What Doctors Want You To Know Before Trying Whole-Body Cryotherapy

Inverse—August 17, 2017

Inverse featured HSS physiatrist Jennifer L. Solomon, MD in an article about trying whole-body cryotherapy. According to the article, whole-body cryotherapy is when you are immersed in a cooled "cyro sauna" filled with liquid nitrogen. The cold temperatures are supposed to treat the body for muscle inflammation and injury.

The article compared cryotherapy to applying an ice pack to a certain part of the body. Dr. Solomon explained that icing an injury helps flush out the chemicals that cause swelling.

When asked if cryotherapy is truly beneficial, Dr. Solomon said "there isn’t much research on [whole body cryotherapy] at all." While there are plenty of studies that support traditional icing, Dr. Solomon said that there isn’t enough science behind whole body versus isolated.

If you would like to try cryotherapy, Dr. Solomon said "if you’re a healthy person and you want to try it, I think it’s fine, but honestly if you’re not healthy, then there are issues." She added that if you have cardiovascular or neurological issues, whole-body cryotherapy should be avoided.

Read the full article at inverse.com