What is cryotherapy?
The term cryotherapy comes from the ancient Greek and literally means "cure with the cold". Cryotherapy is one of the new treatment methods that have flourished in recent decades for the treatment of some aesthetic and medical conditions. In fact, cryotherapy has very ancient origins: the therapeutic properties of cold, in fact, have been known since ancient times, but evidently they had to wait tens and tens of years to establish and demonstrate that cold therapy, if used correctly, can solve many ailments.
Although medicine has made great strides, current cryotherapy has maintained, in certain aspects, the basic concepts: cold, formerly seen as a tool to alleviate the simplest evils (fever, bruises, muscular traumas), is now used to treat dermatological disorders of medium magnitude, such as warts, acne, angiomas, scars, neoplasms and melanomas. By refining the term, in dermatology the cryotherapy is also known as cryosurgery .
This technique can be used as a preferential therapy, as an alternative to other more invasive (eg micro-surgery) or complementary techniques.
Ice and Cryotherapy
The application of ice following traumas and disorders of the musculoskeletal system can, in a sense, be understood as the simplest form of cold therapy.
The use of ice in bruises and musculoskeletal injuries, in fact, helps to reduce the perception of pain, thanks to the analgesic (even if temporary) effect of the cold on the treated area: hypothermia at the level of the skin prevents, in fact, , the transmission of painful impulses. Furthermore, the ice was - and still is - used to alleviate the swelling: the anti - edema effect is related to the induced vasoconstriction, which prevents the extravasation of blood in the tissues. However, the muscles do not manage to remain contracted at low temperatures: even in this case the ice is used to loosen the muscles, because when they are placed in contact with a cold source they relax (it therefore has antispastic and muscle relaxant action).
In some cases, the use of cold should be combined with elastic bands ( compression bandage and elastic), in order to compress the injured area: the healing time is therefore accelerated.
Effects
Effects of cold therapy on the body
The practice of cryotherapy can affect several districts of the body; this is why it is a technique that has many facets and can be used to treat different types of disorders. The main effects that cold therapy is able to exert in the various tissues and systems of the body will be described below.
Circulatory system
At the vascular level, cryotherapy with topical application causes constriction of the superficial blood vessels, followed by a subsequent and almost immediate systemic vasoconstriction (since some nerve reflexes are triggered which transmit the cold in other districts). This effect is stable until it reaches 15 ° C, while below this limit the effect is the opposite: vasodilatation is thus established and the nerves are no longer able to transmit the signal of cold (nerve fiber block). Vasodilation, in fact, represents a process of self-protection of the organism, a defense that the system puts in place to avoid blocking blood circulation.
Nervous system
Cryotherapy acts at a nervous level by decreasing the speed of signal transmission.
Metabolism
Cryotherapy also has an effect on the metabolic level: following the application of cold, tissue metabolism slows down due to the fact that the metabolic-biochemical reactions are weakened.
Muscular system
At the muscle level, cold therapy is useful for relaxing tissue and loosening muscles. Also in this case, the effect of cryotherapy is twofold and complementary: the muscle can respond with an increase or a decrease in tone. This depends on the time of application of the cold in the affected area: if the application of ice is short, there is an increase in muscle tone, vice versa if the application is prolonged.
Types of Cryotherapy
General, localized and systemic cryotherapy
Currently, there are several types of cryotherapy available to treat the most diverse disorders, from those purely aesthetic, through bone and muscle disorders, up to the treatment of diseases and even very serious diseases, such as, for example, some types of skin tumors.
Generally speaking, we can state that the main types of cryotherapy used today are general, localized and systemic cryotherapy.
Although all the cryotherapeutic techniques make use of the use of cold, they are very different from each other and are used for different purposes.
Please note
The use of any cryotherapy technique must be carried out only and exclusively by specialized medical personnel working in qualified facilities. A wrong use of cold therapy, in fact, can lead to the appearance of real burns and to the onset of serious side effects.
General cryotherapy
Localized cryotherapy
Localized cryotherapy is much simpler and is used by directly applying ice to the injured area to reduce inflammation and relieve pain.
The cold, however, if used improperly, can create serious side effects.
Systemic cryotherapy
Systemic cryotherapy (also known as Whole Body Cryotherapy or WBC) is a particular cryotherapeutic technique used mainly in the aesthetic and sports field, although, lately, several doctors have proposed its use also in the medical field.
This type of cryotherapy is used in the sports field to reduce pain and inflammation in the event of trauma, injury, stiffness and muscle and tendon overload.
Moreover, as mentioned, systemic cryotherapy is also used in the aesthetic field (a use which, however, is widespread especially in the United States) where it is used to keep the skin young.
Systemic cryotherapy can be performed substantially by:
- A two-room cryochamber.
- A cryosauna.
The two-room cryochamber is made up of a first chamber in which the temperature is -60 ° C and a second chamber in which the temperature drops to -130 ° C.
The patient will have to enter the first chamber remaining there for thirty seconds; after this short period of time the patient goes to the next room where he can stay for a maximum of three minutes (the time of stay will be decided by the doctor).
Low temperatures are achieved through the use of liquid nitrogen (-196 ° C) contained in special tanks.
The cryosauna, instead, consists of a sort of cylinder in which it is possible to accommodate only one person at a time. However, it is believed that the use of cryosauna is less safe than the two-room cryochamber.
Curiosity
In Poland, systemic cryotherapy is considered a medical treatment in all respects, so that the local Health Service gives a refund to cover part of the costs incurred by patients to undergo this form of medical therapy.
Type of freezing
Fast or slow freezing?
In the cold therapy, the choice of the type of freezing is fundamental: contrary to what one could imagine, slow cooling could lead to side effects of greater magnitude than the rapid one, due to the fact that it is not possible to control and monitor the results that could derive from it.
Slow freezing, on the other hand, does not give precise results, because in most cases it is not possible to control the resulting effects: in fact, crystals are created between the cell and the cell that cause unquantifiable damage, because it cannot be estimated nor l the extent or severity of the damage caused.
Continue: cryotherapy - second part »
