Cryotherapy anyone?

Anyone use it?

it is snake oil...if you wanna waste your money on it, go ahead, but there is no scientific benefit that can be any better than walking out in the cold for a few minutes and walking back inside.

It’s not hard to find information about the potential benefits from it.

The Effect of Post-Exercise Cryotherapy ...d Meta-Analysis

I’d prefer to read/hear opinions from someone who’s actually used it rather than a skeptic with zero first-hand experience. Thanks.

Straight from the abstract/article you pulled as evidence it works:

There was no evidence, that cooling affects any objective recovery variable in a significant way during a 96 hrs recovery period.


That means in a analysis of over 36 articles written about different cooling techniques used post workout, none were found to be better than just recovering.

Me thinks you might want to get some idea what you are talking about before you bash someone else about what they "don't know" about...

As an aside, if you ask people if it "works" you will probably get at least 50% that said it did "work" because they paid for it. No one wants to admit they got conned or took the snake oil.

Its like all the nutraceuticals out there now. Are any of them any better than say a normal multivitamin? I had some friends who swore by Thrive. Said it did this and that and made them feel the bomb...all while costing them over $100/mo. The stuff is loaded with natural caffeine. Of course it will make you feel good, but they didn't know it or understand the caffeine were making them feel better and could lead to bad side effects. But, to them it solved the worlds problems, yet they still called off work sick as much as before and had the same drama as before.


Its your money. And its only money. If you want to do cryo, more power to you. If you are looking for a selection bias, well just keep looking, you will find all kinds of anecdote to say how good it is for you. I am not into wasting my money on snake oil. If you want to, go right ahead.

Also from the same study.

I agree with you on bias as a concern. Personally I think there are a lot of unknowns because there has not been much proper research on it at this point.

I’d simply like opinions from people who have actually used it. If someone gets a perceived benefit from something, and some speculate that it’s a placebo effect, does that negate the positive results?

And for what it’s worth, I also think Thrive is complete waste of money.

OK let me redirect, what would you be trying to get out of cryotherapy?

Post exercise recovery? Healing from strains/sprains?

One of my best friends tried it and said he didn't feel any different. However, some people I know swear by it. Honestly, ice massage would probably be just as effective.

My wife has done it a couple times when she was recovering from a knee injury (most likely tendinitis) caused by a lot of running....after a month or so of rest and no improvement, she went and did cryo twice and her knee quit hurting. In her experience it definitely helped.

Interesting, thanks guys.

I’m curious about it because I have an opportunity to use it without too much expense. I’m hoping it could help me recover faster from training / strenuous workouts.

I already rinse off at the end of a shower with “cold” water, and I do think that’s helps with muscle-soreness and generally feeling better with more energy. Not really practical in Texas once winter ends, though. “Cold” shower water in July/August feels like a lukewarm bath to me.

I tried it once had a chance to do it for $15 so I said why not. Initially after the session there was a euphoric feeling back knees body all felt great and I seemed energized. Felt pretty good the rest of the day. But that’s about it. I could see doing a session if I was having a bad day with my back or something because it did relieve it for a bit. But that’s about it.

$15 is what it would cost me per session.

Those are pretty much the results I’m hoping for. I’ve started training this week for a trip into the mountains in August, and I’m pretty sore from utilizing some new muscles I haven’t touched in months. I’m also going hiking his weekend with some friends, so I was thinking about trying out the Cryo the morning before my hike this weekend.

I had this same reaction after the first time. I went and had the best workout of my life. The other few times I went was trying to help a lower back issue that didn't help because it ended up being a herniated disc. Id go try it at least once if I were you.

There's tons of people in the obstacle racing world that swear by it.

There were a whole lot of Olympic swimmers this past summer Olympics that swore by having hickeys on their backs too...

what ever gives you the edge mentally makes a difference physically. Placebo effect is a monumental player in sporting events, and if someone really believed their MJ shoes were magical, they would play better. In a sport where miliseconds matter, these things can add up.

In the real world where nothing matters (no one is winning the human race), its all money, that's it.

Buckeye you still never answered this question.

^^ sorry, I missed that question or maybe thought it was a rhetorical question.

Absolutely not!! The placebo effect is probably the reason many of our meds work and therapies work. As I mentioned in the previous post, if something gives a mental edge in sports then go for it, because mental edges in high caliber sports are what separates mike Phelps from probably 10 or more of his gold medals.

I am not trying to say “don’t do it because it is only a placebo”

I am saying “it’s your money and if you want to spend it feel free. But there is no scientific basis for the ‘benefit’ you may get whether real or perceived”

Ok a slight exaggeration, placebo effect is probably a reason some of our meds and therapies work, not many....but the point is, we give a lot of treatments that have no basis for effect but yet are effective. Call it what you want, placebo, positive thinking, whatever....it works and is effective. It isn’t effective in everyone and not all the time, so play with the effect as much as you want, spend money on it as much as you want, but if there was a real benefit to many of these things they wouldn’t be fads , nor would they just pop up overnight unless they could make money. So while these things are helping big people they whatever effect you want to call it, they are padding the pocketbooks of some savy investors at the same time.

I forgot to mention it’s cold. Last 30 seconds I didn’t think I was gonna make it. I mean cold

I did it. Didn’t pay a dime and was very skeptical but the owner finally convinced me to try it. I have chronic back pain and literally walked out of the shop with no pain for the first time in over 20 years. Now, it came back in a couple of days with a vengeance but it was nice to be pain free for that time.

As far as using it for workout relief, not a clue, but it worked for inflammation.

There are definitely a few people lining their pockets from it, that’s for sure.

I think for me it comes down to how much benefit do I get from it vs. how much does it cost me. For $15 I’m going to give it a shot. If the results are great, I’ll probably go back. If it’s just so-so, I won’t.

I don’t think I would pay “full price” for a treatment somewhere. Since my wife already has a family plan at a local tanning spa that offers it, I’m going to give it a shot tomorrow morning. I’ll give y’all an update assuming I don’t freeze to death

Maybe just go outside later today

Stay warm today! Gonna be cold outside!

Unfortunately Cryotherapy as it is recognized has taken on a broad ideology whereby you pay money to go sit for a specified amount of time in a cold chamber and the effect will be 'X' on your body. "Cryotherapy" has been utilized and its effectiveness for acute care in rehab settings has been researched and documented with outcomes based criteria. The short term impacts are general at best for most people...however everyone's chemistry is different. That is why general body chamber type has the 'feel good' euphoria but is short lived. Limb/joint or total body immersion in an ice bath (not commonly referred to as "Cryotherapy") does have recovery properties lasting up to 48 hours and diminish delayed onset muscle soreness or DOMS by reducing inflammation and enhancing blood flow to the area post immersion.

Well overall I’d say I had a good experience. They only let me go for 90 seconds since it was my first time. It went by really fast. I didn’t feel cold but did get a strange tingling sensation through my extremities and core that went away as soon as the session was over.

I had plenty of muscular stamina on the trail - no issues on several steep climbs / descents. I also felt pretty strong on our hike out the following day. If anything it just helped highlight how our f shape I am from a cardio perspective. I found myself breathing heavier long before any musscle fatigue set in.

I’ll probably do it again if the price doesn’t change, but I’m not sure it’s worth $65+.

read a lot of articles about this therapy, but it seems to me better to go to the gym, because such therapy I think for lazy)

Not sure where you were heading with that statement. Cryotherapy typically is used as a recovery tool for post training regimens. There are some who incorporate it into a wellness lifestyle but most use for recovery.

I have done it a few times trying to recover from an injury, I have a lot of friends that use it for just recovery from long runs.
I see a benefit from it, I could tell a difference. That said I found ice baths more effective. The cryo just left my core cold the rest of the day, could not get past that....