Does Cryotherapy Help Arthritis?

According to the Centers for Disease Control, 58.5 million people – or 24% of all American adults – suffer from some form of arthritis. Cryotherapy, which means "cold therapy," shows promise as one of the most effective treatments for rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, lupus, gout and other arthritic conditions. Below, learn about the history of cryotherapy for arthritic conditons, benefits of cryotherapy and studies that have shown the effectiveness of whole body cryotherapy for arthritis.

The History of Cryotherapy for Arthritis

Cryotherapy may seem like a recent development, but the practice of using extreme cold to treat arthritis and other inflammatory conditions actually goes back thousands of years. References to cryotherapy have been found in oldest known surgical and medical text, the Edwin Smith papyrus, which dates back to 3500 B.C. Ancient texts by Anglo-Saxon monks, Egyptians and the Greek physician Hippocrates also make references to this treatment.

A Japanese doctor named Toshima Yamaguchi is considered the father of modern whole body cryotherapy. Dr. Yamaguchi first developed whole body cryotherapy as a treatment for rheumatoid arthritis in 1978. His goal was to ease the pain and inflammation of his arthritic patients by treating them in a chamber filled with ice-cold nitrogen gas.

Dr. Alan Christianson was one of the earliest medical professionals to adopt whole body therapy for arthritis in the United States. He developed cryotherapy treatment protocols for arthritis patients based on duration of their symptoms and level of pain.

In the 1980s, German professor Reinhard Fricke brought whole body cryotherapy to Europe, where it soon gained popularity as a treatment for a wide range of arthritic conditions. From there, the practice spread around the globe, and decades later, it's used to treat thousands of arthritis patients worldwide every year.

Cryotherapy Studies on Arthritis Patients

In one study, 40 people who suffered from osteoarthritis underwent 10 sessions of whole body therapy to document the effect this therapy had on their mobility and levels of pain. Following the 10 sessions, 23% of participants who had limited movement due to arthritis reported an improvement in their mobility, allowing them to regain some sense of independence when performing their activities of daily living.

Even more impressive was the effect that whole body cryotherapy had on the participants' pain. Before the study, patients were asked to rate their level and frequency of pain and provide a list of pain relief medications they were taking. Nearly half of the patients, or 48%, reported that they had strong pain that was periodic, often, very often or continuous. All 40 patients reported arthritis pain to some degree.

After 10 sessions of whole body cryotherapy, 80% of participants reported a significant improvement in their pain levels and frequency of pain. About 63% reported mild pain that only bothered them periodically, and 25% said that they no longer had pain at all.

Whole body cryotherapy also reduced the participants' reliance on pain medications. Of all 40 participants, 80% said they were able to lower their intake of pain medication or even stop taking pain relief drugs completely.

Another study tested the effectiveness of whole body cryotherapy treatments for people who had severe levels of rheumatoid arthritis. Patients received two sessions of whole body crytotherapy daily for two to three weeks, depending on the severity of their disease. On average, patients reported near-complete relief of arthritis symptoms after 10 to 15 sessions of cryotherapy.

Cryotherapy Benefits for Arthritis

Clinical research has shown that whole body cryotherapy benefits arthritis patients after only a few sessions, and relief can last for up to six months after their session is complete. Proven benefits include:

• Pain reduction

• Improvement in well-being

• Less reliance on arthritis medications, such as non-steroidal antirheumatics and glucocorticoids

• Improved joint function and mobility

• Reduction in symptoms of inflammation, including loss of function, swelling, heat and redness

People with arthritis pain are usually reluctant to engage in exercise. Because exposure to extreme cold improves mobility and eases pain, people who undergo whole body cryotherapy become capable of maintaining a regular exercise schedule, which has been shown to reduce inflammation and maintain joint health for arthritis patients.

Cryotherapy can be used to ease symptoms for people with all types of arthritis, including:

• Osteoarthritis

• Rheumatoid arthritis

• Childhood arthritis

• Lupus

• Fibromyalgia

• Gout