Ice Ice Baby

If you can handle extreme cold, fans of cryotherapy rave about its therapeutic and beautifying benefits

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From wild swimming at Denmark’s wellness haven Kurhotel Skodsborg and the cooler waters of the northern hemisphere at large, the penchant for cold and ice-based therapies is on the rise. But the benefits are nothing new: India’s timeless Ayurvedic tradition has long advocated a cold shower first thing each morning before yoga, to bring a burst of circulation to the skin and rejuvenate blood supply through the body.

Freezing specific areas of the body with liquid nitrogen is also routinely used to treat sunspots or warts. During a typical treatment, a Q-tip is soaked in the nitrogen solution and simply dabbed on the spot. While these ancient traditions don’t advise freezing the entire body, the latest cryotherapy (or cryo) trend is not far off. Defined as ‘body cooling for therapeutic purposes’ cryotherapy is credited with a wealth of benefits from relief from aches, muscle pain, rheumatoid arthritis and weight loss, to boosting metabolism, mood, circulation, enhancing collagen production in the skin and improving sleep.

London-based nutrition and lifestyle blogger Caroline Deisler says she feels like a new person after each session. “It’s my happy place where you go in feeling a bit tired from a busy day and three minutes later are full of energy. It’s my mood and energy booster instead of coffee or other stimulants.”

Many athletes are hooked on whole body cryotherapy, where you stand naked in a -110ºC (or colder) fridge-like chamber for three minutes, believing it to be less excruciating than ice baths, while enhancing recovery between training sessions. So much so that the Welsh Rugby Squad reputedly travelled home to their cryo chamber in Wales during the last Rugby World Cup to hasten their recovery between games.