December 03, 2020 Sponsored Content: » General Wellness
Looking for an adrenaline rush? Then it’s time to try your hand at cryotherapy. After just three minutes in a chamber that’s been blasting your body with nitrogen gas supercooled to -180 degrees, your brain will think it just snowboarded down a black diamond run—and that’s the whole point.
That’s because those frigid temperatures trigger the body’s natural “fight or flight” reaction, prompting it to go into protective mode. “When your brain perceives the superficial effects of the cold, your body’s cold-shock proteins set in motion to rejuvenate, repair, and protect,” says Sandy Dylak, owner of Catskill Cryo.
After that rush of cold air begins, the body starts to push more oxygen and nutrients into the blood to help protect its core functions. Once the short cryotherapy process is over, the now-enriched blood flows back into the rest of the body, along with a burst of mood-boosting endorphins. Because of its many reported benefits, cryotherapy is now widely used for everything from improving athletic performance to treating inflammatory issues like arthritis, reducing anxiety, and improving skin conditions.