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Cryotherapy to Heal the Body
What is the most extreme temperature the human body can withstand? The normal average temperature of the human body is 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit, which may sometimes range between 97 degrees Fahrenheit – 99 degrees Fahrenheit at most. In order for the body to maintain its internal temperature, the surrounding environment has to be at least 82 degrees Fahrenheit.
Clinically, the cells in a healthy human body will start to perish when the temperature reaches 106 degrees Fahrenheit, whereas the lowest temperature an adult human would be able to endure is 13.7 degrees Fahrenheit.
The human body is a complex structure with interdependent systems, and the various systems function symbiotically to ensure our survival. When exposed to extreme conditions, our body’s protective mechanism will be on the alert and try to keep the body functioning in optimal condition and reduce the effect the threat has on the body.
Logically, when we are aware that we will be facing conditions like extreme cold or hot temperature, we will take the necessary precaution to try and keep the body safe. For instance, if the weather is extremely hot, we try to wear cooling fabrics and be sure to hydrate the body sufficiently. On the other hand, if the weather is too cold, we put on thick clothes to keep the body warm and ensure that our internal temperature does not drop too low.
However, are you aware that there is a relatively novel treatment in the healthcare industry called Cryotherapy? This treatment may sound peculiar to most as the practice requires a person to expose themselves to extremely low temperatures, sometimes below freezing temperature with little or no clothes on.
Cyrotherapy is known as cold therapy and is used as a medical treatment to tackle certain medical issues. It is a new trend in the healthcare industry but there is yet more research to be done to substantiate the benefits of the treatment.
What do you think of the idea of containing yourself in a near-freezing cold tank with nothing on except probably a thin underpants, in the name of science and healing? This trend has become increasingly popular, backed by the idea that extreme cold can improve mental and physical health, and even prolong life. The Cryotherapy treatment may come in various forms which target specific parts of the body, but the more popular form of Cryotherapy involves a full body treatment.
It may be an unpleasant experience for many especially those who are unaccustomed to the cold, but the experience gets better over time as the body adjusts to the low temperature. You may wonder why someone would want to undergo this Cyrotherapy treatment and how does it actually benefit the body? Here are the top three benefits of Cryotherapy.
Pain Relief and Muscle Healing
Cryotherapy is used for various ranges of treatments and one of it being a treatment for muscle aches and body pain. It is known as cold therapy and it utilizes the general use of low temperatures to treat a variety of tissue lesions. In fact, this treatment is popular among athletes and sportsman as it helps promote faster healing of athletic injuries.
Cryotherapy utilizes a similar concept of treating injuries by applying ice on injured and painful muscles to regulate and increase blood circulation to provide relief and promote the healing process. It is just that in Cyrotherapy, the body is exposed to an environment of near to freezing temperature, usually in a cold tank specially customized for that particular purpose. The treatment takes up between three to five minutes and helps to relieve muscle aches almost instantly.
Weight Loss
Although there is no substantial research to support this yet, some practitioners of Cyrotherapy noted that it does have an influence in weight loss. However, just the treatment alone is not sufficient to induce a great amount of weight loss, but it does play a role to support the weight loss process.
The idea behind this is that the treatment which uses cold temperature as a treatment forces the body into a condition where it needs to work harder to keep the body warm. This also happens to facilitate an increase in metabolism, which will help our bodies to burn fat at a faster rate as well. However, it is best to combine the treatments with regular exercise and diet management to get obvious results.
Reduce Inflammation
Inflammation occurs as a result of our body going into defense against any suspected pathogens and foreign substance that try to harm the body. Chemicals from our white blood cells are released from the blood to the affected tissues to protect the area and result in swelling.
The side effects of this are that it may stimulate nerves and cause pain. Thus, in order to ease the pain, administration of cold treatment to the affected area will greatly reduce the swelling and reduce its pressure greatly. Cryotherapy for this purpose may only be performed on the targeted affected areas.
Although Cryotherapy is still in its early stages of introduction, the practice has so far benefitted its countless practitioners, which sees the business growing and many providers are coming out to offer such treatments. The unconventional treatment has been used by many world famous athletes like Manny Pacquiao, Kobe Bryant, and Stephen Curry, to name a few.
These sportsmen believed that the treatment helped in their recovery process and boost their performance as well. However, for those of you who are interested to try the treatment should first consult a physician or doctor to clear off any restrictions before signing up for any Cyrotherapy sessions.