A polar vortex is sweeping its way into the world of health and wellness and Hollywood stars and sports pros are hopping on the bandwagon. Are you ready to deep-freeze your body? Find out what this trend is, and how it works.
This new trend is giving new meaning to the term “chilling out.”
Have you seen the Instagram posts of various celebrities and sports stars standing in a funny chamber lately?
When Mandy Moore began posting a series of these photos, along with her BFF Minka Kelly, I admit it piqued my interest. What were they doing in this Sci-Fi like chamber and, more importantly, why were they doing it?
Upon further research, I soon discovered these chambers were part of a new treatment called Cryotherapy—a new craze in body treatments that gives a whole new meaning to the term “chilling out.” And that’s basically what this chamber does; it chills your body in a special deep freeze chamber that brings the temps down to -250 degrees Fahrenheit.
If we can barely handle the harsh winters and the cold wrath of the notorious Polar Vortex that bites us in the dead of winter, why would someone subject themselves to three minutes of this frozen chill? Apparently, standing in a Cryotherapy chamber has health benefits. The short-term cooling of the skin’s surface in extreme cold temperatures for duration of 2-3 minutes works to optimize the body’s performance and appearance by promoting healing on both internal and external levels. Not only does the treatment claim to burn up to 800 calories, rev your metabolism and soothe sore muscles it’s also said to calm body inflammation, reduce cellulite, and help cure insomnia. Say what?
Joanna Fryben, CEO of the Kryolife cryotherapy center in New York City told CBS news the treatment was developed in Europe to treat pain related to fibromyalgia, arthritis and other ailments. “Depression, anxiety, insomnia, and the patients who are treated with who body cryotherapy — they actually also reported an alleviation of these symptoms.” Fryben said. However, there’s been little scientific research on the subject to back up any of those claims.
How does it work? The freezing nitrogen that is blasted into the chamber tricks the body into survival mode. Because of this, blood is pumped and rushed throughout your core helping it to recover and bring itself back to normal body temps. This in turn revs up your metabolism. This rush of blood cells boosted back into your body forces cell renewal and the overall rejuvenation of body function.
This is why entire sports teams like the Dallas Mavericks and the New York Knicks and stars such as Kobe Bryant, Cristiano Ronaldo, are latching on to the therapy. They claim that the treatments are improving recovery time, and increasing their athletic performance. Celebrities such as Moore, Kelly, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore are also said to be “obsessed” the cold therapy as a way to promote weight loss and general health.
Although the cold therapy concept has been around for ages (that’s why we use cold compresses for injuries, for example) the whole body chamber treatment is only now catching on as a way to help promote overall health benefits. Although this may be something that promotes good health, you must consult a physician before trying Cryotherapy, and not all results reported are conclusive.
Leave a Reply