Have you ever watched a Polar Plunge event where people jump into icy cold water? Turns out these participants may be receiving the health benefits related to cryotherapy, whether they realize it or not. This topic and many others are featured in the “Mayo Clinic Guide to Holistic Health,” by Brent A. Bauer, M.D. The book includes details on the history, benefits and potential risks of an array of holistic health methods researched by Mayo Clinic experts — such as in the following excerpt on cryotherapy.
Imagine this: You walk into something that looks like a sauna, but instead of feeling a pleasant relaxing warmth, the chamber greets you with a freezing blast that would make an arctic wind feel like a spring breeze. That’s not an overstatement, because the air being blown at you has been cooled to minus-148 degrees F or below.
Why would anyone subject themselves to such a chilling experience? While it may not sound very pleasant, the concept is similar to applying ice to an injury. Ice is used to prevent or decrease inflammatory processes that cause swelling, so the idea is that exposing the whole body to a blast of frigid air might do the same. Evidence is still lacking on the safety and effectiveness of more engineered forms of extreme cold treatment such as cryotherapy chambers. But some people are already using them and have been for a while, whether in professional athletic facilities, wellness resorts or local spas.
How Does It Work?
Using cold to boost health isn’t exactly a novel idea. Early cultures used cold as a traditional method of pain relief. In ancient Greece, Persia and Rome, chilly remedies such as snow, ice-and-water mixtures and cold water were used to treat a wide range of diseases. Ice water plunging remains a common tradition in many northern countries. And until about 1980, some psychiatric patients in the United States were wrapped in cold, wet sheets; the practice seemed to calm down agitated patients and stimulate those who were apathetic. The idea behind these seemingly unpleasant interventions was that it caused physiological reactions that boosted the immune system and jump-started physical activity.
Nowadays wet sheets have been replaced by cryotherapy chambers, in which cooling is done by a blast of frigid air. During these exposures, you wear minimal clothing, gloves, a woolen headband covering the ears, a nose and mouth mask, and dry shoes and socks to reduce the risk of cold-related injury. The blasts blow over fast — they last only 2 to 3 minutes. Admittedly, they probably feel far more jarring than wet sheets, but research finds that this extreme therapy is not entirely without scientific evidence and may offer some benefits.
Many professional athletes have been using whole-body cryotherapy for some time, often in the form of ice baths or plunges. Its popularity in sports stems from the belief that cryotherapy can help lower inflammation and soothe sore muscles — just like an ice pack, albeit with a greater chilling punch.
What The Research Says
Research into cryotherapy is still in its infancy. So far, cryotherapy has been used in sports medicine and also with some success in the treatment of inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. It seems to have other potential uses as well.
Rheumatoid arthritis
Several studies found that whole-body cryotherapy at temperatures below minus-148 degrees F for a very short duration of time — about 2 to 3 minutes — helped decrease pain related to rheumatoid arthritis.
One study found that cryotherapy improved mobility and reduced the intensity of pain in people with rheumatoid arthritis, and that the positive effect lasted at least three months afterward. Several studies also recorded a measurable decrease in specific inflammatory markers after the therapy, showing that the improvement wasn’t just based on the perception of the participant but was backed by the body’s changing biology.
A systematic review of the literature suggested that cryotherapy for people with arthritis may have even larger effects. Those with rheumatoid arthritis often have difficulty exercising due to pain, for example, which affects their overall well-being, including heart health. The review suggested that cryotherapy can be an innovative strategy to improve a person’s exercise capacity, thus reducing cardiovascular risk and boosting overall wellness.
Multiple sclerosis
Less research has been done on cryotherapy for multiple sclerosis, but one small study found that it had some measurable antioxidant benefits, which are helpful in fighting neurodegenerative disease.
Chronic low back pain
Another small study found whole-body cryotherapy to be effective for treating chronic low back pain. Cryotherapy decreased measurable inflammatory markers and boosted anti-inflammatory markers.
Heart health
Cryotherapy may boost the body’s antioxidant response and exercise capacity. Early studies of whole-body cryotherapy concluded that it’s generally safe and doesn’t negatively affect cardiac or immunological health. Another recent systematic review found that cryotherapy may lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides
Mental health
Preliminary evidence suggests that whole-body cryotherapy may be useful as an add-on intervention for mental health problems, especially for symptoms of depression. Research has also found that cryotherapy may enhance quality of sleep and decrease tiredness.
Weight loss
A very recent study incorporated whole-body cryotherapy into a more traditional treatment plan for people with obesity who also experienced various post-COVID conditions, such as pain, poor sleep and muscle fatigue. In addition to exercising and eating a healthy diet, study participants went through cryotherapy. After four weeks, participants lost weight, became leaner and had lower cholesterol and inflammation markers than at the beginning of the study.
Risks And Safety Concerns
Cryotherapy is not for everybody. It’s an intense and acute form of intervention. While it may work for some, others may not be able to tolerate it. Notably, humans have a much lower capacity to adapt to prolonged exposure to cold compared with prolonged exposure to heat. Even if cryotherapy sessions are very short, they still may be too extreme for some people. Acute exposure to a cold environment, either air or water, causes a stress reaction, as well as a temporary jump in blood pressure. That’s because cold causes the blood vessels to temporarily constrict, which in turn results in higher pressure. There also may be other negative effects that aren’t known yet.
Our Take
Cryotherapy as a form of treatment is still under study. Humans have used cold to treat various conditions for a long time, but whole-body cryotherapy is different because it involves exposure to ultra-cold temperatures that humans don’t typically experience. It is also an expensive form of therapy. Is it worth the wellness boost some proponents claim?
The jury is still out. If you’re considering it, make sure to discuss it first with your healthcare team and proceed with caution. Keep in mind too that you don’t have to visit a cryotherapy chamber to get some of the benefits of cold temperatures. A bag of ice remains an effective and inexpensive way to ease the pain of a swollen joint or a sore muscle. And many people swear by a brisk swim in a cold lake or sea as the ultimate energy booster.
An excerpt from “Mayo Clinic Guide to Holistic Health” by Brent A. Bauer, M.D.
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