Bangkok--10 Mar--Bangkok Hospital pattaya
Bathing suit, sturdy footwear, ear and face protection and gloves — this is the gear Bangkok Pattaya Hospital's patients will need to wear for their treatment in the new Icelab cryochamber. The treatment involves being exposed to minus 110 degree tem-peratures for one to three minutes. The Icelab is made by the German company Zimmer MedizinSysteme.
The goals of this treatment are to relieve pain, reduce in-flammation, provide stress relief and improve muscle and joint function. This is why the Icelab is used primarily for patients with degenerative and inflammatory spinal problems, for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and migraines. A number of studies have demonstrated its high success rate when treating these disorders. The Icelab even promises improvement in skin problems such as psoriasis and eczema. The healing and performance-enhancing processes that Icelab triggers are also very well suited to treat injuries and to support and boost athletes' training efficiency.
Doctors, physiotherapists and journalists are invited to learn more at the 'Cryotherapy in Medi-cine and Sports Science' international symposium being held from 19 to 20 March at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital with the support of Zimmer MedizinSysteme. In addition to providing information about the theoretical principles behind cryotherapy, specialists such as the renowned sports scientist and rehabilitation specialist Helmut Hoffmann will be discussing its practical applications; participants can even test out the first cryochamber in Southeast Asia for themselves and experience its effects.
Using cold to treat physical problems is a very old principle which has deep roots in a wide range of cultures. Whole body cryotherapy has almost perfected this approach. Its effectiveness can be explained by the fact that cold stimulation has both localized and large-scale effects. Being in a room chilled to -110 degrees lowers the whole body's external temperature — the skin's temperature — to less than five degrees Celsius in a very short time. The body's core temperature does not change; it maintains a constant temperature of around 37 degrees Celsius. One reason for this is that the surface blood vessels constrict so that cold does not penetrate into the body and less heat is transported from the body's core to the surface where it is lost through the skin. In addition, the extreme cold affects the pain and temperature receptors in the skin and so acts directly on the pa-tient's nervous system.
Primary effects: pain reduction and muscle relaxation
One result is that the pain receptors are blocked. A three-minute session in the Icelab can provide relief from pain for several hours, an effect that is potentiated after repeated sessions and which can provide months of pain-free living. For patients suffering from chronic medical conditions, serial applications can erase the body's pain memory. Cryotherapy also reduces the increased blood supply caused by inflammatory processes, relaxes tense muscles, and promotes healing processes. There is one other effect of cryotherapy that makes cryochambers very attractive for medical wellness centres as well. Cryotherapy regulates pa-tients' activity levels. Patients who are constantly stressed feel calm after visiting the Icelab, which subsequently improves sleep behaviour, for example. For stressed and chronically fatigued patients, the extreme cold has a stimulating and refreshing effect, which is why it is also increasingly being used to prevent burn-out.
Top athletes in the deep freeze
In addition to whole body cryotherapy being used in rheumatology, dermatology and orthopaedics, it now also plays a bigger role in competitive sport. 'Studies show that using whole body cryotherapy before athletic activities increases an athlete's anaerobic strength by five to eight percent for a limited time, and in-creases the duration of athletic activity at the individual aerobic threshold by five to ten percent', reports Helmut Hoffmann. 'But just as important and interesting for competitive athletes is the regenerative effect whole body cryotherapy has after athletic activities. Studies have consistently shown that it reduces the time required for recovery by five to ten percent. If cryotherapy is used regularly for sports games for example, it can make additional training units possible without increasing the risk of overtraining.'
For more information:
Bangkok Hospital pattaya
TeL: 1719(Local), 038-259999(Oversea)
http://www.bangkokpattayahospital.com