In the past year The Woodlands has seen an increasing number of cryotherapy facilities opening in the area.
Whether being promoted for athletes or as a spa, these facilities offer a therapeutic technique in which customers expose their body to cold temperatures to experience a variety of benefits.
Cryotherapy involves the use of low temperatures on the body for a therapeutic or medical purpose. The standard procedure of whole-body cryotherapy takes place in a cryogenic chamber. Syed Rashid, manager of Relief Express, a therapeutic facility in The Woodlands that offers cryotherapy, explained that the process works by having nitrogen gases pumped into the chamber and dropping the air temperature below minus 200 degrees within a minute.
“During this time, the participant’s body develops a flight-or-fight response,” Rashid said. “It releases hormones and endorphins, which is a great response. You come out of the chamber, and your blood is full of high endorphins and you have good energy and focus. The more you do this the more your cells can [combat] any aches and pains you have, which is great for athletic injuries.”
