HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR SPORTS INJURIES WITH CRYOTHERAPY

A close up of a woman's shoes while she plays tennis after managing her sports injury with cryotherapy

31-10-2022

HOW TO EFFECTIVELY MANAGE YOUR SPORTS INJURIES WITH CRYOTHERAPY

There’s a saying in sports… “Your most important ability is your availability.” You’re no use when you’re unable to play!

Despite this, injuries are part and parcel of playing competitive sports. One of the most effective tools we have for repairing and rehabilitating injury sites is whole-body cryotherapy. In this article, we’re going to look at how to effectively manage your sports injuries with cryotherapy.

We’ll explore the science and research surrounding the topic, leaving you with an actionable approach to injury management using cryotherapy.

TIP #1 - GET IN THERE EARLY

The evidence suggests that you need to seek treatment as early as possible. There are a couple of reasons for this…

The first one is to get a firm diagnosis of the problem – which will help to determine the treatment approach.

The second reason is to manage the injury site effectively. We know that early cryotherapy helps to manage the pain, so as an initial approach this will help the individual to deal with the discomfort of the injury better. This can help further down the line if a medical professional needs to manipulate a joint or injury site to provide a more accurate diagnosis.

TIP #2 - MANAGE INFLAMMATION

Inflammation is an automatic response to trauma. Whilst some inflammation is a good thing, when left to go unchecked it can become a more serious problem.

One of the cryotherapy recovery benefits is that it can control inflammation. In fact, when studied using animal models, cryotherapy goes one better – it controls inflammation without interfering with the tissue repair and remodelling that is necessary for injury recovery.

TIP #3 – USE CRYOTHERAPY INTERMITTENTLY

The temptation when you have an injury is to go all-out in search of a recovery magic bullet. That means if you find a therapy that helps, you do it more.

In the case of cryotherapy, having repeated sessions one after the other may not be the most effective way of controlling the injury. Instead, research suggests an intermittent approach may be the best way.

This could include alternating cryotherapy with a warm bath on alternate days, with contrast therapy helping to repair the damaged tissue quickly.

TIP #4 – ANTIOXIDANT STIMULATION TO HELP RECOVERY AND TISSUE HEALTH

One of the less obvious benefits of cryotherapy for rehabilitation is it helps to increase total antioxidant capacity. This increase helps to improve tissue health and reduce the impact of tissue degenerative processes on the body. Effectively, it’s like an anti-ageing process for the body.

When we are injured, the potential for further re-injury is higher thanks to the less-than-perfect replacement of new tissues in the short term. By using cryotherapy regularly in during the acute and chronic phases of rehabilitation you improve tissue health.

TIP #5 - USE CRYOTHERAPY TO HELP IMPROVE THE HEALING SPEED

During exposure to the cold, the body reacts by shrinking blood vessels and restricting circulation to protect the body. This process is known as vasoconstriction. Post-exposure to the cold, the opposite happens.

A process known as cold-induced vasodilation occurs, enabling a four-fold higher blood flow than normal. Such a situation is observed about 4 min after the contact with cryogenic temperatures. This additional blood improves mobility in the area and assists with delivering repair agents to the tissues, speeding wound healing.