Cryotherapy is a method of achieving therapeutic effects by lowering the temperature of tissues. Cooling reduces blood volume in tissues and slows tissue turnover, thereby reducing bleeding and inflammation. It has a certain effect on spasms and muscle contractures. It can also increase the pain threshold, reduce pain, and make the patient more comfortable during subsequent exercise or treatment. Red light therapy can be used during the cryotherapy experience, and some people have experienced improved sleep quality, and sore muscles after full-body and local freezing have been relaxed and rejuvenated.
History
The history of cold therapy can be traced back to 2500 BC, when the Egyptians used cold to treat injuries and inflammation. There are also documents from the Napoleonic era documenting the use of cold to assist in amputation surgery. Since ice is not as easy to obtain as heat, its large-scale application in history had to wait until artificial ice became popular.
Cryotherapy, sometimes called cold therapy, is a medical treatment that uses low temperatures locally or throughout the body. Cryotherapy can be used in a variety of ways, including whole-body exposure for therapeutic health benefits, or it can be used topically to treat various tissue lesions.
Cryotherapy is often used to prevent or relieve muscle pain, sprains, and swelling following soft tissue injuries or surgery. When musculoskeletal injury occurs, the body signals inflammatory cells, macrophages, to release IGF-1. IGF-1 is a hormonal insulin growth factor that initiates the termination of damaged tissue. In some cases, this inflammatory response may be exacerbated, leading to increased swelling and edema, which can actually prolong the recovery process. For decades, it has been commonly used by athletes to speed up their recovery after exercise. Cryotherapy reduces the temperature of the tissue surface to minimize hypoxic cell death, edema accumulation, and muscle spasm. Minimizing each or all of these can ultimately reduce discomfort and inflammation. It may involve a range of treatments, from applying ice packs or soaking in an ice bath (often called cold therapy) to using a cold room.
Treatment
There are many types of cold therapy, such as ice packs, popsicle massage, cold baths, instant cold sprays and controlled cold compresses. They can be determined according to different parts or the size of the parts. For example, for the extremities, you can choose a cold bath to cool the entire part. Soak in it. When using, for greater comfort and hygiene, place a towel between the skin and the cold therapy, which can also absorb water, such as absorbing the remaining ice water when performing a popsicle massage.
Cryotherapy is a method of achieving therapeutic effects by lowering the temperature of tissues. Cooling reduces blood volume in tissues and slows tissue turnover, thereby reducing bleeding and inflammation. It has a certain effect on spasms and muscle contractures. It can also increase the pain threshold, reduce pain, and make the patient more comfortable during subsequent exercise or treatment.
Treatment
There are many types of cold therapy, including popsicle massage, cold bath, instant cold spray and controlled cold compression. They can be determined according to different parts of the body or the size of the part. For example, for the extremities, you can choose a cold bath and soak the entire part. When using, for greater comfort and hygiene, place a towel between the skin and the cold therapy, which can also absorb water, such as absorbing the remaining ice water when performing a popsicle massage.
Clinical Application
In medicine, when athletes or patients suffer trauma, they usually choose to use cold therapy such as ice packs to treat the acute phase of the trauma (24 to 48 hours) to reduce the patient's pain, edema, inflammation and other symptoms.
Indications
Musculoskeletal injuries
Reduces spasticity
Myofascial Pain Syndrome
Reduce pain
arthritis
Contraindications
Raynaud's disease: a primary or unexplained vascular disorder. Intermittent pallor or cyanosis of the limbs, especially the fingers and toes, sometimes affecting the ears and nose, caused by cold or emotion.
Paroxysmal cold hemochromatia: When the body is partially or wholely exposed to cold, hemochromatin-containing urine will be suddenly discharged.
Cryoglobulinemia: An abnormal blood protein disorder that forms a jelly-like substance when exposed to low temperatures, causing local ischemia or gangrene.
Previous experience of frostbite in the treatment area.
Impaired circulation in the treatment area.
Patients who are too young or too old.
People who are overly sensitive or allergic to cold.
Patients with high blood pressure, those who are allergic to cold, those who are afraid of cold, those with abnormal circulatory systems, those with wounds or those with psychological disorders must be treated with extreme caution to avoid accidents or tissue damage.
Precautions
Since cold weather can temporarily increase blood pressure, patients with hypertension should be especially careful.
Patients who are overly sensitive to cold, have circulatory abnormalities, or have problems regulating temperature should also be cautious.
Cold therapy itself can reduce local blood supply and slow down metabolism, so you must be especially careful when you encounter wounds to avoid affecting wound healing.
Too long of cold therapy, such as 1-2 hours, may cause nerve paralysis or even injury to the peripheral nerves of the epidermis.
Cold therapy will reduce the ability of collagen fibers to stretch. If tissues rich in collagen fibers (such as muscles, tendons or joint ligaments) are stretched after cold therapy, they may be injured.
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