CRYOTHERAPY AND RECOVERY
Cryotherapy and Recovery
Cryotherapy, also known as cold therapy, is a recovery tool using cold, near-freezing, or freezing temperatures in different forms to help the body recover from stress, trauma or injury, and exercise. Cryotherapy has been used for centuries, even dating back to 2500 BCE as a way to treat injuries, decrease pain, and alleviate swelling. Now, in more modern times, it is also used to help overcome muscle soreness from an intense workout.
The most common form of cryotherapy is performed with use of ice packs, bags of ice, or even frozen peas. But there are several forms to choose from, some acting locally and some working on the whole body, depending on what your needs are.
Types of Cryotherapy
● Ice packs
● Ice or coolant sprays
● Electric cryotherapy machines
● Ice baths
● Cryotherapy tanks
How does Cryotherapy help with recovery?
Whether you are just starting out for your first time with an exercise program, or you are an experienced athlete, you have most likely experienced post exercise muscle soreness, also known as DOMs (delayed onset muscle soreness).
Symptoms include, tenderness, tightness, achy muscles, and even a short-term loss of strength. You probably found yourself walking sideways down the stairs and grunting and grimacing when using the toilet.
While unpleasant, these symptoms are normal and are a sign of a local and systemic inflammatory response taking place from the breakdown of muscle fibers after intense exercise.
There are several modalities on the market to help reduce these symptoms, cryotherapy being one of the most popular and easier forms to use. Cryotherapy works to reduce post exercise soreness, or DOMs, and facilitates recovery through its analgesic effect and ability to reduce inflammation. Cryotherapy has also been found to decrease blood plasma markers such as creatine-kinase, lactate levels, and C-reactive protein, which are all signs of inflammation and muscle breakdown.
When used after exercise, it can also decrease your rate of perceived exertion (RPE) during your next training session. It also helps you return to your normal level of strength faster than if you were to not use any recovery modalities.
How does cryotherapy get the job done?
Cold environments create vasoconstriction, meaning your blood vessels constrict, or close down. Through this vasoconstriction your blood flow reduces and the inflammatory response decreases.
As you can imagine, whole body cryotherapy is great for general inflammation or for treatment of multiple body parts or regions that are sore. For more specific areas of soreness, local cryotherapy is a better option and is more easily accessible.
If local cryotherapy is used, in the form of an ice pack, ice massage, spray, or machine, it will work locally in the spot it is applied. For best results, use local cryotherapy at 10 degree celsius for 10-20 minutes. At first, it will feel almost painful, but after the first 5 minutes of the application of the cryotherapy, the numbness and analgesic effect will kick in, allowing you to continue to use the ice for the allotted time. Make sure you do not overuse the ice due to the risk of developing an ice burn. Take at least an hour between bouts of local cryotherapy application.
If you opt to try whole body cryotherapy, in the form of an ice bath or cryotherapy tank, the duration of use will vary. For an ice bath, go as long as you can, but no more than 15 minutes, similar to local cryotherapy. If you are able to use a cryotherapy tank, you will only need to be in there for 2 to 5 minutes for the best results, at a temperature no colder than -140 degrees celsius.
Specifically for whole body cryotherapy, 3 sessions of 3 minutes immediately after and in the next 2-3 days post exercise have provided the best and most consistent results of decreased pain and faster return to full strength between exercise sessions.
These tanks are typically used in fitness facilities, spas, therapy clinics, or rehabilitation centers, so a trained professional can help you use this appropriately.
Recently published meta-analyses demonstrate the effectiveness of cryotherapy and its ability to decrease post exercise soreness up to 96 hours, or 4 days, post training session. It can also reduce your RPE up to 24 hours. This is good news as most athletes only take 1-2 days off between exercise sessions.
What is the best game plan?
If you have an intense workout that you know will leave your sore, stiff, and achy, jump into an ice bath, tank, or apply local ice right away. If you wake up with areas of soreness the following day, or you find yourself stiff and moving around more slowly than normal, apply local cryotherapy for 15 minutes a few times throughout the day or jump back in that tank or tub to help decrease your inflammation and get you ready for the next day.
Don’t let sore muscles discourage you from getting back in the gym. Cryotherapy can help get you back in the gym stronger and quicker. Your trainers and coaches at Elite Performance can help get you on the best recovery plan for your goals.
References
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0139028
