Benefits of Cryotherapy

Pain Relief

The application of cryotherapy slows down the activity in the nervous system, creating a numbing sensation and dampening down the pain receptors. All this without the need for over-the-counter medicines with the potential for containing banned substances.

Reduces inflammation

Cryotherapy is known to have a positive effect on reducing inflammation, the cold temperature slowing down the body’s metabolism at a cellular level, Enabling the body to heal faster. It is widely known that excess inflammation can impede the healing process and also deters physiotherapists, massage therapists etc. from working on the effected areas.. Slowing the cellular metabolism also inhibits cellular damage with the result that the need for repair is reduced.

Reduces muscle damage

Studies have shown that cryotherapy reduces the muscular damage caused by stressing the muscle fibres. Even a short term exposure to cold air inside a cryotherapy chamber has been found to enhance muscle fibre repair, limiting the damage at a cellular level and providing a degree of protection from damage in the near term. A major factor in these effects results from the anti-oxidisation experience in a cryotherapy treatment. The net effect being a significant decrease in total serum creatine kinase (CK) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) concentrations leading to a rapid recovery from muscle damage.

Sleep

Sleep recovery is a huge area of interest in sport science with sleep considered to be one of the three pillars of recovery, along with nutrition and hydration. The restorative benefits of sleep are a big focus but many athletes have poor sleep habits due to being overly stimulated, particularly during periods of high training workload. The increased dopamine levels resulting from a cryotherapy treatment have been shown to increase the depth, duration and quality of sleep that many athletes experience, with many effects on the body’s recovery and the mental well being of the athlete.