Ratermann Manufacturing, Inc. Customer Service 1-800-264-7793 y Fax 1-800-264-7797 y Order Online at Web Store www.rmiorder.com 29A-12 CRYOTHERAPY AND SAFETY CRYOTHERAPY & SAFETY “Whole body Cryotherapy is a safe form of recovery from physical activity or injury.” -Alamo Cryotherapy Safety features of Cryosaunas: Oxygen-Monitors: In the Cryotherapy facilities Ratermann Mfg. visited, all of the facilities were mandated to have proper air ventilation and had an oxygen monitor/alarm present in every room. Oxygen monitors and ventilation is required by the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association)-55 Compressed Gases and Cryogenic Fluids Codes. Regulated environments for safety: Cryosauna facilities must meet certain requirements such as; door size, ventilation, oxygen detector and size of room. These requirements are mandated by the NFPA-55 code. The NFPA-55 addresses fundamental safeguards for the installation, storage, use, and handling of compressed gases and cryogenic fluids in portable and stationary cylinders, containers, and tanks. What do you wear? During Cryotherapy a patient will wear wool socks, slippers and gloves to protect the ligaments of the body from frost bite. Men wear briefs and women can choose to wear underwear and/or a bra. Hair can be left down and make up and lotion are fine. Although, lotion should not be applied within an hour of the treatment to avoid moisture on the skin. All jewelry from the neck down must be removed. Cryotherapy facilities have changing rooms and robes for privacy. The body never touches liquid Nitrogen: The Cryosauna chamber is cooled with nitrogen gas but never does liquid nitrogen enter the chamber. A trained technician must always be present in the room during cryotherapy sessions. Only the air around the patient feels cold but the patient will never come in contact with liquid nitrogen. On hot days a patient will be asked to dry their skin before entering the cryosauna to avoid sweat from freezing on the patient’s skin. Immediate Client Exit: The door to the cryosauna does not lock so that the client can exit the cryosauna at any time. Prevention of self-administered treatments: The IMPACT® cryosauna brand has developed Smart Sauna Software with the “Engage” safety feature. The “Engage” feature was designed to prevent unattended use. On the display screen of the IMPACT cryosauna, the “Engage” feature prompts the cryotherapy operator to “press to continue” every 31 seconds during the session. This technology keeps the technician who is operating the sauna engaged and doesn’t allow the cryosauna to run alone under any circumstances. IMPACT cryosaunas have an automatic shut off after 3 minutes of operating. Head outside of the cryosauna: The head of the patient must always be above the cryosauna. Some brands of cryosaunas have automatic electric lifts that lift a patients head above the cryosauna based on their height and weight. Others are lifted manually by the cryosauna technician. Automatic Shut-Off: All of the cryo-sauna brands Ratermann Mfg. encountered (IMPACT® Cryotherapy Cryosaunas, JUKA Cryosaunas & CryomedTM, Ltd. Cryosaunas) had automatic shut-offs after 3 minutes. 3 minutes is the maximum amount of time that a person is allowed in a cryosauna for safety of the core body temperature. Can You Get Hypothermia? The body’s core temperature is 98.6 degrees. In order to be considered to have very mild hypothermia, the core temperature of the body would need to drop to 95 degrees. Gordon Gesibercht a Professor at University of Manitoba studies hypothermia and cold stress and explained that spending 3 minutes (the maximum amount of time someone is allowed in a cryosauna) in negative 200 degrees was not nearly enough time for the body’s core temperature to drop enough to be considered hypothermia. Pawel, Zalewski, a sports medicine researcher at Nicolaus Copernicus University studied the affect of cryotherapy on the body’s core temperature and found that there was a slight drop in the core temperature about 40 minutes after a session which he hypothesizes to be the cooler blood from the extremities of the body retuning to the core of the body. Yet still, not enough of a drop in the core temperature to be considered hypothermia. Is it Painful? Employees and President, George Ratermann at Ratermann Manufacturing tried Cryotherapy for our own knowledge. Everyone from Ratermann Mfg. that tried cryotherapy agreed on the following: It is cold, not as cold as expected, it wasn’t painful & it felt more tolerable than an ice bath. Everyone also agreed: they felt more energized, they slept better that night and felt they had more endurance than normal during a workout conducted later that day. Who shouldn’t use cryotherapy? Anyone under the age of 14 should not use cryotherapy. People with the following conditions shouldn’t use cryotherapy: high blood pressure, have had or have seizures, have a severe case of Raynaud’s syndrome, are pregnant, have existing heart issues, have had or have any major vascular issues, have clots or have had a brain aneurism, have severe reactions to the cold or have had a stroke. Other limitations exist but are presented to each patient before treatment is ever administered. Trained Technicians: A trained technician will ask about prior and current health conditions before any treatment is administered. Certified technicians that run the cryotherapy sessions are fully trained on safety and operational protocols and they stay with you during the length of your treatment. The cryo-sauna can be turned off by the technician at any point and the door to the chamber does not have a lock so a patient can step out at anytime. Cryochambers have a 3-minute automatic shutoff timer to prevent overexposure. A manufacturer of cryosaunas explained to us one of the ways they validate safety with training, “Safety of the cryotherapy operators and their clients is of utmost importance at IMPACT. To ensure that our equipment is used with the safest and best- practices, IMPACT provides a two-day training course complimentary to the purchase of our cryosaunas. During the safety course, cryotherapy operators receive hands on training and cover a detailed safe use program with emphasis on safety features, precautions and tips to allow for the safest cryotherapy environment.” – IMPACT Cryotherapy Cryotherapy and Safety
