My family travels to Florida a lot. My mom stays here all winter (goodbye, Pittsburgh winter)! This November we stayed in Palm Beach for a little over a week. A few days into vacation, I found myself a bit bored with the, “long walk, swim, lay-out, drink margs, repeat” routine. I KNOW you’re wondering how I got sick of this routine… but I just did, okay!
How I Discovered Cryotherapy
I was working remote all week and sick of waking up with a headache so I started making some healthy & delicious recipes for the family, trying new workouts, and was dying to try one new health trend while I was here with the rare mid-weekday spare time.
I scrolled through the mindbody app, which, if you haven’t tried, DO SO. It’s a great way to discover new exercises and wellness studios. I came across Frio Cryotherapy which was running a deal for $30 your first full-body cryotherapy treatment. I mean… WHY NOT. My brother and I went to the studio with no knowledge of cryotherapy but with an open mind and it exceeded our expectations!
What Is Cryotherapy?
Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC) is a hypothermic application designed to increase general health & wellness, reduce delayed onset muscle soreness, musculoskeletal pain, swelling, and inflammation. WBC stimulates the nervous system through skin receptors, causing dramatic peripheral vasoconstriction (the constriction of blood vessels, which increases blood pressure). This induces adaptive changes with effects of analgesia (inability to feel pain), reduction of inflammation, and increases in serum markers of tissue repair.
Whole Body Cryotherapy treatments are administered through individual sessions in a Cryosauna. The Cryosauna uses liquid nitrogen to quickly lower the skin’s top layer as close to 32°F while cabin temperature lowers to a range of -210°F to -250°F. During the two to three minutes of extreme cold, the brain stimulates the body’s organ regulatory functions resulting in decreased muscle fatigue, energy increase, metabolic spike, cell/nutrient rejuvenation, immune system boost, and overall system self-healing (1)
Health Benefits of Cryotherapy
In just 3-minutes, Cryotherapy can alleviate pain, swelling, & inflammation; while increasing blood circulation and mobility.
Sports & Fitness
- Decreases Muscle Soreness, Pain and Inflammation
- Allows for immediate post-therapy sports activity
- Reduces Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS)
- Allows more intense and higher volume training
- Increase Energy and Peak Athletic Performance
- Improves Muscle Strength and Joint Function
- Overall faster return to sports training
- Decreases Injury Recovery Time
- Improves immune system
- Decreases fatigue
Health & Wellness
- Boosts Lymph Draining and Blood Circulation
- Alleviates symptoms of depression & anxiety
- Reduces Symptoms of Migraines
- Central Nervous System Disease
- Musculoskeletal Disorder
- Inflammatory Disorder
- Boost Immune System
- Increased Libido
- Reduce Stress
- Boost Sleep
Beauty & Weight-loss
- Activates Natural Biological Regeneration
- Treatment of Psoriasis and Dermatitis
- Increased Metabolism & Caloric Burn
- Stronger and Fuller Hair & Nails
- Increased Collagen Production
- Quicker Surgical Recovery
- Tighter and Healthier Skin
- Fewer Skin Blemishes
Pain Managment
- Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
- Inflammation of the Spine
- Chronic Pain Syndrome
- Rheumatoid Arthritis
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Disc Herniation
- Phantom Pain
- Osteoporosis
- Fibromyalgia
I hope this was helpful & you learned a little bit of an increasingly popular health & wellness practice. I have to say that I felt AMAZING afterwards. It felt like I had just stretched for an hour and my legs were light as a feather. My brother felt the same way! The tank is very cold but it’s for such a short period of time it’s really not that big of a deal at all. I highly recommend at least giving Cryotherapy a try!
In good health,
xx Jess
