How Cryotherapy Might Be Used To Help Your Pain

5 March 2019

Jaime Allen

If you're suffering from pain from an injury or medical condition, cryotherapy might be able to help. Cryotherapy involves using very cold temperatures to provide an anti-inflammatory effect and reduce pain. Here are some ways this cold therapy can be used at home and at a cryotherapy clinic or doctor's office.

Apply Ice Packs To The Injury

A common and effective treatment to apply right after an injury is cold therapy with an ice pack. By applying ice or something frozen to the injury, you can control swelling and cause a numbing effect that reduces pain. This is one of the simplest forms of cryotherapy and something you can do at home to treat a minor injury or pain. A physical therapist or doctor may also apply cold therapy treatments in the form of ice or cold water to an injury or to help with rehabilitation. If you use this treatment at home, be sure to apply the ice over a cloth so it doesn't have direct contact with your skin and cause a burn. Your doctor can advise you on how often and how long to apply ice packs for your particular type of pain.

Use A Probe To Freeze A Nerve

Cryotherapy can be used by a doctor to freeze individual nerves to provide pain relief. This has various medical uses such as the treatment of back pain. The painful nerve is identified and then a small probe is inserted next to it that freezes the nerve. This kills off the part of the nerve that allows for the transmission of pain impulses, but the part of the nerve that allows for regeneration survives. It takes several weeks for the nerve to regenerate so the technique can provide weeks of pain relief.

Use Whole-Body Cryotherapy For Pain Relief

Another option to try is whole-body cold therapy that exposes your body, except for your head, to extremely low temperatures for a short time. This causes a decrease in inflammation and pain. Whole-body cryotherapy is used to treat sports injuries as well as pain from arthritis, tendonitis, muscle spasms, fibromyalgia, and migraines. It can be used to treat muscle pain, joint pain in the hips or knees, and even pain from plantar fasciitis. Applying cold temperatures to your entire body can also have other effects such as elevating your mood.

Cryotherapy has several uses in medicine, but it has a long history of use for reducing pain and inflammation. The therapy may not be suitable for everyone, so talk to a doctor that provides the services to see if you're a good candidate and how this type of therapy can help with your pain.  

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