How Long Should a Cryotherapy Session Last?

Having researched the topic of cryotherapy and decided that it is one of the best recovery methods available on the market, you are still hesitant – let’s discuss the length of a session.

Contrary to ice baths, which cryotherapy has to a greater extent replaced, a whole-body cryotherapy session is short: ice baths take around 20 minutes! – more on that here. If it is the first try with the cryochamber, most people choose a 2-minute session. For those who are more accustomed to this wellness treatment, the average length of a session is 3 minutes.

You may ask yourself – is that enough? And the answer is – yeah! Within this short period of time, your body’s nervous and blood systems are activated to release anti-inflammatory molecules, endorphins, and nutrient-rich oxygenated blood. Just after one three-minute-long session, clients feel good and energetic, and this sensation can last up to 8 hours. Other “side effects” include an increase in collagen production, improved sleep, overall increased energy and an increased metabolic boost. It is not just a marketing trick – there have been studies on the ideal length of a cryo-session and it was proven that:

“The study showed that the optimum cryotherapy session duration time is 2 minutes at -135 degrees Celsius or -211 degrees Fahrenheit after a 30 second “cool down” session at -60 degrees Celsius or 76 degrees Fahrenheit. A 2-minute cryotherapy session produces substantial physiological changes in core and skin temperature, tissue oxygenation in vastus lateralis and gastrocnemius muscles and thermal sensation responses.”

Maybe now you are thinking if one session is only 2-3 minutes, how many sessions should I have? At °CRYO Stay Young, we recommend 6 to 10 sessions either a few days apart or over a 2 to 3-week spread if you want to maximize and maintain your benefits. Newer cryotherapy users should aim for their sessions to be in closer succession while regulars can aim for one to two per week to maintain their results.

Knowing the health benefits and the technical aspects of a cryo-session, you should definitely book a session at one of our many locations across the world.

Resources
[1] https://www.cryoinnovations.com/blog/2019/5/28/how-long-is-a-cryotherapy-session#.Xe-go-hKjIU after “The Effect of Three Different (-135°C) Whole Body Cryotherapy Exposure Durations on Elite Rugby League Players” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3906033/ [10.12.2019]