Abstract
Cryotherapy is the application of coldness, ranging between 0o C and 18.3o C. Current research discusses application methods of cryotherapy in Brazilian scientific publications during the last ten years. The systematic review of the literature comprised research in article retrieved from national scientific journals in databases Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO), Latin-American and Caribbean Literature in Health Sciences (Lilacs) and Academic Google. Descriptors were: “cryotherapy”, “induced hypothermia” and “response to cold shock”. Articles published between 2004 and 2014 were used, out of which 21 were classified according to inclusion-exclusion criteria. The most used method in cryotherapy is the application of an ice bag or cold compress, by which the skin is cooled at a depth of 1 cm, applied between 15 and 30 minutes. Cryotherapy is an excellent therapeutic method used effectively to reduce sensitiveness and pain. It may also help in the decrease of resistance to passive movement and spasticity, but failed to be efficient in the increase of muscle force, flexibility and in treatments for the reduction of body fat.
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