletic performance.

When you think of temperatures that are nearly (minus) -300 degrees F, you can’t help but to think of cold blisters and frostbite. These problems can be easily avoided in the cryotherapy chamber by not wearing wet clothing, especially wet socks, during your treatment.

Cryotherapy has been used in Europe for decades with incredible success, and now it’s developed a large following in the US. Athletes and household Hollywood names like Floyd Mayweather, Demi Moore, the Los Angeles Lakers, and Joe Rogan all rave about the effects of whole body cryotherapy treatments. In New York City, you can experience all the benefits for yourself at Drive495, where wellness expert Don Saladino pioneered the way for cryotherapy at his elite training facility in the heart of SoHo. If you’re looking for a way to improve your recovery time, health, pique performance levels, and go through your daily activities with greater ease, cryotherapy might be the magic you’re looking for.

Have you tried a float therapy session yet?  You may want to at least try it!  

​Check out this article about a study that demonstrates what float therapy can do for depression, stress, anxiety and more.

​The study published in the journal BMC Complementary and Alternative Medicine explores sensory deprivation in a flotation tank as a form of preventative healthcare. Its results showed substantial reductions in levels of stress, anxiety, depression, and pain, and along with improved sleep quality and overall mood, proving that flotation therapy is an excellent way to prevent and treat many  emotional and physical ailments.

from:  Collective Evolution