Abstract
The aim of this study was to compare the effects of a single whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) and a partial-body cryostimulation (PBC) (i.e., not exposing the head to cold) on indices of parasympathetic activity and blood catecholamines. Two groups of 15 participants were assigned either to a 3-min WBC or PBC session, while 10 participants constituted a control group (CON) not receiving any cryostimulation. Changes in thermal, physiological and subjective variables were recorded before and during the 20-min after each cryostimulation. According to a qualitative statistical analysis, an almost certain decrease in skin temperature was reported for all body regions immediately after the WBC (mean decrease±90% CL, -13.7±0.7°C) and PBC (-8.3±0.3°C), which persisted up to 20-min after the session. The tympanic temperature almost certainly decreased only after the WBC session (-0.32±0.04°C). Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were very likely increased after the WBC session, whereas these changes were trivial in the other groups. In addition, heart rate almost certainly decreased after PBC (-10.9%) and WBC (-15.2%) sessions, in a likely greater proportion for WBC compared to PBC. Resting vagal-related heart rate variability indices (the root-mean square difference of successive normal R-R intervals, RMSSD, and high frequency band, HF) were very likely increased after PBC (RMSSD: +54.4%, HF: +138%) and WBC (RMSSD: +85.2%, HF: +632%) sessions without any marked difference between groups. Plasma norepinephrine concentrations were likely to very likely increased after PBC (+57.4%) and WBC (+76.2%), respectively. Finally, cold and comfort sensations were almost certainly altered after WBC and PBC, sensation of discomfort being likely more pronounced after WBC than PBC. Both acute cryostimulation techniques effectively stimulated the autonomic nervous system (ANS), with a predominance of parasympathetic tone activation. The results of this study also suggest that a whole-body cold exposure induced a larger stimulation of the ANS compared to partial-body cold exposure.
Highlights
The first very low temperature cold rooms, a peculiar form of cryostimulation appeared in Japan in 1981, when Yamauchi successfully used a cryogenic chamber to treat rheumatism [1]
The mean decrease in Tskin for the whole body was -8.3°±0.3°C immediately after (Post) the partial-body cryostimulation (PBC) session, and -13.7±0.7°C (100/0/0%, ES, -6.2±0.5) after the whole-body cryostimulation (WBC) session
Whatever the cryotherapy technique used, results showed that a single 3-min cryostimulation induced a strong autonomic response, as rising plasma norepinephrine, systolic and diastolic blood pressures reflected increased sympathetic activation, and as the rise in heart rate variability (HRV) indices suggested an augmentation of the parasympathetic control of heart rate
Summary
The first very low temperature cold rooms, a peculiar form of cryostimulation appeared in Japan in 1981, when Yamauchi successfully used a cryogenic chamber to treat rheumatism [1]. Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC), as it is known today, consists of acute exposure to very cold air in special cryochambers. One of the most wellestablished physiological responses to cold exposure is triggered by the decrease in skin temperature, promptly stimulating cutaneous receptors and their sensory afferents to excite sympathetic adrenergic fibers, in turn causing the constriction of local arterioles and venules. The resulting decrease in blood flow to the periphery or injured/inflamed tissues, reduces local metabolic processes, thereby attenuating the inflammatory response and the formation of oedema around the injured tissues [3]. It has been shown that cryotherapy reduces cell necrosis and neutrophil migration and slows cell metabolism and nerve conduction velocity, which in turn reduce secondary tissue damage and pain sensation [4]
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