Can plunging one’s entire body into a freezing chamber reduce muscle pain? For the professional athletes and celebrities who have made cryotherapy so popular, the answer is yes. If the media coverage is any indication, extreme cold is very hot.
Many athletes, movie stars and other opinion leaders have publically extolled the benefits of Whole Body Cryotherapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryotherapy for losing weight, reducing pain, improving athletic performance, slowing aging and improving sleep. However, this relatively new treatment has not been vetted by any reputable medical organization and has had some tragic consequences for at least one young lady.
According to an article in Forbes http://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2015/11/23/the-cold-hard-facts-on-cryotherapy/#1d8c1a691334 magazine, “the recent death of 24-year old Chelsea Patricia Ake-Salvacion during a cryotherapy treatment has brought some increased scrutiny on a practice that has been growing in use worldwide.” To find out just how effective cryotherapy is in reducing back pain, Dr. Nayan Patel http://texasback.com/doctors-profiles/doctor-patel of Texas Back Institute was asked for his opinion on the extreme version of ice packs on a hurting back. Read the full story here: www.texasback.com/blog
