Whole Body Cryotherapy in Cryo-Chamber for Treating Chronic Pains

We shall only deal here with the clinical condition “chronic pain” only as far as has already been done in preceding sections regarding other diseases. The various pains and pain syndromes that can be treated with whole body cryotherapy are listed in figure 4.7. As we have already seen in section 3.2 of the book (pain inhibition), chronic pains can not be understood in the same way as acute pain only as a symptom, e.g. of an inflammatory process. They can last for months and even years, can become autonomous, can coincide with the formation of a pain memory and can be the cause of additional health problems. Such sequelae then frequently express themselves chronically as disrupted sleep, depressive reactions, loss in quality of life and problems with social relationships. The spectrum of causes underlying chronic pain is very large and ranges from severe organic diseases, inadequate pain treatment to psychosocial factors. Often several causes combine to bring about a chronic pain state. That is also one of the reasons why it is only rarely possible to treat chronic pain successfully with a single therapy. As a rule only a complex therapeutic approach that sufficiently takes into account the causes and alongside pharmaceutical approaches also includes physical therapies, mobilization therapies for building up physical activity, and techniques for pain and stress coping can bring about the desired goal (see also figure 3.5 in book).