Is cryotherapy a quick hack to skin and muscle recovery?

Exposing yourself to sub-zero temperatures for health is gaining momentum even outside the world of sports

With overall wellness taking centre stage, the ultimate goal for most of us is to have a healthy body and skin, free of inflammation and stress. Enter cryotherapy, a medical treatment that makes use of sub-zero temperatures—going down to anywhere between -100 to -200 degree Celcius—and liquid nitrogen to promote skin and muscle recovery.

“The healing power of cold temperatures has been used since antiquity, as a form of therapy, since proven to boost health-enhancing mechanisms in the body,” explains Fadi Haddad, Wellness Director, DISCOVER Collection Club, a members-only health and wellness centre in Delhi. “Applied regularly, cryo sessions strengthen the immune system, reduce stress levels, increase exercise recovery, reduce pain and inflammation, improve mood and sleep, stimulate the metabolism, and rejuvenate and tighten the skin. Individuals who work out regularly or those who suffer from joint pain, inflammation and sleep issues can benefit the most.”

In October 2021, ace footballer Cristiano Ronaldo spent a cool (pun intended)  £50,000 to get a cryotherapy chamber installed in his UK home to aid recovery and rehabilitation, allowing him to stay in his best form for high-intensity training sessions and games. He has been an advocate of the form of therapy since 2013 when he played for Spanish football club Real Madrid. Model and actor Elena Fernandes swears by a three-minute session spent in a cryo chamber to tackle migraines, obtain better sleep and improve skin health.

Multi-discipline fitness expert and co-founder of The Tribe, Robin Behl made use of ice baths to recover after undergoing surgery for both his knees. “I sat in buckets of 35-40 kgs of ice everyday which reduced the inflammation and increased blood supply to my knees as part of my rehabilitation. I was training for a 6,000-ft Himalayan summit months after my surgery and this helped bulletproof my knees — I managed to summit successfully.”

How cryotherapy works

Spending three to five minutes in a cryotherapy chamber benefits your physical and mental health. The primary gain: a decrease in pain and inflammation. “The body’s natural fight-or-flight response to the extreme cold reduces excess white blood cells caused by inflammation,” explains Dr. Lilly-Marie Blecher, Chief Medical Officer, Soneva Soul. “This decreases pain from inflammation and other toxins while supercharging the blood with oxygen and anti-inflammatory proteins.”

Blecher goes on to explain the many ways in which cryotherapy works on your body. “The body undergoes a metabolic reaction in an effort to warm itself, burning fat and calories in the five hours after the session. It also helps flush lactic acid from the body and increases collagen production, helping heal muscles, ligaments and tendons, decreasing recovery time for all levels of athletes.”

Wellness resorts in Thailand and The Maldives under the Soneva umbrella offer cryotherapy as part of their holistic programme. “We recommend cryotherapy for athletic recovery after workout sessions, as part of our detoxification programme, sleep programme, and our “Time Rewind” ageing and regenerative health programme. Our guests can also choose to simply use cryotherapy as they wish, once they are cleared for the treatment by one of our doctors.” Blecher also credits cryotherapy as a beneficial way to cope with depression and sleep disorders. “Exposure to cold temperatures triggers the body's production of endorphins, boosting one’s mood. Exposure to the extreme cold temperatures stimulates the body’s production of hormones that are directly related to sleep and relaxation. The endorphin norepinephrine acts as a mild sedative, helping to improve relaxation and sleep. Also, by decreasing pain and inflammation, the body naturally sleeps more restfully.”

Cryotherapy for your skin

This icy therapy is also available as a spa treatment for your skin — by itself or part of an extensive facial programme. Aesthetic physician Dr. Geetika Mittal Gupta recently launched the Ice Facial at the Mumbai and Delhi outposts of her skin clinic, ISAAC LUXE. “The Ice Facial therapy is a non-invasive and inexpensive procedure that freezes skin surface lesions using extremely cold liquid or instruments (also known as cryogens). Liquid nitrogen is the most common and effective cryogen for clinical use at –196°C,” explains Gupta. The treatment takes all of 15 minutes and upon trial, leaving one’s skin feeling more toned, with a natural, fresh glow. You might experience a slight, almost negligible freeze when the nitrogen is blasted around your forehead.

According to Gupta, cryotherapy helps the skin by reducing inflammation that occurs in the form of redness, puffiness or acne, minimising enlarged pores, promoting new skin cell growth and alleviating migraines and muscle spasms. She recommends signing up for this once or twice a week for lasting results and better skin over time. 

The UK-based beauty brand 111Skin, endorsed by celebrities, offers an end-to-end 90-minute treatment called the Cryo Energy Facial at their co-branded spas around the world, taking cryotherapy a notch higher. The brand has a specific range of products that are formulated on the principles of cryotherapy and used along with it for the facial. This includes a Cryo Pre-Activated Toning Cleanser, ATP Sports Booster, De-Puffing Facial Mask and De-Puffing Eye Mask, all of which firm and tone your skin, reducing inflammation and lending it a lasting glow without any invasive steps whatsoever. These products coupled with other potent blends from the brand, a manual massage to minimise signs of ageing and the liquid nitrogen blast can prove to be highly effective. 

The fine print

For the skin, Gupta counts ice burns or frostbites as rare side effects. Expect to feel temporary numbness or tingling on your skin post the therapy, which subsides over the course of the day. For the body, Blecher recommends signing up for it three to five times a week for the first two weeks to notice lasting results. While the cold takes some getting used to, the benefits make the chill worth it.

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