In this guest blog, Steve from The Cryo Hub tells us about the benefits of Cryotherapy and how they’re working to make it accessible for all.
Cryotherapy has become increasingly popular, with elite athletes and celebrities regularly extolling the benefits for their health, wellbeing and performance.
The Cryo Hub in Berkhamsted aims to make this powerful technique accessible to all. Their mission is quite simple:
To transform the lives of our customers through the power of the cold
Through the experiences and expertise of The Cryo Hub founders, supported by an ever increasing body of scientific research, the potential of cryotherapy to make rapid and sustained improvements to the quality of life for our customers is no longer in question.
Benefits of Cryotherapy
While Cryotherapy isn’t new as a technique – originally developed in Japan in the late 1970’s by Toshima Yamaguchi for the treatment of rheumatoid diseases – it has evolved and been proven to provide a huge range of benefits. These include:
- Boosts the immune system
- Enhances the cardiovascular system
- Elevates mood
- Soothes chronic pain
- Accelerates injury recovery
- Improves metabolic efficiency
- Stimulates healthy weight loss
And that’s just the headlines.
So why Cryotherapy?
Cold therapy (which also includes ice baths and cold water swimming) has become increasingly popular – with advocates such as Wim Hof popularising the techniques and scientists such as Andrew Huberman providing the latest research and advice on how to get the optimal benefits.
There are however a few barriers with respect to conventional cold therapies like ice swimming – with perhaps no greater demonstration needed than this video showing the reaction of a US Marine during training. The second part of the video shows why the Royal Marines used to advertise why 99% need not apply!
Genuine Ice bathing in a frozen lake isn’t pleasant. It hurts. The benefits are well worth it but it isn’t the most accessible or easy of pursuits.
Ice baths at home are certainly easier than finding and getting into any icy lake. But they come with their own challenges. It doesn’t take long to find it is very difficult to get the water cold enough to be effective – unless you are fortunate enough to have endless supplies of ice each morning. Water quality deteriorates rapidly even when using chlorine tablets or filters. And a commercial system to keep the water cold and clean comes with a hefty price tag.
This is where Cryotherapy as a service comes into its own:
- Rapid – sessions in a cryochamber take between 3-5 mins
- Minimal discomfort – the ‘dry’ cold of the chamber isn’t shocking or painful
- Safe – customers are always supervised and supported
- Effective – super-cooled chambers quickly and efficiently cool the body to produce the stress responses needed to drive the myriad benefits
Are all Cryotherapy Chambers the Same?
While cryotherapy chambers all operate the same principles, they aren’t the same.
Partial Body Cryotherapy (PBC) chambers are probably most familiar to those aware of the technique. They use liquid nitrogen to provide the cooling effect, with the subject placed inside an enclosure with their head outside remaining at room temperature – as you can’t breathe nitrogen!
PBC is effective but has a few challenges:
- While the gas is extremely cold (often advertised in the -120 to -140C range), it rapidly warms up as soon as it expands, meaning the temperatures experienced by the body can be inconsistent.
- Extremely cold gas runs the risk of burns
- Convection currents mean colder air quickly sinks – resulting in lower limbs being cooled but less effective cooling of the upper body
A more modern alternative is Whole Body Cryotherapy. These chambers are powered by electricity and enable the subject to immerse themselves entirely in the chamber. These chambers provide a number of benefits over PBC:
- The electric chamber provides a safe and consistent temperature for the entirety of the session
- The entire body experience is more pleasant – meaning the customer can freely move – and crucially the exposure of the face to cold temperatures provides additional benefits
- The chambers provide more effective cooling right across the body
The Cryo Hub – Making Cryotherapy Accessible
The Cryo Hub’s mission to transform the lives of our customers through the power of the cold is enabled by two key differentiators:
- Investment in a state of the art Mecotech WBC chamber
- Situating within The Wellness Hub
There aren’t many Whole Body Cryotherapy machines around, let alone that could be accessed easily on a High St.
But the real hook behind The Cryo Hub is its location and synergy with The Wellness Hub in Berkhamsted. The Wellness Hub provides award winning physiotherapy, complementary therapies (such as ophthalmology and IV boosts) and regularly hosts expert therapists and practitioners to provide a ‘department store of health’ under one roof.
In this sense the Cryo Hub becomes less of an inaccessible luxury experience – becoming a community where customers can conveniently access the power of the cold in a state of the art chamber and easily access the expertise of physiotherapists and other experts should they need to.
In a short time we’ve seen the power of this model:
- Physio patients turbo-charging their recovery
- Chronic pain sufferers finally experiencing relief
- Fitness enthusiasts hitting new heights
- Elevating mood and wellbeing
How Can I Try It?
Easy! The first session is free so you can feel the benefits without any hassles and see if the technique is for you.
Simply head to www.thecryohub.co.uk/book and book a session – then at the end of the checkout, enter FIRST-FREE.
For more information and any questions contact Steve or Emma at The Cryo Hub, or follow them on Instagram or Facebook.
You can find The Wellness Hub. Berkhamsted on our Shop Local directory.