Why is Cryotherapy Only 3-Minutes Long?

The 3-minute guideline is the maximum recommended session time for cryotherapy. Your safety and comfort are our priority and you may exit the °CRYO Chamber at any time during the session. No session
exceeds three minutes.

The °CRYO Chamber is also equipped with a door that is closed but not locked, so you are always in control while in the chamber.

Survey results indicate participants report they experience benefits after 3-5 consecutive cryotherapy sessions. Many participants find that to maintain these benefits, they need to do cryotherapy 2-3 times a week.

Depending on the person and the condition being treated, it could take seven to ten treatments initially. After this initial loading period, maintenance treatments should be once or twice per week. Training athletes may feel they want to use whole body cryotherapy sessions daily for recovery purposes.

 

What’s ACTUALLY happening to your body during those few short minutes?

First, your skin reacts to the sudden change in temperature and starts sending messages to your brain, stimulating regulatory functions. Your body begins releasing anti-inflammatory molecules, endorphins (the “feel good” energy hormones), and toxins.

While you’re in the °CRYO Chamber, your body pulls more blood into your core. Even though your skin is cold, your chest, back, and stomach might feel warm. While the blood is concentrated in your core, it gets more nutrients and oxygen than usual.

What Happens Next?

Once you step out of the °CRYO Chamber, the nutrient and oxygen-rich blood is dispersed throughout your entire body.

Between that and the endorphins, many people report the best night of sleep they’ve had along with positive mood changes for up to a few days.

A study that was done in Poland took people that suffered from multiple sclerosis and studied their antioxidative status in the blood. From 10 3-minute sessions of whole-body cryotherapy, the antioxidative counts significantly increased showing that this therapy could be beneficial to reduce the oxidative stress inside the body. Oxidative stress can be a reason for many chronic diseases, so this is amazingly huge. Another study that was done with MS patients was that cryotherapy found to help with fatigue.

Everyone could totally go for an energy boost!

You’ll also hear of cryotherapy boosting your immune system. This comes from studies that show being in very cold temperatures, even swimmers that practice in cold water for long periods of time, can have a boosted immune system as it triggers the body to an increase of white blood cells.

A study done in the British Journal of Sports Medicine showed an increase of pain tolerance and pain threshold to the athletes that used cryotherapy on their ankles versus the ones that didn’t. Which could be a positive benefit for athletes.

Cryotherapy is great for pain, especially joint pain (for those that suffer autoimmune conditions) and post-workout pain. Another study that was done showed lower post-knee surgery pain control – which is great to know for people that may be looking at natural pain solutions. Also, pain decreased from patients who suffered from Rheumatoid Arthritis who did cryotherapy.

It’s also said to be great for boosting your metabolism if you are wanting to lose some of that extra weight. The idea is that the body boosts your metabolism in order to keep the body warm during/after the time you are in this extreme cold.

Certain neurotransmitters get an extra boost as well after a session of cryotherapy. Your mood can be lifted, you can get better sleep, and heck you’ll handle stress better!

 

Visit our location to book a FREE consultation with one of our °CRYO Specialist.