Did you know that nearly 50 million people in the United States are affected by arthritis? [1] The pain associated with arthritis is chronic and, in some cases, only gets worse. We hear about the benefits of cryotherapy for athletes but you may not know the benefits for arthritis sufferers. [2] May is National Arthritis Awareness Month so we’re highlighting the benefits of cryotherapy for chronic arthritis. [3]
The term “arthritis” spans more than 100 joint inflammation diseases and conditions. For example, rheumatoid arthritis can cause debilitating pain and typically causes stiffness, swelling or aching. The cause of this disease ranges from genes to injury and the symptoms can build up over time or occur suddenly.
Cryotherapy is an effective means of pain and inflammation management, especially in the case of arthritis symptoms. [4] As a matter of fact, whole body cryotherapy was first used to treat rheumatoid arthritis discomfort and pain. [5] Doctors discovered that cryotherapy could release endorphins and minimize overall sensitivity to pain.
Arthritis pain is chronic and with one out of every five US adults affected by arthritis, it’s the most common disability in the country. Though there’s no cure, cryotherapy has proven to be an effective way to manage the disease. Want to find out more about how cryotherapy can benefit you? Learn more.
[1 https://www.arthritis.org/about-arthritis/
[2] http://blog.arthritis.org/news/arthritis-awareness-month/
[3] https://www.arthritis.org/living-with-arthritis/pain-management/chronic-pain/understand-chronic-pain.php
[4] https://www.painpathways.org/cryotherapy-for-pain/
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4631852/