Dry Ice In Healing Injury: Does Cryotherapy Work For Acute And Chronic Injury?

Injuries are inevitable in sports. Whether the injury is mild or severe, it is important for athletes and sports physicians to ensure immediate recovery from it. Many coaches suggest using cold therapy for treating muscle injury. It can make a great difference in the way your body recovers from pain. Cold play cryotherapy covers more area of the skin, keeping it cool to provide a long-lasting and stronger effect.

Using dry ice

Applying dry ice to an injured muscle can decrease the chance of swelling, pain or any kind of irritation accompanied by the injury. If you are confused about where to buy dry ice in Perth, don’t be, because there are many ice suppliers available today. Whether you have had knee surgery or just sprained your ankle, applying dry ice can be beneficial.

Since ice causes blood vessels to tighten, it limits blood flow while reducing swelling in that area. The cold numbs the affected area immediately, reducing the pain altogether.

Acute injury

When your body experiences sudden pain during a particular movement, it is the sign of acute injury. Since your body faces a sudden trauma in an acute injury, it can take you down then and there, keeping you from sports activities or exercise for days or months. Here is a list of common acute injuries:

• Strains

• Sprains

• Muscle tears

• Fractures

• Torn ligaments

 Chronic injury

An acute injury can sometimes become chronic. When an acute injury leaves a weak spot in your body, it can lead to an excessive build-up of a scar over time.

Everyone has probably experienced that dull persistent aches from chronic injuries at some point of their lives. Chronic pain can restrain one from having a full range of motion.

Whole-body versus localized cryotherapy

Modern cryotherapy is used to treat both acute and chronic pain. Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) takes place in a sauna where the temperature is very cold. Whole-body cryotherapy process involves:

• Cooling of the skin by liquid nitrogen

• Pressure being created inside the sauna to reduce the temperature

• The cold temperature is maintained for about two to four minutes

On the other hand, local cryotherapy takes place in the same setup as WBC, but it targets the injured area only.

Both types of cryotherapy promote increased circulation and heightened nervous system response. This is why super-cooling the body works to ensure healing from acute or chronic injuries.   

As a result, there is a potential boost in metabolic rate, which enables the body to clean up broken tissues quicker.  

Local cryotherapy benefits

If you are looking for ways to recover from a sports injury, local cryotherapy is a natural treatment that you can opt for. It:

• Reduces blood flow in order to lower inflammation in the injured areas

• Eases pain

• Lowers the risks of getting exposed to below-freezing temperature

• Helps prevent the damage from lasting long

 How does cryotherapy work for sports athletes?

Professional athletes rely greatly on cryotherapy, which is an all-natural and non-invasive treatment. During the process, the blood vessels in muscles start to tighten. This, in turn, helps drain the lactic acid out of the injured muscles. Once you get out of the cryotherapy chamber, the muscle tissue warms up, resulting in a return of oxygenated blood that helps muscles recover faster.  

Fringe benefits of cryotherapy

• Decreases inflammation

• Promotes faster healing

• Reduces tissue damage

• Moderates muscle spasms

• Decreases swelling

The process of cryotherapy allows the cold to penetrate deeper into body muscle. That means there would be less swelling and pain. The cooler temperature lasts longer as the cooling effect remains even after the session is completed. The process is absolutely safe & effective and causes no harm to the muscle.