Cryotherapy

[TAZ]

Anyone have any experience with cryotherapy? Ive done some reading and it seems like it might could work to alleviate some chronic aches and such due to inflammation. I have a messed up left ankle, no right ACL, banged up left MCL, arthritis in the left knee, couple of compressed disks, torn anterior labrum and a bunch of other smaller injuries from my younger days. All of that means that after exercise I am finding that I need to do more and more icing or popping NSAIDs or both to manage symptoms. I am wondering if something like cryotherapy could help with managing inflammation more efficiently or help minimize the NSAID need. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.

[travistheone]

I am interested in this as well. I have been offered a free treatment or so at the new local place.

top athletes love it (they also don't pay for it).

[Inkslinger]

It's all fun and games until you're frozen solid.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxne...amber.amp.html

[TAZ]

It's all fun and games until you're frozen solid.
https://www.google.com/amp/www.foxne...amber.amp.html

Yikes. Suicide by popsicle.

[Hmac]

Cryotherapy in its current implementation is in the province of homeopathy - no peer-reviewed or Level 1 evidence of efficacy in amelioration of the process of degenerative arthritis. It's just a theoretically more effective delivery of ice packs. Like RICE, it will temporarily reduce inflammation and swelling while applied. Best suited toward acute inflammation. It won't be helpful for chronic inflammation because that's not an underlying injury that will heal. Likewise won't decrease your reliance on NSAIDS, which is really the only way of managing chronic inflammation, especially from something like degenerative joint disease. As to your back....also true, although you might investigate epidural steroid injections to manage that problem.

Cryotherapy likely won't hurt you though. I say go for it. The only thing you have to lose is time and money.

[MarMark]

Cryotherapy in its current implementation is in the province of homeopathy - no peer-reviewed or Level 1 evidence of efficacy in amelioration of the process of degenerative arthritis. It's just a theoretically more effective delivery of ice packs. Like RICE, it will temporarily reduce inflammation and swelling while applied. Best suited toward acute inflammation. It won't be helpful for chronic inflammation because that's not an underlying injury that will heal. Likewise won't decrease your reliance on NSAIDS, which is really the only way of managing chronic inflammation, especially from something like degenerative joint disease. As to your back....also true, although you might investigate epidural steroid injections to manage that problem.

Cryotherapy likely won't hurt you though. I say go for it. The only thing you have to lose is time and money.

I agree with you in part. Local cryotherapy is usually used for acute injuries, such as sprains / strains, tendinitis, edema, pain or fever after surgery, just by using an cryotherapy machine. At the same time, cold therapy can also slow the inflammatory response by reducing the release of inflammatory mediators. Therefore, it is a physical therapy method that can be used for acute and chronic pain.

[WillBrink]

I agree with you in part. Local cryotherapy is usually used for acute injuries, such as sprains / strains, tendinitis, edema, pain or fever after surgery, just by using an cryotherapy machine. At the same time, cold therapy can also slow the inflammatory response by reducing the release of inflammatory mediators. Therefore, it is a physical therapy method that can be used for acute and chronic pain.

It can also hinder your progress in the gym, so per usual, used for acute injuries etc, may may have value, but many do it regularly for general recoup and that may be a bad idea. Also, the entire icing of an injury during the acute phase has been called into question recently, though it's still being debated:

https://www.cramersportsmed.com/firs...-question.html

[Hmac]

I agree with you in part. Local cryotherapy is usually used for acute injuries, such as sprains / strains, tendinitis, edema, pain or fever after surgery, just by using an cryotherapy machine. At the same time, cold therapy can also slow the inflammatory response by reducing the release of inflammatory mediators. Therefore, it is a physical therapy method that can be used for acute and chronic pain.

The mind is a powerful thing. If it makes you think that you are feeling better then that's a good thing, right? As long as such homeopathic nostrums aren't used in place of concepts that have level 1 evidence behind their efficacy, and as long as they don't cause any harm, then most doctors that I know would just shrug and say "go for it".

[WillBrink]

Anyone have any experience with cryotherapy? Ive done some reading and it seems like it might could work to alleviate some chronic aches and such due to inflammation. I have a messed up left ankle, no right ACL, banged up left MCL, arthritis in the left knee, couple of compressed disks, torn anterior labrum and a bunch of other smaller injuries from my younger days. All of that means that after exercise I am finding that I need to do more and more icing or popping NSAIDs or both to manage symptoms. I am wondering if something like cryotherapy could help with managing inflammation more efficiently or help minimize the NSAID need. Any words of wisdom are appreciated.

Besides ice and NSAIDs, what else are you doing? Here's a paper from 2014, so there may be more recent. Conclusion seems to be, some studies suggest possible benefits, but conclusive data yet to exist. I don't have any personal experience with it. As far as I can tell, shouldn't do you any harm if you wanna try it but seems other far better supported options out there. Hell, a weekly deep tissue sports massage can do wonders, as can yoga, mobility work, some anti inflammatory supps have shown promise, etc, and I always advise a hormonal panel be done depending on age, and other factors. Even acupuncture has better data than cryo and I found 10 sessions very helpful for some elbow tendinitis I had.

Whole-body cryotherapy: empirical evidence and theoretical perspectives

Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) involves short exposures to air temperatures below −100°C. WBC is increasingly accessible to athletes, and is purported to enhance recovery after exercise and facilitate rehabilitation postinjury. Our objective was to review the efficacy and effectiveness of WBC using empirical evidence from controlled trials. We found ten relevant reports; the majority were based on small numbers of active athletes aged less than 35 years.

Although WBC produces a large temperature gradient for tissue cooling, the relatively poor thermal conductivity of air prevents significant subcutaneous and core body cooling. There is weak evidence from controlled studies that WBC enhances antioxidant capacity and parasympathetic reactivation, and alters inflammatory pathways relevant to sports recovery. A series of small randomized studies found WBC offers improvements in subjective recovery and muscle soreness following metabolic or mechanical overload, but little benefit towards functional recovery. There is evidence from one study only that WBC may assist rehabilitation for adhesive capsulitis of the shoulder.

There were no adverse events associated with WBC; however, studies did not seem to undertake active surveillance of predefined adverse events. Until further research is available, athletes should remain cognizant that less expensive modes of cryotherapy, such as local ice-pack application or cold-water immersion, offer comparable physiological and clinical effects to WBC.

Full paper:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3956737/

[TAZ]

Thanks for the info. I've done PT for both the ACL and labrum tears which helped stabilize the joints. I've shied away from the knife. I still do the PT routines a few days to keep up stability. Ironically the knee with the working ACLis the biggest PITA. Obviously I spent decades compensating for the torn other knee and wore that puppy down. I've done massage, but not on a regular basis, more as an acute I've got knots, strains and such. Will look into that as I have access to a massage therapist at work. Haven't tried acupuncture. Yoga aggravates my knee pain to the point I can't walk the next day. Yes, I've had instructors watching my form to no avail. Can't figure that out. But the juice wasn't worth the squeeze. Haven't had a hormone panel, but am due for a physical in the next week so I will ask.

Honestly, my goal is to minimize NSAID use. I'm only 47 so I kind of need my kidneys for a few more decades while still being able to play and have fun with my son.