Engaging in sports is great for the body. However, with every reward comes the potential for risk. Common sports injuries range from sprains and pulled muscles to ACL tears and rotator cuff injuries.
Not only can sports-related injuries be very painful, but they can also be limiting. They may require you to take a break from athletic activity. They may even have an impact on your day-to-day life. So, it’s only natural to want sports injuries to heal as soon as possible.
Here, we’ll discuss the healing benefits of cryotherapy, which emphasizes how it can be useful for those with sports injuries.
Calms the Inflammatory Response
Inflammation is a natural response. Not only is it necessary, but it can help promote healing. Although too much inflammation isn’t healthy and can actually slow down your rate of recovery. Excess inflammation can also be very painful, uncomfortable, and visually unappealing.
Cryotherapy, which utilizes extremely cold air, can help calm down inflammation. It achieves this by constricting the blood vessels. In turn, this reduces excess fluid in injured parts of your body and, as a result, reduces inflammation and swelling.
Promotes Blood Flow
While it’s true cryotherapy constricts the blood vessels, this doesn’t mean it reduces blood flow. During your few-minute cryotherapy session, yes, blood flow will temporarily be slowed down. However, once your session is completed and you reenter normal temperatures, your blood vessels will quickly reopen, improving blood flow in the end.
Improved blood flow is critical when recovering from sports-related injuries. Proper blood flow ensures critical nutrients can be adequately delivered to the site of injury, which are responsible for healing damaged tissue. Improved blood flow can also help remove metabolic waste from the site to create energy and space for healing.
Temporarily Numbs Nerve Endings
Cold air exposure via cryotherapy can calm overactive nerves responsible for the pain you feel after experiencing a sports injury. This temporary relief can surely give you peace of mind and improve your quality of life post-sports injury.
Not only will discomfort and pain be relieved from cryotherapy, but relieving pain on its own can help expedite healing. Less pain reduces stress and can improve your quality of sleep, which can reduce inflammation and enhance tissue repair. Pain relief also releases muscle tension, allowing you to engage in gentle exercises to boost blood flow.
Releases Feel-Good Chemicals
Cryotherapy sessions put your body through a temporary cold shock response. This response stimulates your sympathetic nervous system, which releases norepinephrine, a chemical which can help reduce one’s perception of pain. Endorphins, which are natural pain relievers, and mood-boosting dopamine are also released.
The release of these chemicals allows for quicker recovery after a sports injury. Together, they can encourage tissue repair by lowering inflammation, improving sleep, and reducing excess inflammation, which could otherwise hold you back from prompt healing.
Experiencing an injury from participating in sports? Cryotherapy is calling your name. Contact Recovery Lab of Rancho Cucamonga today to set up an appointment. We offer both localized and whole-body cryotherapy sessions depending on your needs.
