Re: Cryotherapy?

[Guest guest]

you are playing with fire...dont do this..very very dumb..you can have

complications from the extreme cold...if you want to do this type of treatment

then do the polar plunge into a 0 degree lake with alot of others and and

ambulance standing by..-120 is so wrong...you can get frost bite really really

bad..

From: tiredheidi <tiredheidi@...>

Subject: [ ] Cryotherapy?

Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 1:06 AM

would love to try this, anyone know anyone who did it????

I was frozen to improve my healthBy BARNEY CALMAN

Last updated at 16:19 16 November 2006

Comments (4)

Add to My Stories

Barney Calman gets ready to enter the cryo-chamberIt' s minus 120

degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the

latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis,

osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical

breakthrough?

The airlock door to the cryo-chamber slides open before me. A

powerful whoosh of cold air escapes and a few curls of frozen smoke

snake out around my legs.

More health features

It?s like standing in front of a giant refrigerator, but instead of

taking out a pint of cold milk I?m about to step inside.

The temperature is minus 120 degrees and all I?m wearing is a pair of

skimpy shorts, knee-high socks, gloves, and a sweatband. Plus a pair

of white leather clogs.

I look like a cross between a sparsely clad McEnroe and a

laboratory technician. Indeed it all sounds like someone?s nightmare.

In fact I?m actually at a health spa in Battersea, about to

experience the latest alternative health fad: ?whole body

cryotherapy? .

This rather bizarre sounding treatment involves exposing yourself to

extremely cold, dry air in a sealed room for up to three minutes at a

time.

In Poland cryotherapy has become a popular treatment for rejuvenating

and revitalising the body. It is also widely used by eastern European

athletes as an alternative to the ?ice bath? to aid post-training

recovery.

But it seems there could be also serious medical uses for the

treatment. Some experts claim it can alleviate the painful symptoms

of everything from rheumatism and osteoporosis to multiple sclerosis,

chronic fatigue syndrome and depression, and even suggest it as an

anti-cellulite and skin-firming treatment.

Cryotherapy apparently shrinks the molecules in the body and then,

when you emerge from the cold, the molecules then expand, increasing

the blood flow which then helps ease pain and swelling, as well as

fighting inflammation.

Previously devotees - among them British sportsmen - have had to

travel to eastern Europe for treatment. Now entrepreneur and former

racehorse trainer Charlie s has brought cryotherapy to the UK,

and I am one of the first people to try it.

When I arrive at the London Kriotherapy Centre in Battersea I am

first interviewed by Renata Sinicka, the cheerful ?specialist

cryotherapy nurse? from Poland, and Irvind Simota, the clinic?s

physiotherapist.

I have to complete a disclaimer stating I do not suffer from high

blood pressure, epilepsy, diabetes, excessive sweating and

claustrophobia, and have my blood pressure and pulse checked just to

make sure.

Then it?s a quick change into the shorts, socks, gloves and clogs -

all made from 100 per natural fibres, because any synthetics will

instantly freeze and become completely solid in the chamber.

" The point is to wear as little as possible so you?ll get really

cold, " explains Irvind. " But obviously we don?t want your fingers,

toes, or, er,anything else dropping off, so it?s best to keep those

bits warm. "

The face mask is to protect the lips and nasal lining, and I?m told

to blot myself down with a paper towel before entering so there?s no

chance of my sweat causing freezer burn. Liquid nitrogen or oxygen

has been used to chill the air to minus 120C.

To give you an idea of just how cold that is, the lowest natural

temperature ever recorded is minus 89.2C, at the Vostok research

station, Antarctica.

Minus 120C won?t kill you immediately because air is a poor conductor

of cold ? if you stay inside for two minutes it will only chill the

outside layers of your body, not your internal organs.

But stand in the chamber for longer than eight minutes and you?ll be

dead. Seasoned cryo-chamber users have the temperature set ten

degrees colder, at minus 130C. As I?m a first-timer I?ll be in for

just two minutes rather than the usual three.

It still all seems quite dangerous but I?m assured I?ll be out of the

chamber long before the cold can do me any harm. Irvind, who is

wearing the same outfit as me, will be with me the whole way

through: " We always go in with first timers so they don?t panic, " he

says reassuringly.

Even so, as I step into the first of the chamber?s two rooms, which

measures 6m by 3m by 2.5m and is cooled to minus 90C, I feel a bit

like Captain Oates leaving his tent for certain death in the

inhospitable Antarctic.

I wonder if I should tell the cryo-chamber staff I may be some time.

It is, as you?d expect, absolutely freezing. The cold air stings and

my first instinct is to hug myself, but Irvind tells me off.

" You have to let the cold get to your body, " he says. Instead he

tells me to stamp my feet and shake my arms. After ten seconds, they

open the vacuum-sealed door to the main, minus 120C chamber.

We step through and Irvind closes the door behind us with an ominous

thud. Copying him, I stomp around in circles, shaking my arms and

flexing my hands - a sort of frozen ?funky chicken? dance.

It?s a bizarre experience and I know I look mad but if I stop moving

for even a moment I begin to shiver uncontrollably. The temperature

is like nothing I?ve ever felt before and there is a needle-like

stinging in my legs and arms.

Irvind keeps asking me how I?m feeling (?b****y cold?), telling me

this is all normal, and that he feels the same. Today, because of a ?

slight technical hitch? the fog in the chamber is so thick it?s hard

to see more than a foot in front (on a ?normal day? it?s far lighter).

I?m not scared of confined spaces but it?s so ridiculously

uncomfortable, the stinging in my limbs has quickly intensified into

a burning, and then a peculiar, almost numb sensation after what must

be a minute in the chamber.

I?m seriously tempted to grab the large handle on the exit door and

make a run for it. As it happens, I barely have time to process the

rush of strange sensations when the time is up, the door is pulled

open and I clatter out on my clogs.

I?m not sure about the ?refreshed, energised and exhilarated? I?d

been promised, the main thing I feel is a huge sense of relief to be

out of the cold..

In the cold, my peripheral blood vessels will have contracted to try

to maintain my body?s temperature.

On leaving the chamber, they will have expanded to around four times

their normal size, and the fact that my face is bright red is proof

that my blood is pumping faster, delivering more nutrients and oxygen

to the organs.

After the session I take a ten-minute ride on an exercise bike to

boost this effect. Pedalling feels the same as it would normally

although I?m warmer..

Kowalska, a 24-year-old architecture graduate from South

West London, claims the treatment, which she first tried three years

ago while living in Poland, has vastly reduced the rheumatic pain she?

s suffered in her knees and arms since childhood. She has a series of

ten sessions, twice a year.

" I didn?t notice a difference after the first session but within four

sessions the pain in my legs and arms was almost gone. I felt

lighter, more flexible and energetic. I got used to the cold, too,

and actually began to quite enjoy it, says .

" For months after I didn?t feel any pain at all, for the first time

in my life. The effect seems to wear off gradually. I travel back to

Poland for treatment every six months. Many of friends use it, too,

just for general wellbeing. "

One of the few Britons who have tried whole body cryotherapy is rugby

international star Will Green, now with Irish team Leinster. He first

experienced the cryo-chamber during trips to the Olympic training

camp in Spala, Poland, with his former team the London Wasps, two

years ago.

" We used it twice a day, every day, " he says. " Normally you need a

day of rest between training specific muscle groups. The cryo-chamber

meant we recovered faster so we could train every day and just keep

going and going.

" It really gave us the edge. I put a lot of our successes down to

those sessions. "

The Battersea clinic?s medical advisor is Dr Freeman, who

specialised in muscular-skeletal medicine in Lancashire before

becoming club physician to football team Bolton Wanderers (he took

the players to Eastern Europe for cryotherapy) .

He says that people must commit to ten or more sessions at a time,

each taken a day apart, in order to experience real benefits. While

this works for sports injuries, he says it could also help people

suffering from conditions such as arthritis and even multiple

sclerosis.

" We?re not sure exactly why it happens yet, but there is a cumulative

pain killing effect. " Some experts thinks cryotherapy helps stimulate

the natural production of the hormone ?cortisol?, which regulates

blood pressure, and blood-sugar levels, as well as being linked to

the immune system and mood.

Sportsmen who have used the cryo-chamber have been shown to have much

lower levels of ?creatinine kinase?, an enzyme released from damaged

muscle membrane.

However, despite the fact that thousands of people have used cryo-

chambers in Poland, there is very little scientific evidence to

support its benefits..

But what about its dangers? When I tentatively ask Dr Freeman whether

the treatment might be at all risky he reassured me as ?a healthy

young man? I had nothing to worry about.

" But people with poor circulation, heart problems (raising the blood

pressure could trigger a heart attack), or epilepsy should avoid it.

It isn?t suitable for those who experience claustrophobia either. "

In fact ,most of us will have had some kind of cryotherapy, quite

literally, ?cold? therapy, at some point in our lives. Icing an

inflamed joint with an ice pack or bag of peas to reduce swelling and

ease the pain of minor burns, joint sprains and strains has been a

common practice for a long time.

Exposure to cold shrinks blood vessels, reduces inflammation, and

numbs the area. A form of cryotherapy, in which liquid nitrogen is

either painted or sprayed onto an area of skin by the GP or nurse to

freeze and kill the unwanted tissue, is commonly used to treat warts,

and also as an alternative to a laser in the treatment of abnormal

pre-cancerous cells on the cervix, under local anaesthetic.

Most recently, in November last year the National Institute for

Clinical Excellence (NICE) approved a kind of cryotherapy, often

known as ?cryosurgery? or ?cryoablation? , for treating prostate

cancer, as an alternative to radiotherapy or completely removing the

prostate, also known as ?radical prostatectomy? .

During this surgical procedure fine metal probes, called ?

cryoneedles? , containing nitrogen or argon gas are put through the

skin and into the affected part of the prostate, with the aim of

freezing and destroying the cancerous tissue.

This can be done under either general or spinal anaesthetic, is

minimally invasive and can be carried out as a day or overnight

treatment.

Whole body cryotherapy, albeit a far cruder incarnation, with less

accurate temperature control, was first used in 1978 in Japan, where

it was developed to aid rehabilitation after surgery; the theory was

that patients would be able to stand more intensive physiotherapy

after using the chamber.

However, British medical experts are not convinced by it.

, Professor of Rheumatology at Norfolk and Norwich University

Hospital, and former president of the British Society of

Rheumatology, best known for his studies into groundbreaking drug

treatments for inflammatory arthritis, is cautious about its efficacy

as a medical treatment.

" It?s true that applying ice to swollen joints increases blood floor

and shrinks tissue, which can help alleviate pain in the short term.

But there is no evidence that there is a long term effect, " he

explains.

" I certainly wouldn?t dismiss this treatment, but I?d like to see a

proper controlled study proving it works before recommending it. "

Consultant neurologist Professor Gavin Giovannon from the Institute

of Neurology at University College London is also wary of claims that

the treatment could help MS sufferers.

" It may help some people with MS who find hot and humid weather

conditions cause ?fatigue? - an extreme tiredness that affects many

sufferers, " he says.

" Clothes made of cold-gel packs have been shown to help some people

but the effect of any cold therapy will be short-term and is unlikely

to modify the course of the disease.

" Unfortunately, there are no convincing studies on the impact of

cryotherapy in MS as proper trials are virtually impossible to set

up. As with any such therapies, people with MS should consult their

GP or neurologist first. "

I have to admit that I left the cryo-centre doubtful as to whether

the treatment was anything more than a short, sharp shock. It was

hard to see how standing in an icebox could be anything more than

unpleasant.

If anything it left me feeling worn out. But that night I slept

extremely well. The next day I felt focused, alert and full of energy

well into the evening. And it did seem to have had one significant

affect on my body.

I have suffered from eczema around my eyes for four years; I use a

medicated cream daily to stop flare ups, but remarkably, since having

cryotherapy it?s been itch and pain free.

I?ve not needed to use my medication for the first time in a year and

a half. As bizarre as whole body cryotherapy sounds it?s worth

remembering that commonplace alternative treatments such as

reflexology, acupuncture, massage and osteopathy, now available on

the NHS, were once considered ?loony? and ineffectual.

So while it?s difficult to imagine whole body cryotherapy ever

becoming mainstream, who would have thought sticking pins into your

ears could become practically a commonplace pain relief therapy?

But I can?t helping thinking with winter approaching, a short dip off

the Dorset coast might be a cheaper alternative, and do just about

the same thing.

For more information or to book a sessions visit the London

Kriotherapy Centre at or call 020 7627 1402. Costs £300 for ten

sessions.

Print this article

Read later

Email to a friend

Share this article:

[Guest guest]

it's only 2-3 minutes, so no chance for frost bite.  whole football teams in the

Uk are doing it for injury repair, damaged joints etc.

From: tiredheidi <tiredheidi (DOT) com>

Subject: [ ] Cryotherapy?

@group s.com

Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 1:06 AM

would love to try this, anyone know anyone who did it????

I was frozen to improve my healthBy BARNEY CALMAN

Last updated at 16:19 16 November 2006

Barney Calman gets ready to enter the cryo-chamberIt' s minus 120

degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the

latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis,

osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical

breakthrough?

[Guest guest]

I dont think you know what you are talking about...I am in that trade...it is

impossible to get the -120 degrees...unless you are using nitrogen or

carbondioxide,,both are very dangerous..3 minuetes is 3 minuetes to long..if you

did not get frost bite then it was not -120..  you can get frost bite in a

second at -20 so your knowlege of this is distorted..please dont think that I

am ridiculing you..just trying to keep you out of harms way..you can die from

this treatment...I am not kidding...-120 equals death... this is no doctor that

would do this so please stick to what works..also carbon dioxide pushes all the

oxegen out of the air and I hope that does not happen to you...think..

From: tiredheidi <tiredheidi@ . com>

Subject: [ ] Cryotherapy?

@group s.com

Date: Saturday, December 20, 2008, 1:06 AM

would love to try this, anyone know anyone who did it????

I was frozen to improve my healthBy BARNEY CALMAN

Last updated at 16:19 16 November 2006

Barney Calman gets ready to enter the cryo-chamberIt' s minus 120

degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the

latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis,

osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical

breakthrough?

[Guest guest]

Lyme does not like heat, i know somebody famous in Poland who died from

Lyme and used Cryo

tiredheidi pisze:

>

> would love to try this, anyone know anyone who did it????

>

> I was frozen to improve my healthBy BARNEY CALMAN

> Last updated at 16:19 16 November 2006

>

> Comments (4)

> Add to My Stories

>

> Barney Calman gets ready to enter the cryo-chamberIt' s minus 120

> degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the

> latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis,

> osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical

> breakthrough?

> The airlock door to the cryo-chamber slides open before me. A

> powerful whoosh of cold air escapes and a few curls of frozen smoke

> snake out around my legs.

> More health features

> It?s like standing in front of a giant refrigerator, but instead of

> taking out a pint of cold milk I?m about to step inside.

> The temperature is minus 120 degrees and all I?m wearing is a pair of

> skimpy shorts, knee-high socks, gloves, and a sweatband. Plus a pair

> of white leather clogs.

> I look like a cross between a sparsely clad McEnroe and a

> laboratory technician. Indeed it all sounds like someone?s nightmare.

> In fact I?m actually at a health spa in Battersea, about to

> experience the latest alternative health fad: ?whole body

> cryotherapy? .

> This rather bizarre sounding treatment involves exposing yourself to

> extremely cold, dry air in a sealed room for up to three minutes at a

> time.

> In Poland cryotherapy has become a popular treatment for rejuvenating

> and revitalising the body. It is also widely used by eastern European

> athletes as an alternative to the ?ice bath? to aid post-training

> recovery.

> But it seems there could be also serious medical uses for the

> treatment. Some experts claim it can alleviate the painful symptoms

> of everything from rheumatism and osteoporosis to multiple sclerosis,

> chronic fatigue syndrome and depression, and even suggest it as an

> anti-cellulite and skin-firming treatment.

> Cryotherapy apparently shrinks the molecules in the body and then,

> when you emerge from the cold, the molecules then expand, increasing

> the blood flow which then helps ease pain and swelling, as well as

> fighting inflammation.

> Previously devotees - among them British sportsmen - have had to

> travel to eastern Europe for treatment. Now entrepreneur and former

> racehorse trainer Charlie s has brought cryotherapy to the UK,

> and I am one of the first people to try it.

> When I arrive at the London Kriotherapy Centre in Battersea I am

> first interviewed by Renata Sinicka, the cheerful ?specialist

> cryotherapy nurse? from Poland, and Irvind Simota, the clinic?s

> physiotherapist.

> I have to complete a disclaimer stating I do not suffer from high

> blood pressure, epilepsy, diabetes, excessive sweating and

> claustrophobia, and have my blood pressure and pulse checked just to

> make sure.

> Then it?s a quick change into the shorts, socks, gloves and clogs -

> all made from 100 per natural fibres, because any synthetics will

> instantly freeze and become completely solid in the chamber.

> " The point is to wear as little as possible so you?ll get really

> cold, " explains Irvind. " But obviously we don?t want your fingers,

> toes, or, er,anything else dropping off, so it?s best to keep those

> bits warm. "

> The face mask is to protect the lips and nasal lining, and I?m told

> to blot myself down with a paper towel before entering so there?s no

> chance of my sweat causing freezer burn. Liquid nitrogen or oxygen

> has been used to chill the air to minus 120C.

> To give you an idea of just how cold that is, the lowest natural

> temperature ever recorded is minus 89.2C, at the Vostok research

> station, Antarctica.

> Minus 120C won?t kill you immediately because air is a poor conductor

> of cold ? if you stay inside for two minutes it will only chill the

> outside layers of your body, not your internal organs.

> But stand in the chamber for longer than eight minutes and you?ll be

> dead. Seasoned cryo-chamber users have the temperature set ten

> degrees colder, at minus 130C. As I?m a first-timer I?ll be in for

> just two minutes rather than the usual three.

> It still all seems quite dangerous but I?m assured I?ll be out of the

> chamber long before the cold can do me any harm. Irvind, who is

> wearing the same outfit as me, will be with me the whole way

> through: " We always go in with first timers so they don?t panic, " he

> says reassuringly.

> Even so, as I step into the first of the chamber?s two rooms, which

> measures 6m by 3m by 2.5m and is cooled to minus 90C, I feel a bit

> like Captain Oates leaving his tent for certain death in the

> inhospitable Antarctic.

> I wonder if I should tell the cryo-chamber staff I may be some time.

> It is, as you?d expect, absolutely freezing. The cold air stings and

> my first instinct is to hug myself, but Irvind tells me off.

> " You have to let the cold get to your body, " he says. Instead he

> tells me to stamp my feet and shake my arms. After ten seconds, they

> open the vacuum-sealed door to the main, minus 120C chamber.

> We step through and Irvind closes the door behind us with an ominous

> thud. Copying him, I stomp around in circles, shaking my arms and

> flexing my hands - a sort of frozen ?funky chicken? dance.

> It?s a bizarre experience and I know I look mad but if I stop moving

> for even a moment I begin to shiver uncontrollably. The temperature

> is like nothing I?ve ever felt before and there is a needle-like

> stinging in my legs and arms.

> Irvind keeps asking me how I?m feeling (?b****y cold?), telling me

> this is all normal, and that he feels the same. Today, because of a ?

> slight technical hitch? the fog in the chamber is so thick it?s hard

> to see more than a foot in front (on a ?normal day? it?s far lighter).

> I?m not scared of confined spaces but it?s so ridiculously

> uncomfortable, the stinging in my limbs has quickly intensified into

> a burning, and then a peculiar, almost numb sensation after what must

> be a minute in the chamber.

> I?m seriously tempted to grab the large handle on the exit door and

> make a run for it. As it happens, I barely have time to process the

> rush of strange sensations when the time is up, the door is pulled

> open and I clatter out on my clogs.

> I?m not sure about the ?refreshed, energised and exhilarated? I?d

> been promised, the main thing I feel is a huge sense of relief to be

> out of the cold..

> In the cold, my peripheral blood vessels will have contracted to try

> to maintain my body?s temperature.

> On leaving the chamber, they will have expanded to around four times

> their normal size, and the fact that my face is bright red is proof

> that my blood is pumping faster, delivering more nutrients and oxygen

> to the organs.

> After the session I take a ten-minute ride on an exercise bike to

> boost this effect. Pedalling feels the same as it would normally

> although I?m warmer..

> Kowalska, a 24-year-old architecture graduate from South

> West London, claims the treatment, which she first tried three years

> ago while living in Poland, has vastly reduced the rheumatic pain she?

> s suffered in her knees and arms since childhood. She has a series of

> ten sessions, twice a year.

> " I didn?t notice a difference after the first session but within four

> sessions the pain in my legs and arms was almost gone. I felt

> lighter, more flexible and energetic. I got used to the cold, too,

> and actually began to quite enjoy it, says .

> " For months after I didn?t feel any pain at all, for the first time

> in my life. The effect seems to wear off gradually. I travel back to

> Poland for treatment every six months. Many of friends use it, too,

> just for general wellbeing. "

> One of the few Britons who have tried whole body cryotherapy is rugby

> international star Will Green, now with Irish team Leinster. He first

> experienced the cryo-chamber during trips to the Olympic training

> camp in Spala, Poland, with his former team the London Wasps, two

> years ago.

> " We used it twice a day, every day, " he says. " Normally you need a

> day of rest between training specific muscle groups. The cryo-chamber

> meant we recovered faster so we could train every day and just keep

> going and going.

> " It really gave us the edge. I put a lot of our successes down to

> those sessions. "

> The Battersea clinic?s medical advisor is Dr Freeman, who

> specialised in muscular-skeletal medicine in Lancashire before

> becoming club physician to football team Bolton Wanderers (he took

> the players to Eastern Europe for cryotherapy) .

> He says that people must commit to ten or more sessions at a time,

> each taken a day apart, in order to experience real benefits. While

> this works for sports injuries, he says it could also help people

> suffering from conditions such as arthritis and even multiple

> sclerosis.

> " We?re not sure exactly why it happens yet, but there is a cumulative

> pain killing effect. " Some experts thinks cryotherapy helps stimulate

> the natural production of the hormone ?cortisol?, which regulates

> blood pressure, and blood-sugar levels, as well as being linked to

> the immune system and mood.

> Sportsmen who have used the cryo-chamber have been shown to have much

> lower levels of ?creatinine kinase?, an enzyme released from damaged

> muscle membrane.

> However, despite the fact that thousands of people have used cryo-

> chambers in Poland, there is very little scientific evidence to

> support its benefits..

> But what about its dangers? When I tentatively ask Dr Freeman whether

> the treatment might be at all risky he reassured me as ?a healthy

> young man? I had nothing to worry about.

> " But people with poor circulation, heart problems (raising the blood

> pressure could trigger a heart attack), or epilepsy should avoid it.

> It isn?t suitable for those who experience claustrophobia either. "

> In fact ,most of us will have had some kind of cryotherapy, quite

> literally, ?cold? therapy, at some point in our lives. Icing an

> inflamed joint with an ice pack or bag of peas to reduce swelling and

> ease the pain of minor burns, joint sprains and strains has been a

> common practice for a long time.

> Exposure to cold shrinks blood vessels, reduces inflammation, and

> numbs the area. A form of cryotherapy, in which liquid nitrogen is

> either painted or sprayed onto an area of skin by the GP or nurse to

> freeze and kill the unwanted tissue, is commonly used to treat warts,

> and also as an alternative to a laser in the treatment of abnormal

> pre-cancerous cells on the cervix, under local anaesthetic.

> Most recently, in November last year the National Institute for

> Clinical Excellence (NICE) approved a kind of cryotherapy, often

> known as ?cryosurgery? or ?cryoablation? , for treating prostate

> cancer, as an alternative to radiotherapy or completely removing the

> prostate, also known as ?radical prostatectomy? .

> During this surgical procedure fine metal probes, called ?

> cryoneedles? , containing nitrogen or argon gas are put through the

> skin and into the affected part of the prostate, with the aim of

> freezing and destroying the cancerous tissue.

> This can be done under either general or spinal anaesthetic, is

> minimally invasive and can be carried out as a day or overnight

> treatment.

> Whole body cryotherapy, albeit a far cruder incarnation, with less

> accurate temperature control, was first used in 1978 in Japan, where

> it was developed to aid rehabilitation after surgery; the theory was

> that patients would be able to stand more intensive physiotherapy

> after using the chamber.

> However, British medical experts are not convinced by it.

> , Professor of Rheumatology at Norfolk and Norwich University

> Hospital, and former president of the British Society of

> Rheumatology, best known for his studies into groundbreaking drug

> treatments for inflammatory arthritis, is cautious about its efficacy

> as a medical treatment.

> " It?s true that applying ice to swollen joints increases blood floor

> and shrinks tissue, which can help alleviate pain in the short term.

> But there is no evidence that there is a long term effect, " he

> explains.

> " I certainly wouldn?t dismiss this treatment, but I?d like to see a

> proper controlled study proving it works before recommending it. "

> Consultant neurologist Professor Gavin Giovannon from the Institute

> of Neurology at University College London is also wary of claims that

> the treatment could help MS sufferers.

> " It may help some people with MS who find hot and humid weather

> conditions cause ?fatigue? - an extreme tiredness that affects many

> sufferers, " he says.

> " Clothes made of cold-gel packs have been shown to help some people

> but the effect of any cold therapy will be short-term and is unlikely

> to modify the course of the disease.

> " Unfortunately, there are no convincing studies on the impact of

> cryotherapy in MS as proper trials are virtually impossible to set

> up. As with any such therapies, people with MS should consult their

> GP or neurologist first. "

> I have to admit that I left the cryo-centre doubtful as to whether

> the treatment was anything more than a short, sharp shock. It was

> hard to see how standing in an icebox could be anything more than

> unpleasant.

> If anything it left me feeling worn out. But that night I slept

> extremely well. The next day I felt focused, alert and full of energy

> well into the evening. And it did seem to have had one significant

> affect on my body.

> I have suffered from eczema around my eyes for four years; I use a

> medicated cream daily to stop flare ups, but remarkably, since having

> cryotherapy it?s been itch and pain free.

> I?ve not needed to use my medication for the first time in a year and

> a half. As bizarre as whole body cryotherapy sounds it?s worth

> remembering that commonplace alternative treatments such as

> reflexology, acupuncture, massage and osteopathy, now available on

> the NHS, were once considered ?loony? and ineffectual.

> So while it?s difficult to imagine whole body cryotherapy ever

> becoming mainstream, who would have thought sticking pins into your

> ears could become practically a commonplace pain relief therapy?

> But I can?t helping thinking with winter approaching, a short dip off

> the Dorset coast might be a cheaper alternative, and do just about

> the same thing.

> For more information or to book a sessions visit the London

> Kriotherapy Centre at or call 020 7627 1402. Costs £300 for ten

> sessions.

>

>

> Print this article

> Read later

> Email to a friend

> Share this article:

>

>

[Guest guest]

that doesn't sound good!  did they do cryo a lot?  what happened when they

passed away, heart problems?

From: Maciej <wrotek@...>

Subject: Re: [ ] Cryotherapy?

Date: Sunday, December 21, 2008, 11:23 PM

Lyme does not like heat, i know somebody famous in Poland who died from

Lyme and used Cryo

tiredheidi pisze:

>

> would love to try this, anyone know anyone who did it????

>

> I was frozen to improve my healthBy BARNEY CALMAN

> Last updated at 16:19 16 November 2006

>

> Comments (4)

> Add to My Stories

>

> Barney Calman gets ready to enter the cryo-chamberIt' s minus 120

> degrees and all I'm wearing is a hat and socks. Cryotherapy is the

> latest treatment for a range of illnesses including arthritis,

> osteoporosis, and even MS. New Age madness or a genuine medical

> breakthrough?

[Guest guest]

I don't think they are trying to kill the Lyme germs with cold, they are

just trying to enhance the immune system. It kind of reminds me of the cold

water cures they had since the olden ages in Europe called " Kneip Kur " , i

personally would much rather go for hot then cold. The hot tub or sauna

treatments

sound more promising to me then cryotherapie. I am miserable when i am cold

amnd feel ill right away. I feel soo much better after overheating myself

though.

Just my opinion.

Dagmar

[Guest guest]

Yeah I have heard of Dr. Kneip!  He recommended cold and hot therapy like

sitting in a sauna, then putting your feet in cold water tubs.  because it

invigorates and stimulates the circulation. 

From: dlkh223@... <dlkh223@...>

Subject: [ ] Re: Cryotherapy?

Date: Tuesday, December 23, 2008, 6:09 AM

I don't think they are trying to kill the Lyme germs with cold, they are

just trying to enhance the immune system. It kind of reminds me of the cold

water cures they had since the olden ages in Europe called " Kneip Kur " , i

personally would much rather go for hot then cold. The hot tub or sauna

treatments

sound more promising to me then cryotherapie. I am miserable when i am cold

amnd feel ill right away. I feel soo much better after overheating myself

though.

Just my opinion.

Dagmar