Frozen Treatments Help Patients Let It Go
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MIAMI (CBSMiami) - What would you do to relieve yourself of chronic pain? And what would you do to guarantee you get a restful night?
"I know I'm going to have a good night's sleep tonight," said Luisa Fontes who some would say goes to extreme measures to make that happen.
Fontes goes into a chamber where the temperature can get to an unbelievable negative 141 degrees Celsius, that's 228 degrees below zero.
"It's like when you jump in to a frozen pool," Fontes said.
It's called Whole Body Cryotherapy. It's two to three intense minutes to exposure of freezing nitrogen gas. The extreme temperatures shock the system and that in turn is said to stimulate the immune system.
Fontes uses it for soreness and to boost her metabolism.
"It helps a lot with recovery of exercise," she said. "I have a thyroid problem also and that helps with your metabolism."
Christian Kammermayer has a Cyrotherapy center in Miami Beach. He says this treatment was developed in Europe to treat pain associated with fibromyalgia, arthritis and other body ailments.
"There's a huge release of endorphins in to the blood stream. You feel very much at ease," Kammermayer said.
Extreme cold is known to be helpful with pain relief. Athletes like the Miami Heat take ice baths after games to relieve soreness.
"Once you step out and you're warming up, the blood vessels are dilating and the blood is rushing out. It has picked up a lot of nutrients and going to the extremities, to the joints, throughout the entire body and it starts healing from the inside," Kammermayer said.
But University of Miami Miller School of Medicine Sports Medicine Doctor Clifton Page says it's too good to be true.
"There's probably a nice placebo effect. People do get some nice benefits from it but again they are temporary and you have to go back multiple times."
But Fontes is a believer.
"I'll do it every day for this week. I love it."
So the price for a session? About 79 dollars but cheaper if you buy multiple sessions.
Click Here for more information on Whole Body Cyroptherapy.
