Cryotherapy - cold treatment
Cold treatment, or cryotherapy, refers to physiotherapy treatments, that is, treatment using physical factors. In this case, a strong and sudden drop in temperature is used. Surprisingly, it is true: cold is not only a source of disease, as is commonly believed, but, if used correctly, can become a source of health. The determining factor is the time of exposure to low temperatures and the area of exposure.
Cold treatment has a fairly wide range of applications - from the recreational practice of winter swimming and dousing with cold water to cryodestruction, a method in which surgical tissue destruction is carried out using nitrogen cooled to ultra-low temperatures. Despite the fact that the physical factor acts the same in all cases, the effect is different. Let's dwell on various cryotherapy methods in a little more detail.
Cold treatment has been used as a healing practice since time immemorial. Suffice it to recall the traditions of the Russian bath, when a person after a steam room runs out into the street and dives either into a snowdrift or into a pond with cold water. A similar effect is obtained from cold dousing and winter swimming - swimming in water bodies at a temperature not exceeding +5 ° C. These techniques, when used regularly by stimulating the immune system, lead to hardening. Tempering practices are one of the most effective methods of preventing many diseases.
By increasing the body's own defenses, cure is achieved from chronic diseases, especially diseases of the ENT organs, respiratory, nervous systems and skin. In the process of treating skin diseases with cold, it was noticed that low temperatures stimulate the production of collagen and elastin, due to which the regeneration processes in the skin are enhanced, it is tightened and toned. The keratinized cells of the upper layer of the skin are exfoliated - a peeling effect occurs. Thus, cryotherapy is actively used in cosmetology as a rejuvenating technique.
Exposure to ultra-low temperatures, or cryodestruction, as mentioned above, is used in surgical practice. With the help of cold treatment, superficial neoplasms of the skin and mucous membranes are effectively and painlessly removed: papillomas, hemangiomas, nevi, erosion, dyskeratosis, leukoplakia, and in some cases, malignant tumors.
The advantages of cold treatment include the absence of contraindications, painlessness, and a healing effect. Due to these properties, some types of cryotherapy are used in pediatric practice, including for the treatment of newborns.
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