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Glite Dictionary
❄️ Cold for recovery ❄️ Cold to remove tissue
cryotherapy

cryotherapy

1 6.3
A treatment that uses very cold temperatures to reduce pain and swelling and help the body heal
  • noun
  • /ˌkraɪoʊˈθɛrəpi/
  • Specialized
translation icon : crioterapia
  • Many wellness centers now offer cryotherapy to improve appearance by promoting skin rejuvenation.

But I think that you were asking about like cryotherapy versus ice baths.

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Examples

  • Some people argue that you could use cryotherapy short term to increase healing of tissue.

  • Cryotherapy is technically difficult and not routinely used because it might damage surrounding structures.

    Academic text (2006)

  • It's like cryotherapy for the face.

  • So some really simple things, but for me, I love cryotherapy as you know, I love cold therapy.

    FoundMyFitness

  • So you can just hop in and do your three minute cryotherapy session and go back to work.

  • Commonly used medicines and modalities include NSAIDs and cryotherapy, which help to reduce the inflammation and secondary injury to the affected area.

    Blog text (22)

  • Using cryotherapy can help reduce inflammation in sore muscles after an intense workout.

  • Athletes often turn to cryotherapy to relieve pain and speed up the healing process after injuries.

Synonyms

refrigeration
vscryotherapy
  • Specialized
1 4.5

Lowering a person's body temperature for medical treatment

focuses on very cold local treatment for pain, inflammation, and appearance
cold treatment
vscryotherapy
  • Specialized
3.6

Applying cold to the body reduces pain and swelling

uses much colder temperatures and treats healing and appearance too

How Intense

cryotherapy
  • Specialized
1 6.3
ice pack
15 1.8
compress
  • Specialized
9 5.2

Surface Forms

cryotherapy singular
cryotherapies plural

Morphology

cryotherapy = therapy (semi-transparent) = cryo + therapy

Built from the combining form 'cryo-' (cold) + 'therapy' (treatment); the medical logic is regular but the combining form 'cryo-' is somewhat technical and may be unfamiliar to average learners.

Etymology

The word cryotherapy comes from the Greek root cryo- meaning 'cold' and therapy meaning 'treatment', the same idea you see in therapist. So cryotherapy is literally 'cold treatment' used to reduce pain, swelling, and help the body heal.