Not too long ago, my husband and I participated in a silent auction. One of the items up for auction was some free cryotherapy sessions, and we put a bid on that item because it sounded interesting. We won the sessions, and now we have finally had the chance to try it out.
To begin, cryotherapy is essentially “cold therapy”. Very cold temperature exposure is used for potential therapeutic benefits, and although I don’t know much about the entire area, I know that there are different types of cold therapy out there. For example, I have heard about people taking really cold showers or immersing themselves in ice water baths. And, while some of that sounds horrible to me, what we did was different.
Our session was pretty short compared to other therapeutic sessions. While massages, acupuncture, and so on might take 30 to 90 minutes, our cryotherapy sessions were 2 minutes. Our understanding was that the maximum you could work up to was 3 minutes, and after the session I could see why that was the case. Basically, we stood in a tank (our heads were above it) while cold air surrounded us. And it was cold – not painful, but it really took my breath away several times. And, as I discuss this I want to mention that there are many contraindications for this therapy, so it certainly is not for everyone. Also, even if you are ok to try it it may not be of interest to you.
My husband and I are going to try it again, but I don’t know if I will do any more after that. I feel pretty wimpy about cold, so even with such a short exposure I’m not sure how often I would want to do it. However, I encourage everyone to at least learn about cryotherapy and see if it might be beneficial for you.