What Really Happens To Your Body When You Do Cryotherapy

When you think of relaxing spa treatments, sitting in a freezing cold metal tank might not be the first image that pops into your head. But that's exactly what happens during a whole-body cryotherapy session, a popular new alternative treatment that uses extremely cold temperatures to help improve physical and mental health (via University of Utah Health). While many people report immediate benefits from standing in a cryotherapy chamber for a few minutes, the science isn't settled on whether or not the treatment works well for everyone who uses it.

Cryotherapy, or cold therapy, isn't necessarily a new or groundbreaking concept. Treating pain with ice packs, cold sprays, and ice baths is something that athletes and people with an injury or certain medical conditions have used successfully for years (via Healthline). The ancient Egyptians used cold treatment to relieve pain and reduce inflammation (via the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine). Doctors who treat skin conditions or even certain cancers use localized cryotherapy to freeze tissue in order to remove it and promote new cell growth in the affected area (via the Cleveland Clinic). If you need to have a skin tag or a suspicious mole removed, your dermatologist may apply liquid nitrogen at temperatures of less than -300 F to it, which essentially freezes the unwanted cells. And while there are known benefits of medical cryotherapy, the use of cold therapy outside of medical procedures has also been hailed as an effective therapy for many ailments.