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When you get an injury from playing sports, what is the first thing your coach or doctor tells you to do? He/she wants you to apply a cold compress to the injured body part, right? Why is that? What does cold do to help you heal and help you move? The answers to these questions are exactly why and how a new therapy treatment, cryoanalgesia, works.

Cold Compresses and Injuries

Cold has been used for decades to reduce swelling. In the body, the blood circulating through the injured area is flooding that space, trying to stop bleeding and start the healing process. The problem with swelling is that too much blood is getting to that area too quickly; you need to constrict the blood vessels in that area to slow down the rate of blood flowing through the tissues.

The fastest way to accomplish that is to apply a lot of cold, which tricks your body into thinking you are in danger of freezing to death. Subsequently, the body begins moving blood away from the injury and toward your internal organs to preserve your life; then the swollen tissues start to shrink.

Cryoanalgesia Works the Same Way

If you suffer from pain, inflammation, or swelling in one part of the body, applying cold therapy to the area reduces the pain, inflammation, and swelling. That is the exact concept behind cryoanalgesia; cryo wands and cryo tanks apply extreme cold to the painful parts of your body.

It causes the nerves to stop signaling your brain that you feel hurt. Numbing the parts of your body that have pain and swelling allows you to move more with less pain. It is similar to applying one giant cold compress to yourself! Better still, you are not numbed to the point where you cannot move; you are only numbed to the point where pain is gone, but you can still feel and move your body forward.

If You Want to Try Cryoanalgesia

If you want to try this new treatment for what ails you, look for your nearest cryo clinic. You may also find cryo treatments offered through aesthetic spas, private gyms, and vacation resorts and spas. It is gaining some ground in the Midwest, but has found quite a foothold and following on both the east and west coast. Most of these cryo clinics will offer a "sample" treatment for free, just so you can see how it works and if it works for you.