Swimming in ice water or jumping feet-first into freezing water might not be your first choice. But you might just find yourself turning down the heat after you learn how cold therapy can reduce inflammation. As a method of treating acute inflammation after injuries in hands or arms, cold water immersion or cold plunge therapy has long been established as a treatment for reducing inflammation after exercise.
Taking refreshing ice baths could be beneficial—especially if you're suffering from a condition that induces chronic inflammation, such as an autoimmune disease. But how does it work? Find out how cold plunge therapy relieves soreness in your arms and hands below.
What is Cold Plunge Therapy?
Cold water immersion, also known as cold plunge therapy, is a form of cryotherapy that involves sitting underwater for 10 to 15 minutes in icy water. In addition to jumping into the ocean, taking an ice bath, taking a cold shower, or soaking in a heated circulating tub, there are many other ways to cold plunge.
Your body's natural healing abilities can be activated by a few minutes of cold therapy, resulting in a greater feeling of well-being. By stimulating the cutaneous thermoreceptors, cold therapy stimulates the hypothalamic thermoregulatory center, resulting in increased body temperature.
During cold water exposure, the blood vessels supply the periphery with blood, causing constriction of the vessels, which results in shivering, which further increases metabolism. Cold therapy has been found to help reduce inflammation and decrease blood flow by contracting the blood vessels, thus allowing the body to decrease the amount of blood flowing.
There are a lot of advantages associated with working out, but these are the main ones that should be considered when someone wants to get over injuries and reduce the amount of muscle soreness.
What is the Impact of Muscle Inflammation?
An athlete's body will often be inflamed during the process of healing and for the purpose of building muscle, and that's a common issue. Physical activity damages our tissues naturally when we take part in physical activities. When chronic inflammation is left untreated, it can lead to chronic pain, stiffness, and limited range of motion, as well as the possibility of further injury and difficulty recovering.
Most modern chronic diseases are accompanied by a degree of inflammation, and many of these illnesses can all be traced back to a body's inability to keep up with the bombardment of inflammation we experience on a daily basis. Fortunately, it has been proven that one of the most significant benefits of taking a cold plunge is that it helps reduce inflammation in the body.
What Are the Causes of Arm and Hand Inflammation?
Your body can suffer from pain in any part. Although you may expect to experience pain following an injury, discomfort sometimes occurs for no apparent reason. It is possible to suffer from arm and hand pain without being injured. Writing, typing, and carrying groceries into the house all require your arms and hands, so the pain can be quite distressing and make you unable to function properly.
Mild to severe arm pain can take many different forms. Depending on the underlying condition, it may develop suddenly or gradually, as well as present with other symptoms. There are some things you can do to help reduce the pain you are feeling in one or both arms. Your quality of life may be negatively impacted by long-term or severe arm pain.
What is the Effect of Cold Plunge Therapy on the Arms and Hands?
A cold environment triggers the body's vasoconstriction. As a result of vasoconstriction, blood flow is redirected from the extremities to the vital organs, which reduces circulation to the extremities. Inflammation is reduced by decreasing blood flow to inflamed or painful areas, which reduces swelling and pain there.
Too many cytokines build up when the inflammatory response and cytokines cannot differentiate healthy cells from foreign invaders. This leads to chronic inflammation and autoimmune disease. However, individuals with chronic inflammation may benefit from taking cold plunge therapy regularly as part of their wellness routine.
What Are the Benefits of Cold Therapy for Inflammation and Soreness?
In order to treat sore muscles and reduce inflammation after games, professional athletes prefer to submerge themselves in ice baths afterward. However, non-athletes are also participating in the practice at an increasing rate. Since cold exposure has a number of health benefits, including the reduction of inflammation and muscle soreness, this makes it ideal for recovery.
Reduces Inflammation
Inflammation in the arms and hands can be reduced through cold therapy. The use of cold therapy for athletes suffering from muscle soreness, for instance, has been proven to be extremely effective. You get this effect because the cold constricts your blood vessels, reducing blood flow and swelling in the area.
Helps to Recover Quickly
Ice baths are a great way to recover from a hard workout. When you stand in cold water, your blood vessels constrict, which results in a slowing of blood flow, which decreases swelling and soreness in your muscles. If you have sore muscles, you may find relief from them by stepping into a cold bath.
An inflammatory response that is less severe and brain signaling that is slower could lead to less pain. As well as reducing your perception of pain, cold water could also reduce your feeling of soreness.
Improves Overall Health
In these sports, cold-water therapy improves performance; compared to control groups, those receiving cold-water therapy had improved exercise capacity, had a better circadian rhythm, were less tired, had better sleep quality, and had lower pro-inflammatory size accounts and oxidative stress levels.
Immunological diseases may benefit from cold therapy as a natural treatment. A variety of autoimmune diseases have inflammation as their root cause, so treating inflammation with cold therapy may benefit people with arthritis, celiac disease, lupus, and more.
Muscle Soreness and Inflammation are Relieved with RENU Therapy
When you train seriously, you can reduce your delayed onset muscle soreness and your recovery time from sports injuries. Having cold plunge therapy at home, you can gain the health benefits of exposure to cold temperatures more easily and cost-effectively. Ice baths have never been easier to enjoy at home, thanks to a cold water immersion tub.
Take advantage of a tub specifically designed for cold hydrotherapy rather than ice bags, ice cubes, and small cold tubs at home. You can trust RENU Therapy for a consistent, high-quality cold-water exposure experience.
Bringing you the comfort of always-ready contrast therapy at home is RENU Therapy with its cold immersion tubs! Cold-water exposure tanks made in the USA are meticulously built to ensure flawless performance over time.
