Cryotherapy

When cryotherapy is referred to the specific use of cold to cause a therapeutic effect. The local application of freezing techniques of the generalized cold treatment of the whole body is distinguished.

Cryosurgery

As a local method, also referred to cryosurgery, freezing techniques are used to achieve a destruction of pathologically altered tissue. A distinction is closed processes in which a cold probe is brought from outside with the tissue in contact of open procedures in which coolant can be introduced directly into the tissue (often liquid nitrogen at -196 ° C). The operating range is -70 ° C to -200 ° C. Such methods are used in dermatology to remove tumors, warts ( Viruspapillome ), about shooting scar tissue ( keloid ) and various other tissue diseases. Moreover, cryosurgery is also used in interventional therapies of other cancer application, such as for the therapy of hepatic metastases, as well as possibly in lung or prostate tumors.

Cold chamber

For generalized use of refrigeration in a cold chamber, whole-body cryotherapy ( GKKT ), one patient for a few minutes to a temperature of about -110 ° C is exposed. This is intended to metabolic processes are affected at the cellular level. As an application, an enormous range of conditions is specified, in particular the group of rheumatic diseases, but also from the psychiatric field ( such as anxiety, panic attacks and insomnia ). The effect of the method is controversial, despite a number of positive studies are no detailed studies. Athletes use cryotherapy for the prevention of muscle soreness before. In this application, the outer parts of the body must be protected from frostbite ( Akrenschutz ).

Other Applications

In addition to these methods, the application of cold comes in many other areas of medical applications, such as physical therapy, pain management and critical care procedures such as therapeutic hypothermia and diagnosis as Cold provocation tests. However, this work with much less cold.