Cold Plunges vs. Cryotherapy: Which is Best?

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Updated July 2024
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Cold Therapy

Cold plunges and Cryotherapy are types of cold therapy that may help optimize sleep, boost energy, defy signs of aging and aid in athletic recovery. But did you know that one of these therapies is more efficient than the other? Our experts go over the differences and discuss which therapy is the superior choice for your weekly wellness routine.
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What's a Cold Plunge?

A cold plunge is a cold water immersion that involves submerging your whole body or face in water with a temperature ranging from 38 degrees to 60 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 seconds to 15 minutes. Routinely exposing your body to cold water therapy could improve immunity, manage pain and boost metabolism. However, cold plunges have limitations such as difficulty in maintaining consistent temperatures and a longer duration for potential benefits.
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What is Cryotherapy?

Whole Body Cryotherapy is a science-backed therapy that exposes your entire body (including your head) to -166 degrees Fahrenheit inside a chamber for up to three minutes.
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How Does Cryotherapy Improve Your Health?

As your body is exposed to these freezing temperatures, it enacts a natural fight-or-flight response that constricts blood vessels to restrict blood away from the extremities. This redirection causes your body to move blood toward the core, protecting your organs. During this process, the body increases oxygen and certain protein levels that can decrease swelling. When you exit the Cryotherapy chamber and return to room temperature, this oxygen-rich blood circulates throughout your body, promoting faster recovery and enhanced overall wellness. This advanced technology offers a more controlled, efficient and superior method of cold therapy compared to traditional cold plunges.
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Why Cryotherapy is Superior to Cold Plunges

Cryotherapy offers several advantages over cold plunges:

• Efficiency: Cryotherapy sessions last only up to three minutes, making them much quicker than the 15 minutes often required for cold plunges.
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• Temperature Control: Cryotherapy chambers maintain precise sub-zero temperatures, providing consistent and optimal therapeutic effects.
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• Full-Body Exposure: Cryotherapy involves exposing the entire body, including the head, to cold temperatures, enhancing overall benefits.
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• Greater Impact: Our proprietary Cryotherapy chambers at Restore operate at -166 degrees Fahrenheit, stimulating a stronger physiological response, leading to more significant benefits in a shorter time.
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Pain Management & Athletic Recovery

Restore's Chief Medical Officer shared, "Cryotherapy is commonly used as a therapeutic tool for musculoskeletal healing and management of chronic pain. Noradrenaline and beta-endorphins are endogenous pain suppressors, which likely explains why cold exposure can act as an analgesic.”

A study from Frontiers in Physiology found that, "Cryotherapy has demonstrated to be a preventive strategy against the deleterious effects of exercise-induced inflammation and soreness. Local and systemic cold therapies (cryotherapies) are widely used to relieve symptoms of various diseases including inflammation, pain, muscle spasms, and swelling, especially chronic inflammatory ones, injuries, and overuse symptoms."

A study from the Journal of Clinical Medicine also found that Cryotherapy has the potential to boost whole-day metabolism, which can shift the fat-associated endocrine profile and increase caloric expenditure, helping to fight obesity.

Other studies have also found that Cryotherapy can help:

• Reduce the symptoms of migraines
• Decrease inflammation
• Manage chronic pain 
• Improve the symptoms of arthritis 
• Treat skin conditions like acne and atopic dermatitis 
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Cognitive Health & Sleep

Along with the physical benefits, the release of endorphins during a Cryotherapy session has a direct impact on cognitive health as well. Results from a study from Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis show that Cryotherapy may help reduce the symptoms of mood and anxiety disorders. Frontiers in Psychology also concluded that Whole Body Cryotherapy “reduces mental health deterioration, especially in mood disorders, such as depression, and can be beneficial for well-being and quality of life.”

"The known increases in noradrenaline, beta-endorphin, and dopamine due to a cold stimulus may have a positive effect on mental health and brain development," the Restore Chief Medical Officer adds.

Sleep is also important for overall well-being, and a study from the European Journal of Sports Science found that three minutes of Whole Body Cryotherapy “improves subjective and objective sleep quality in physically active subjects.”

While more research is needed, findings from a Medical Hypotheses study have shown that Cryotherapy could even help prevent Alzheimer’s and similar types of dementia. 
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Consistency & Frequency

‍The Frontiers of Physiology study also found that consistency and frequency led to the best therapeutic results based on deep investigative research over many years. In a controlled group of 15 healthy men, this research found that after 5-20 Cryotherapy sessions, inflammation decreased compared to baseline, but these positive effects dissipated after two weeks without therapy use. 

“Our data show that the more consistent you are with Cryotherapy, the stronger and more lasting the anti-inflammatory and metabolic effects,” said Restore’s Director of Scientific Research and Education. 

At Restore, you can use Cryotherapy as frequently as twice a day, though you can expect to see and feel improvements with 3–5 weekly sessions.
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Experience the Benefits of Cryotherapy

When compared to cold plunges there are several advantages to Cryotherapy, including everything from efficiency and consistent results to benefits for both your physical and mental health. 

Cryotherapy treatment is one of many ways that Restore utilizes controlled, natural stressors to increase your body’s resilience by proactively enhancing your overall well-being. 

Ready to schedule your appointment? Find your nearest Restore studio location.

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