Cryotherapy for Inflammation in Toronto

For some people, within limits. Small trials suggest whole body cryotherapy may reduce pain and shift some inflammatory markers in rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis, and local cold has reduced ultrasound signs of knee inflammation for a day. Research does not show that cold switches off chronic inflammation or changes the course of a disease.

We have run our North York studio at 4646 Dufferin St since 2013, with more than 15,000 supervised sessions. This is our honest guide to cryotherapy for inflammation. Cryotherapy is a wellness service that sits alongside medical care, so if you have a diagnosed inflammatory condition, involve your physician. For arthritis specifically, see cryotherapy for arthritis and chronic pain.

Researchers point to three mechanisms, none fully settled:

• Narrower blood vessels. Cold makes the vessels near the skin constrict (vasoconstriction), the traditional reason people put cold on a swollen area.
• Slower nerve signals. Icing one ankle in 23 male athletes until the skin reached 10°C slowed nerve conduction by about a third and raised pain threshold and tolerance (Algafly and George, 2007).
• Shifts in inflammatory messengers. A meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials (274 participants) found lower IL-1β, a pro-inflammatory cytokine, and higher IL-10, an anti-inflammatory one, after whole body cryotherapy than in controls (He et al., 2025).

That is where the phrase anti-inflammatory cryotherapy comes from, but a blood marker is not how your joints feel next month, and not every marker moves: an ankylosing spondylitis meta-analysis found better pain and disease activity scores but no significant change in C-reactive protein (CRP), a standard blood test for inflammation (Saidane et al., 2026).

Both use dry, supervised cold; the difference is how much of you is cooled.

Our honest view: if you want cryotherapy for joint inflammation in one knee or shoulder, localized cryotherapy is a sensible, lower-cost start; the 2006 trial found whole body cold not superior to local cold for pain. For several joints or hard training, whole body cryotherapy fits better.

It may suit

• Adults with inflammatory joint pain or stiffness, alongside their doctor's care.
• Runners, hockey players, MMA fighters and other active people with post-training soreness.
• Office workers with back pain and retirees seeking drug-free joint relief.

It is not suitable if you have

• Uncontrolled high blood pressure, a recent heart attack, heart failure, unstable angina or a pacemaker
• Raynaud's, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, vasculitis or prior frostbite
• Circulatory or clotting disorders, peripheral arterial disease or DVT
• Pregnancy, a fever, an acute respiratory illness or open wounds

See the full contraindications list and tell us every diagnosis; vasculitis and Raynaud's can occur alongside autoimmune disease. Get medical advice before booking if a joint swells quickly for no clear reason, swelling follows a fall or hard impact, or you have a fever.

• Whole body: $40 first-time trial; $60 single; 5 for $275; 10 for $500; 15 for $720.
• Localized: $35 intro; $45 single; 5 for $200; 10 for $380; 15 for $525.
• Bundle & Save: add-ons from $30.

Prices are CAD plus 13% HST. Packages never expire and are tied to the purchaser; gift cards are available. Details: our pricing page.

A complement, never a replacement

Cryotherapy is a wellness service, not medical treatment. It does not replace diagnosis, physiotherapy or prescribed medicines, and you should never change medication without your physician. In the rheumatoid arthritis trials above, cryotherapy was added to physiotherapy or a rheumatology program, not used instead.