Cryotherapy is a physical treatment that uses cold as a tool to deal with various conditions and stimulate body well-being. It can be applied locally in a specific part of the body or covering the entire organism, in both cases, seeking to generate a decrease in local heat or a systemic reaction in the body respectively.
“The advances made in this field provide different techniques and methods to achieve good results, and the choice will depend on the therapeutic objective and the individual needs of the patient,” explains Dr. Manuel Leyes, head of the Traumatology service at Olympia Quirónsalud, a center that It has an innovative multi-room cryotherapy room, Ice Lab Pro, with which constant and controlled temperatures of up to -110 degrees are achieved.
But in what cases can these low temperatures be beneficial? One of the outstanding characteristics of cryotherapy is its systemic effect, that is, its ability to affect the entire body. For example, the release of endorphins during treatment not only reduces symptoms in a specific joint, but also provides a general feeling of well-being throughout the body.
Regarding the indications for cryotherapy, Dr. Leyes points out that it is especially effective in the field of the locomotor system, where it is used to treat inflammatory and painful pathologies. Among the most common cases are arthritis, osteoarthritis, rheumatological processes, fibromyalgia, chronic pain, post-exercise overloads, sports injuries, recovery from muscle, tendon and ligament injuries, and even in the postoperative and previous to rehabilitation sessions.
The advances produced in this field provide different techniques and methods to achieve good results, and the choice will depend on the therapeutic objective and the individual needs of the patient.
Manuel Laws
Head of the Traumatology Service at Olympia Quirónsalud
The most sophisticated cryotherapy treatments on the market use the application of cold to the entire body, including the head. The patient is exposed to three temperature changes in decreasing progression. The Olympia multi-room room consists of three chambers with different temperatures, from -10°C to -60°C, to acclimatize the body for 20 seconds before entering the main room, where it reaches -110°C, for a maximum of three minutes.
The benefits of this treatment are based on the principle of “stimulus-reaction-adaptation” of the organism before physical agents, and include its anti-inflammatory, analgesic and oxidative stress reducing effect. In addition, it optimizes metabolic processes by activating vascular microcirculation at the muscular level.
“It is an ideal therapy to optimize post-exercise and post-competition recovery in athletes, as well as to help recover from injuries and chronic pain. Programs are also being opened to improve the symptoms of patients with fibromyalgia, in a pioneering multidisciplinary approach”, explains the Olympia Quirónsalud traumatologist.
few contraindications
As well as this cryotherapy treatment It has very relevant instructions., it should also be taken into account in which cases the application of this technique is not recommended. For example, when the patient is very sensitive to cold or when he has damaged nerves that are recovering. Nor should it be applied in the case of suffering from Raynaud’s disease -a pathology in which the small arteries that supply blood to the skin narrow- or diseases that can alter sensitivity. In any case, these are few contraindications.
In conclusion, cryotherapy is a natural, fast and effective treatment that has remarkable analgesic and anti-inflammatory results. It is indicated both in osteoarticular and dermatological pathologies, pain and chronic fatigue (relief or eradication of chronic pain, anti-inflammatory effect, psoriasis and dermatitis, chronic fatigue) and for the optimization of sports performance, also achieving beneficial effects on the endocrine, nervous and immune.