CRYOTHERAPY AND MASSAGE

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Originally Posted On: CRYOTHERAPY AND MASSAGE | Cryotherapy Blog (cryoinnovations.com)

How does cryotherapy and massage help the body when used together? The answer begins at the cellular level where both cryotherapy and massage begin their benefits.

People choose self-care treatments to simply feel better. An exercise-sore body or suffering from aches-and-pains has so many negative effects beyond just the discomfort. Long-term pain can cause loss of sleep, increased stress, raised cortisol levels, and psychological distress. All of these problems can be relieved by manipulation of the muscle tissues in a massage. This relaxes the muscle tissue and often reduces painful contractions, spasms, and unhealthy nerve compression.

Cryotherapy has benefits similar to massage in that it helps to reduce inflammation by vasoconstriction and norepinephrine. Vasoconstriction occurs during cryotherapy due to the cold air. Your skin and skeletal muscles constrict their blood vessels to push the surface-area blood away from the cold to the body’s warm core. Once the body has been in the cold for over 90 seconds the natural fight-or-flight response begins and the blood is enriched with inflammation reducing enzymes. The brain releases norepinephrine, a hormone associated with happiness and alertness produced by the adrenal glands.¹ Once the cryotherapy session is over the warm blood returns to the surface areas oxygen-rich and nutrient dense and flows throughout the entire body.

Many people who suffer from inflammation do not want to take medicine in excess. NSAIDs like Advil, Tylenol, and Aleve can be hard on the body if taken in excess and they are less effective after being taken for too long. This can lead to medication abuse, or worse, pain medication addiction. Reducing inflammation with cryotherapy is completely natural and uses the body’s own healing ability without drugs. As an added benefit it may reduce the amount of pain medication a person may need.

There is no added benefit of doing cryo or massage first; however, we recommend that you do cryotherapy before a massage. This will ensure your skin is dry since most massages use oil or lotion. The release of norepinephrin will also help you feel more relaxed during your massage and may drastically improve your enjoyment.

Learn more about the benefits of cryotherapy and go through the many cryotherapy clinical studies.

Founded on facts: for peer-reviewed articles, scholarly journals, and articles cited above please see the below sources or click here.

1. https://www.hormone.org/your-health-and-hormones/glands-and-hormones-a-to-z/hormones/norepinephrine