Cryotherapy, or cold therapy, is a procedure that uses extremely low temperatures to achieve a positive effect on the body. This ranges from pain relief for inflammation in the joints, to ice packs for swelling, to icing pigmentation spots, warts or tumors.
What is cryotherapy?
Any treatment that uses temperatures below 0°C is called cryotherapy. Consequently, cryotherapy is initially just a catch-all term for a variety of therapies for different ailments. Any treatment that uses temperatures below 0°C is called cryotherapy. If cold is used without the applied temperature being below 0°C, it is referred to as cold therapy. This includes the curd or alcohol compresses that are widely used as home remedies. These low temperatures can be achieved in different ways. Icing is often performed with a cold probe placed on or in the tissue to be iced. In rarer cases, a cold-bearing medium is injected directly into the tissue. Applications in the cold chamber also count as cryotherapy, in which patients are exposed to exceptionally low temperatures for a short time in order to influence metabolic processes, for example. Finally, the ice pack used to cool a swollen knee also falls within the scope of cryotherapy.
Function, effect, application and goals
There are many different areas of application for cryotherapy. Very often it is used by dermatologists to remove unwanted skin areas. These include pigment spots, blood sponges, warts and scars just as skin tumors. The affected area is iced for a few seconds with pinpoint accuracy, after which the tissue decomposes, disintegrates and is replaced by healthy tissue in the healing process. The actual procedure often takes only a few minutes, the healing process in most cases one to six weeks. At most, minimal inconspicuous scars remain. Warts are also often removed in this way. Cryotherapy is also very popular in the field of pain therapy. Smaller swellings and inflammations can be treated at home with a cold pack or an ice pack. Applied professionally, cryotherapy in the field of pain relief means, for example, freezing the sheaths of nerve fibers in the area of the back by means of a cold probe in order to treat chronic back pain. Since the sheaths of nerve fibers regenerate, such treatment must be repeated at regular intervals, approximately every six to eighteen months. This treatment also takes place on an outpatient basis. It is considered a minimally invasive procedure. There is no need for a period of rest afterwards, and sick leave is not necessary.
Risks, side effects, and hazards
Wounds created by dermatological cryotherapy usually heal without complications or side effects. During the thawing process, one usually feels a tingling or stinging sensation, but this lasts only a few minutes. In addition, as the dead tissue regenerates, a blister may form that is filled with tissue fluid, similar to a burn blister. Depending on its size, the wound can be covered with a plaster or small bandage and treated with antibacterial ointment. Occasionally, there is swelling in the area of the icing, but this soon subsides. One danger of using cold packs from the freezer, which is the most common form of cryotherapy used in one’s own home, is that one can get minor frostbite unnoticed if one does not handle the cold pack properly. It is therefore advisable to place a thin layer of cloth, for example a tea towel, as a barrier between the skin and the cold pack. This danger can be avoided by using a conventional ice pack instead of a cold pack. It is best to crush the ice in a food processor so that the bag can be better adapted to the contours of the affected body part. The use of whole-body cryotherapy is controversial. While some doctors report excellent results, for example in the treatment of rheumatism patients, competitive athletes, for example, hope for increased testosterone levels. Other offerers refer to a tradition allegedly coming from Japan. Short stays in the cold chamber, it is claimed, serve to strengthen the immune system and reduce stress.However, this effect is scientifically controversial.
