# Is there anything to cryotherapy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 3, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580 "2016-10-03T18:55:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/1 "2016-10-03T18:55:54Z")
On an episode of Anthony Bourdain’s _Parts Unknown_, he went to a cryotherapy clinic. I’d never heard of this before. Basically, you stand in this big box for 1 to 3 minutes, and they pump in liquid nitrogen which supposedly lowers the temperature in the box to minus 300 degrees Fahrenheit. They described the process as “tricking” your body into thinking you’re freezing to death, which releases all sorts of beneficial chemicals or something in an effort to not die, which apparently does… something good, I guess. Not only did this whole thing send my BS meter into the red, it seems to me that it could be extraordinarily dangerous. Does anybody know about this, or better yet, have you done it? What’s the deal? ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/2 "2016-10-03T19:09:33Z")
Nitrogen is liquid at -320 F and there is no way in hell anyone is getting exposed to something like that intentionally. Even then the liquid would evaporate likely suffocate the “patient”. I suspect the LN2 is used to lower air temperature to something uncomfortable like -20C. Sounds like a “suffering is good for you” approach to health. ---
**Author:** ![Surreal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Surreal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Surreal)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2016, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/3 "2016-10-03T23:41:46Z")
> **[Warming Up to Brown Fat](https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/warming-up-to-brown-fat-34696)** > > Scientists know how to turn on these fat-combusting cells. Can these energy burners be used to combat obesity? ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/4 "2016-10-04T12:07:49Z")
> [@Surreal](#): > > [Warming Up to Brown Fat | The Scientist Magazine®](http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/44183/title/Warming-Up-to-Brown-Fat/) From that “…sit in a cold room (16° C) for two hours.” LN isn’t needed at all. Just a a chilly room. Even a restaurant fridge is way too cold. Never mind a freezer. So why the LN? Smoke and mirrors. Who’s going to pay the big bucks without all the cool scientificy mumbo jumbo? ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/5 "2016-10-04T18:42:59Z")
[Here is the website of the place.](http://www.drjjwendel.com/whole-body-cryo) No mention of brown fat; I don’t think that’s what they’re selling. > [@](#): > > For treatment, the user stands inside an octagonal-shaped chamber on an adjustable platform. The head remains outside the chamber. Inside the chamber, cold nitrogen vapor fills the compartment in a controlled and measured fashion. The temperature inside the chamber drops to a range of (negative) -284 degrees to - 340 degrees Fahrenheit, which temporarily cools the temperature of the top layer of skin. > … > During the treatment process, the cooling skin sends signals to the brain, which stimulates physical reactions and activates your own naturally-occurring healing mechanisms. Upon exiting the chamber, the body immediately reheats and returns to normal temperature. ---
**Author:** ![Ornery\_Bob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/da6949/32.png) [@Ornery\_Bob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ornery_Bob)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/6 "2016-10-04T18:57:37Z")
_-284 degrees to - 340 degrees Fahrenheit, which temporarily cools the temperature of the top layer of skin._ If this were true, I’d be more worried about what it was doing to my lungs. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/7 "2016-10-04T19:46:39Z")
Though I’ve never done it, there is definitely \*something \*to it, though I have no clue if/how useful that something is for anything long-term. Go take a really cold shower - would you say that your body has a physiological response? Mentally, do you feel more alert and awake? ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/8 "2016-10-04T19:55:27Z")
> [@Ornery\_Bob](#): > > _-284 degrees to - 340 degrees Fahrenheit, which temporarily cools the temperature of the top layer of skin._ > > If this were true, I’d be more worried about what it was doing to my lungs. > [@Wheelz](#): > > For treatment, the user stands inside an octagonal-shaped chamber on an adjustable platform. **The head remains outside the chamber**. **Bolding mine**. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/9 "2016-10-04T19:58:52Z")
Just about a year ago a salon worker died in a cryotherapy chamber, found the next day frozen solid. Probably a freak accident. But also worth noting that a screw up may cause injury or worse so avoid shady operators. I think it’s like juicing - probably mostly harmless, although freak accidents and dedicated idiots might run into trouble. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/10 "2016-10-04T20:57:02Z")
> [@Broomstick](#): > > Just about a year ago a salon worker died in a cryotherapy chamber, found the next day frozen solid. Probably a freak accident. But also worth noting that a screw up may cause injury or worse so avoid shady operators. > > I think it’s like juicing - probably mostly harmless, although freak accidents and dedicated idiots might run into trouble. She didn’t freeze to death, although her body was frozen solid when found. > [@](#): > > LAS VEGAS (AP) — Weeks after a spa worker was found dead at a Las Vegas cryotherapy center, authorities said Tuesday she suffocated in the chamber chilled by liquid nitrogen. > Chelsea Patricia Ake-Salvacion, 24, died accidentally from the asphyxia caused by low oxygen levels, the Clark County coroner’s office said. > – snip – > The coroner’s office said she died in an “oxygen-poor environment.” > Normal air is about 21 percent oxygen, but the coroner said cryotherapy chambers can bring down that level to less than 5 percent during treatments. > “Breathing air with this low level of oxygen can quickly result in unconsciousness and then death,” the coroner’s office said. > Her family has said Ake-Salvacion was found crumpled at the bottom of the machine about the size of a phone booth. They do not believe she made any mistakes that night, insisting she was an experienced operator of the machine. > Harris has said Ake-Salvacion **had texted a friend about a possible nitrogen leak in the machine** , noting that the nitrogen appeared to be used quickly. **Bolding mine.** [http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4b2b9b54c046443694b83bb002e39164/coroner-woman-suffocated-cryotherapy-accident](http://bigstory.ap.org/article/4b2b9b54c046443694b83bb002e39164/coroner-woman-suffocated-cryotherapy-accident) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2016, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/11 "2016-10-04T22:56:55Z")
Yes, cryotherapy is a thing, but it involves [normal water ice](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/treatment_room/features/newsid_3097000/3097114.stm), not liquid nitrogen. > [@Paula Radcliffe](#): > > It’s absolute agony, and I dread it, but it allows my body to recover so much more quickly ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2016, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-anything-to-cryotherapy/767580/12 "2016-10-05T03:42:49Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Yes, cryotherapy is a thing, but it involves [normal water ice](http://news.bbc.co.uk/sportacademy/hi/sa/treatment_room/features/newsid_3097000/3097114.stm), not liquid nitrogen. > [QUOTE=Paula Radcliffe] > It’s absolute agony, and I dread it, but it allows my body to recover so much more quickly [/QUOTE] She may have been suffering in vain … > **[Research pours cold water on ice bath recovery theory](https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/08/150811103654.htm)** > > If the thought of a post workout ice bath is enough to make you shiver, new research will warm your heart. The comprehensive study found cold water immersion after strength training hindered muscle adaptation -- pouring cold water on the long-held... > [@](#): > > The comprehensive study found cold water immersion after strength training hindered muscle adaptation – pouring cold water on the long-held theory that an ice bath helps speed up recovery.