Having a back pain? Here’s a prescription. Experiencing chronic muscle and joint pain? Take pain meds. Arthritis? Take a pill. And the list goes on. You may be asking, “isn’t there any other way to relieve pain?” The good news is that there is one- Whole Body Cryotherapy for chronic pain, which is a non-invasive multi-dimensional method that uses cold therapy for injuries on virtually any body part from neck and upper back pain to lower leg muscle pain.
Read below our 8 surprising facts about the workings of cryotherapy for chronic pain. But first, let’s start with some basics.
1. Chronic Pain Causes – a Plethora!
What causes chronic pain? There are a plethora of conditions that may cause chronic pain including aging, which can affect the joints and bones and nerve injury and damage that may have failed to heal completely. It can affect anyone especially athletes after a workout, people who have arthritis and those who sit at a desk for extended periods.
Moreover, there are some types of chronic pains such as back pain that can be as a result of a combination of several factors such as:
- Prolonged poor posture
- Lifting and carrying heavy items Improperly
- Obesity, which strains the knees and back excessively
- Spine curvature and aging
- Surgical procedures
- Traumatic injury
- Extended illness
- Wearing high heels
- Exercise (as well as lack of thereof)
- Sleeping on a too hard/soft mattress
In some cases, the cause of the chronic pain can be sophisticated and hard to unravel. It can start with a minor illness or injury with consistent pain that may result in a psychological issue after recovering from the physical problem.
2. Big Pharma Alternatives May Not Be As Safe!
As a result of chronic pain causes listed above, the affected individuals seek any medications they come across that can alleviate the pains, but the long-term effects including addiction and even death are scary. This has led to the opioid crisis, which has been declared as a national health emergency in the U.S. But who is to blame? The big pharma? The doctors giving the prescriptions? Or the victims? Almost everyone has their own opinion of whose fault it is.
However, people don’t realize that it all starts with severe chronic muscle and joint pain and trying to relieve it. If the individuals didn’t experience any pain in the first place, then it is unlikely that most of them would look for the painkiller or the prescription.
3. Cryotherapy for Chronic Pain May Be The Answer!
Chronic pain may be devastating and bearing in mind that you’ll live with the pain day in day out makes matters worse. And that’s where Whole Body Cryotherapy for chronic pain comes in. With only a couple of sessions every week, your pain reduces significantly.
When experiencing chronic pains, you can either learn to tolerate it or resort to expensive and highly addictive prescription, but research and evidence show that Whole body cryotherapy for chronic pain works wonders. Don’t you think its time you got the old pain-free you?
Below are the remaining facts about how Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC) mechanism can reduce chronic pain:
4. Nerve Signals Get Under Control
Whole Body Cryotherapy for chronic pain slows down nerve conduction velocity, which helps you to achieve better pain tolerance (PTO) as well as higher pain threshold (PTH). When the nerve cells are chilled, the blood vessels tighten (also known as vasoconstriction) reducing blood flow to the injured area. The extremely cold treatment draws heat from the injured site resulting in low temperatures and reduced pain. No wonder WBC is one of the best pain relief techniques for arthritis.
5. Increased Production of Epinephrine
When your body feels pain, it produces a chemical called epinephrine that can help offset it. However, if your body is suffering from chronic pain, it doesn’t produce enough epinephrine to reduce the pain.
But how does cryotherapy come in? It helps stimulate the glands responsible for producing epinephrine and directs the chemical to the painful area. When you engage in regular cryotherapy sessions (check the recommended frequency list here), you will note the increased production of epinephrine that lasts longer even after the session is over. Thus, if you have a knee injury, you can consider cryotherapy as your knee pain treatment.
6. Swelling Is Reduced
Let’s say you are an athlete who has a swollen joint. You can engage in cryotherapy for chronic pain relief and inflammation reduction. Immediately after an injury, the body triggers an inflammatory response due to the build-up of edema and increased movement of white blood cells and blood to the wounded soft tissues. White blood cells fight virus and bacteria attacks, which defends the body.
However, with chronic pains, the body is unable to produce enough white blood cells. But cryotherapy will stimulate metabolism which in return improves the body’s immune system and fastens the healing process.
7. Reduced use of pain medication
There are times when a muscle or joint injury is so painful that you have to take pain meds. However, the drugs can lead to drowsiness, slowed recovery and fuzzy thinking. Studies show that the freezing therapy can help reduce or eliminate the dependence on pain medications, helping you to recover faster.
8. Enhances Recovery
So many athletes use Whole Body Cryotherapy not as a replacement for their hard work, but to help them perform well, achieve more from their workouts and to stay in shape! Check out our list of some pro athletes who love cryogenic treatments here.
- Cryotherapy for chronic pain is a non-invasive treatment. It does not involve insertion of equipment in the body.
- It is nonaddictive unlike pain relief medications and prescription drugs.
Conclusion
If you are suffering from chronic pain you can be triggered to experiment any medical solution that may or may not offer relief. You may consider Whole Body Cryotherapy for chronic pain, which has clinically shown to relieve pain. So, if you are wondering how to relieve back pain, you can engage in regular cryotherapy sessions to control the pain and resume to your regular activities. Book your session today – you can purchase ours on a pay-as-you-go basis or as a package from our price list.
References
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2015/11/23/the-cold-hard-facts-on-cryotherapy/#4eac19945390
- http://www.cryoliving.com/cryotherapy-news/science-behind-whole-body-cryotherapy-pain-relief
- https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bmri/2015/409174/