What it’s Like Inside a Full-Body Cryotherapy Chamber
The First 30 Seconds Were Interesting; Then it Got Cold
I voluntarily froze myself with liquid nitrogen to see what it was like. I didn’t do it on my own; professionals helped me. They call it cryotherapy and it’s supposed to be good for you. The more you know.
I did whole body cryotherapy, which is a process of using liquid nitrogen to hyper-cool your body in a chamber for 3 to 5 minutes at a temperature of -130F to -184F. Yeah.
I thought walking around Chicago in the middle of winter was cold, but this takes freezing your rear end off to an entirely new level.
Is This Something an Idiot Would Do?
For a few reasons, I wanted to do it, the main one being that sometimes I’m an idiot who likes to try random things and torture myself. The second reason was that my leg muscles have been really sore lately.
I’ve been taking this pilates jump board class down the street from my apartment and my goodness, it will set you up for a world of hurt.
Cryotherapy chambers are said to provide natural healing, similar to how athletes use ice baths or how you would ice a sprained ankle. I used to take ice baths back in my roller derby days … so you can see, I’m into torture.
There are dozens and dozens of cryotherapy spas in Chicago. Literally almost on every corner, so I figured there must be something to it. They offered it at the same spa where I recently tried floating (floating in total darkness in a sealed tub of warm salt water), so I thought, why not?
Here are some of the listed benefits:
- Relieves pain through the freezing and constriction of blood vessels
- Promotes a good mood through the release of adrenaline, noradrenaline, and endorphins
- Release of norepinephrine which can positively affect sleep cycles
- And, there is this: cryotherapy can burn hundreds of calories in a matter of minutes. Well, I’ll be doing this daily if that’s the case.
The cryotherapy chamber is essentially a standing metal tube inside a room about the size of a walk-in closet.
The tube opens in half so you can step inside. The receptionist pre-cools the chamber and instructs you to disrobe while she waits outside the door.
My nipples tho
My biggest concern, having never done this before, are my nipples, I told the receptionist. To her credit, she was unphased. She must have heard this before, right?
“I mean, I don’t want them to freeze.” Still nothing. “Maybe I should at least leave my bra on.”
“No, your bra has metal. Just put your hands over your nipples.” Well, this was some serious stuff — and how the heck did she know what kind of bra I had on? I took it off. #FreeTheNipples
Nude, but With Socks and Gloves
She instructed me to put on wool socks and neoprene shoes. I felt like somebody’s weird grampa. I also had to wear wool gloves since apparently -184F will give you frostbite pretty quickly. To complete my outfit, I added a bulky white robe because I’m bringing sexxxy back.
She opened the door and smoke from the liquid nitrogen-filled the small room. (Randomly, I thought about this awesome liquid nitrogen Rock n’ Rye ice cream they make at Vinsetta Garage in Detroit. If you’re not familiar with what I’m talking about Google: Faygo) I entered the chamber and she locked it behind me and lowered the top, so only my head was sticking out like a stand-up guillotine. I handed her the robe.
As I stood there nude with only shoes and gloves on, I thought this was definitely a better idea in theory.
At first, the liquid nitrogen rolling across my body felt kind of silky. I could feel it moving around me, like a living thing. I clamped my hands over my nipples and my elbow touched the side of the chamber. It was cold enough to burn.
The First 30 Seconds Were Interesting; Then it Got Cold
Have you ever gone outside in the middle of winter with bare legs? Or without a coat on? Walked two miles through a Chicago blizzard? If so, you can begin to understand.
My legs started to tingle; then, I could actually feel them beginning to freeze. I envisioned them like meat in the freezer. It got colder and colder. My arms started to freeze too. The tingling increased. Tingling, by the way, also happens to be the first indication of frostbite.
“Two more minutes,” she said. What?! Had only one minute passed?
I started to bounce around to distract myself and, I hoped, to keep my blood from turning to ice. My entire body except my head was encased in this ice crypt, so it was hard to move, but I managed a bit.
Time Moves at the Speed of an Iceberg
After three minutes, she turned the freezer off and handed the robe back. It was the nicest robe in the world. I stumbled out of that chamber, an actual freaking popsicle. Stumbling is also a sign of frostbite, in case you’re wondering; frozen joints and all.
I had some difficulty getting my frozen limbs to bend back into my clothes, but eventually, I thawed enough to do it and headed out into the night.
When Chicago Winter Feels Warm
I had a 15-minute walk home in 25 degrees, but it felt like a spring day after what I’d just been through.
I noticed right away that my mood was improved, but that could have also been because I was no longer freezing to death.
I stayed “cold” all night, but not shivering cold, more like bone-cold, but not in a terrible way, more like my actual bones were cold, but it was sort of interesting.
Sleep Like a Baby
That night I slept as deeply and soundly as I can remember. It may have been because my internal temperature was lower. I’m not sure why but it sure was nice.
The next morning, I was well-rested and back to normal. My legs were back to being just as sore as before the treatment, but they’d said it’d take repeated visits to reap any real muscle benefit.
I like the cold about as much as a hairless chihuahua, so enduring the treatment regularly is a hard no for me. If cold doesn’t bother you, I’d say give it a try; at least you’ll get a good night’s sleep out of it, and that’s cool. Pun intended.
