Cryotherapy is a trend with a cult following in the recovery, wellness, and beauty industries. It can be used in combination with light therapy for better results. You may have heard people talking about it or seen celebrities or athletes posting themselves coming out of icy cold chambers on social media, but what is Cryotherapy? Why is everyone talking about it?
In its most basic form, Cryotherapy is simply the use of cold temperatures to heal the body. Using the cold to help our bodies recover from injury, inflammation, soreness, or relaxation has been used since the beginning. Putting ice on a wound or bruise, jumping in a cold lake, or taking an ice bath are basic cryotherapy forms. These methods cause stagnant blood to start moving again, promoting new blood flow, which brings healing. It is a fundamental, well-understood principle that has been widely accepted and used as a means of after the fact recovery but can be quite uncomfortable, inconvenient, and extremely inefficient compared to modern-day cryotherapy through the use of cryotherapy chambers.
Modern-day cryotherapy lends from past cold modalities to provide a much more comfortable, convenient, and effective recovery through cryotherapy chambers. Cryotherapy chambers provide a quick, 2–3 minute private session of whole-body exposure to shallow temperatures in a dry, contained, breathable air environment. Add in some music, light therapy, and awesome fog from the cold, and it becomes a fun experience that completely distracts from how cold you just got!
The goal of true whole body cryotherapy is to expose as much skin as possible to temperatures of -166F or below for a short period of time (2–3 minutes) to create a drop in the external skin temperature of 30–40 degrees. The best way to measure this is to use an infrared temperature device before and after the session on the upper arm's back, measuring the two temperature readings' delta.
Blood rushing to the core is our body’s natural way of protecting our core organs from extreme cold. When exposed to freezing temperatures, blood rushes from our extremities to our core, creating a systemic response throughout the body that produces many benefits. Cold promotes increased blood flow, bringing fresh, oxygenated blood full of white blood cells to the body's areas that need it. Cryotherapy amplifies these positive effects and adds many more incredible benefits by activating the vagus nerve and causing vasoconstriction and vasodilation. The vagus nerve is responsible for the regulation of internal organ functions [NCBI]. The vagus nerve is activated by cold on the back of the neck and touches every major organ in the body.
Whole Body Cryotherapy is not just for extreme athletes or those with present injuries, either. The best practice is for healthy, normal adults (minors with doctors) to regularly practice whole body cryotherapy 3–5 times per week. It is important to maintain a constant cryotherapy regimen and not just use it when you feel you need it or are injured. It is a continual recovery modality that helps the body stay healthy and even resist injuries and illness.
COVID-19 has created challenges for nearly every market, and the medical device manufacturing industry is no exception. As the virus sweeps the globe, it’s becoming increasingly difficult for leaders to overcome the arising challenges and prepare for the future.
While I firmly believe the key to navigating this evolving landscape is putting quality at the forefront of all activities, a function made seamless through best of breed quality management tools, I was curious what other industry leaders had to say.
The following are some of their best tips for effectively leading and managing teams during the COVID-19 pandemic and preparing your organization for what’s to come.
Keep in touch. Let your people know where things stand with the business. At home or in the office practicing social distancing, each of your workers will be dealing with different issues, both private and professional. The distributed workforce requires even more channels to help people stay connected.
“Leadership needs to provide regular communication, be transparent about the impact of the pandemic on your company, and set expectations with your team, investors, partners, and customers. There is a great deal of uncertainty in the world, and clarity from management is one of the keys to a healthy organization.” — Paul Grand, CEO, MedTech Innovator
Be sensitive to employees’ personal situations. Every member has their own worries and family needs during this crisis. Review goals and when needed realign expectations to match current circumstances.
Balance the content. Focus on efficiency in meetings to ensure your team still has time to do their work and manage their personal situation. The recommended time for meetings should be 15 minutes with no more than 4 people per meeting
Office time should be reduced. To avoid conflicts, make sure yo manage expectations. Be clear about your expectations and the expectation from your team during these challenging times. The last thing you want to do is have misunderstandings or conflicts with a good working team.
The key purpose of a leader is to continuously motivate and support the team. Talk about work-life structures, supporting flexible working arrangements, and vocalizing empathy towards your workmates. As a leader, you must empower them to deliver their best work while being absolutely empathetic towards challenges in their life.
Focus on the fact that COVID-19 is temporary. The natural instinct may be to slow down and withdraw resources. Instead, this is an excellent time to strategically plan and dedicate time, staff, and resources to ensuring that the post-pandemic time capitalizes on key changes.
Just because you can’t conduct research the way you always have doesn’t mean you can’t conduct research at all. It is important to stay flexible with the research methods you use. Understanding the pros and cons of each method and their overall ability to contribute to your research goal is critical to conducting meaningful and useful research.
All companies are working to lead their teams through today’s challenges with confidence. By taking care of your team and keeping quality you will improve the teamwork collaboration, communication, and transparency.
When it comes to pain, we could hardly avert it! Especially the muscle pain. Given that the human body has over 600 muscles, it is tough to avoid muscle pain. Evidently, one out of three Americans is affected by muscle pain annually.
Not only this, Musculoskeletal pain affects around 116 million Americans, which results in poor productivity, missed work or school, fatigue, and lost interest in work.
But doesn’t we treatments for this chronic pain? Of course, we do have several options. Currently, therapies available consist of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, steroid injections, pain medications, and surgery. Each of these has its own specific risk profiles.
What we need now is an effective solution that is less time-consuming, low risk, safe and non-invasive, and yet cost-effective. All these features are available in treatment; we call Low Laser Light Therapy (LLLT). Light therapy has been in the medical field over the past forty years. Light therapy has been demonstrated to lessen inflammation and edema, promote healing in a range of musculoskeletal pathologies. LLLT is being accepted around the globe. This is an advanced, cost-effective, non-invasive therapy for pain that could elevate the quality of life while reducing your financial strains. The causes of muscular pain are numerous. Hence, LLLT helps people from all fields like sports, fitness, medical, and even old age.
In this process, light with a wavelength in the red to the near-infrared region of the spectrum (660nm–905nm) is employed on the skin surface. The reason for using these wavelengths is that they have the ability to penetrate the skin and soft/hard tissues. From various conducted clinical trials, this treatment is proven to have a good effect on pain, inflammation, and repairing of the tissues. The therapy goes from 30 to 120 seconds or more a week, depending upon the pain's severity.
Based on the tissue condition, the therapy can go on for weeks or months. LLLT has resulted in relief and reduction of inflammation, pain relief, and accelerated tissue regeneration.
But how does the light actually work?
Do you know that many acute orthopedic conditions such as strains, sprains, muscular back pain, frozen shoulder, neck and back pain, etc., are amenable to Low Laser Light Therapy (LLLT)?
The Infra-Red light relieves pain in a different section of the body and increases relaxation sensation while also comforting the muscles. LLLT has been shown to enhance the multiplication of cells like fibroblasts, keratinocytes, endothelial cells, and lymphocytes. Fibroblasts and keratinocytes are two major cell types that respond to the inflammatory phase in the repair/regeneration process.
LLLT can enhance neovascularization, promote angiogenesis, and increase collagen synthesis to succor in the healing of acute and chronic wounds. The LED light sessions have shown the ability to heal skin, nerves, tendons, cartilage, and bones. Low-intensity LLLT stimulates mitochondria and also enhances the mitochondrial membrane potential.
The peripheral nerve endings of nociceptors (also known as the pain receptors), consisting of the thinly myelinated and unmyelinated, slow-conducting C fibers, lie within the epidermis. This complex network converts harmful stimuli into action potentials. Moreover, these nerve endings lie on the surface or superficial in nature, making the LLLT wavelength penetration work easy.
Hence, with the rise of chronic pain in different countries, it is imperative to validate cost-effective and safe techniques for managing painful conditions, allowing people to live active and productive lives. Light therapy is constantly evolving in relieving muscular pain. It improves the muscle's endurance, reduces muscle soreness, joint pain, and inflammation.
It’s time to let go of the pain!!
Experience the difference with light therapy from Kaiyan Medical.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12605431/
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27472858/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4743666/
Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that intense light amplifies a specific gene that bolsters blood vessels and offers protection against heart attacks.
"We already knew that intense light can protect against heart attacks, but now we have found the mechanism behind it.”
Study’s senior author Tobias Eckle, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology, University of Colorado School of Medicine
The study was published recently in the journal Cell Reports.
The scientists discovered that housing mice under intense light conditions for one week robustly enhances cardioprotection, which resulted in a dramatic reduction of cardiac tissue damage after a heart attack. They also found that humans could potentially benefit from a similar light exposure strategy.
To find out why they developed a strategy to protect the heart using intense light to target and manipulate the function of the PER2 gene, which is expressed in a circadian pattern in the part of the brain that controls circadian rhythms.
By amplifying this gene through light, they found that it protected cardiovascular tissues against low oxygen conditions like myocardial ischemia, caused by reduced oxygen flow to the heart.
They also discovered that the light increased cardiac adenosine, a chemical that plays a role in blood flow regulation.
Mice that were blind, however, enjoyed no cardioprotection indicating a need for visual light perception.
Next, they investigated whether intense light had similar effects on healthy human volunteers. The subjects were exposed to 30 minutes of intense light measured in lumens. In this case, volunteers were exposed to 10,000 LUX, or lumens, on five consecutive days. Researchers also did serial blood draws.
The light therapy increased PER2 levels as it did in mice. Plasma triglycerides, a surrogate for insulin sensitivity and carbohydrate metabolism, significantly decreased. Overall, the therapy improved metabolism.
Eckle has long known that light plays a critical role in cardiovascular health and regulating biological processes. He pointed out that past studies have shown an increase in myocardial infarctions during darker winter months in all U.S. states, including sunnier places like Arizona, Hawaii, and California. The duration of the light isn’t as important as the intensity, he said.
“The most dramatic event in the history of the earth was the arrival of sunlight,” Eckle said. “Sunlight caused a great oxygen event. With sunlight, trillions of algae could now make oxygen, transforming the entire planet.”
Eckle said the study shows, on a molecular level, that intensive light therapy offers a promising strategy in treating or preventing low oxygen conditions like myocardial ischemia.
He said if the therapy is given before high-risk cardiac and non-cardiac surgery, it could offer protection against injury to the heart muscle, which can be fatal.
“Giving patients light therapy for a week before surgery could increase cardioprotection,” he said. “Drugs could also be developed that offer similar protections based on these findings. However, future studies in humans will be necessary to understand the impact of intense light therapy and its potential for cardioprotection.”
University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus
Journal reference:
Oyama, Y. et al. (2019) Intense Light-Mediated Circadian Cardioprotection via Transcriptional Reprogramming of the Endothelium. Cell Reports. doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.07.020.
We’ve all been in the search to help us achieve perfect skin. But is it just a dream, or can it really be achieved? It looks like having light shined on your face may be the most important part of your skin routine.
Red light’s anti-inflammatory and collagen-building effects on the skin have been documented for years, showing its healing abilities. However, light therapy is branching out, including other light spectrums such as green, blue, purple, and amber, for different healing abilities.
Ellen Marmur, a New York dermatologist, said, It has just enough variety that people stay excited to use it.” While many at-home devices are small and require multiple treatments to cover the entire face, masks help solve this issue.
“It makes people feel good, like they’re taking care of themselves,” Dr. Marmur said. “You can treat your skin while doing other things, so it’s easier to form the habit of doing it every day.”
LED therapy, known as photobiomodulation, can alter biological matter using varying wavelengths of light.
Jared Jagdeo, associate professor of dermatology and director of the Center for Phototherapy, SUNY Downstate Health Science University, studies LED therapy. “You can alter the skin through photo-damaging with lasers, or photobiomodulation, which is a much more gentle way of changing the way the skin functions,” he said.
When asked why red light works particularly well with skin, he said, “There’s a specific receptor in the mitochondria of the skin cells that red light specifically acts upon. And that’s why red light is an ideal wavelength for changing the way the skin functions.”
Red light can pass through the skin, deeply entering tissue and stimulating the cell’s mitochondria, which results in anti-inflammation and the skin’s rejuvenation. Collagen is also produced in the dermis, smoothing out wrinkles and plumping the skin.
While blue light doesn’t penetrate deeply into the skin, it kills acne-causing bacteria on the skin’s surface. Green light, on the other hand, focuses on melanocytes, reducing excess melanin production.
Eye safety is a valid concern, particularly because earlier this year Neutrogena recalled its LED mask over fears that it could cause eye injuries.
Brain S. Biesman, assistant clinical professor of ophthalmology, dermatology, and ENT at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, states that most red light therapy devices aren’t powerful enough to cause eye damage. “Just normal blinking and eye movements should be sufficient to protect the eyes,” he said. “But never stare at a bright light source.”
More Thoughts
“As far as the F.D.A. is concerned, if I use CO2 laser resurfacing, it better work because of the amount of risk involved,” said Suzanne Kilmer, a clinical professor of dermatology at the UC Davis School of Medicine in Sacramento and director of the Laser and Skin Surgery Medical Group.
“Compare that to a home device,” Dr. Kilmer said. “If it doesn’t kill you, blind you or make things much worse, it’s probably going to get approved. So it’s actually more incumbent upon the people selling home devices to show efficacy. You have to trust the people who are selling them.”
“LED is real, but it’s probably not optimized yet,” Dr. Kilmer said.
With light therapy, various factors help determine the amount of light your skin needs: the light’s strength, the distance from the skin, the length of time the device is used on the skin, and the natural color of your skin.
“Some of these lights on the market are very weak, and they may not have enough energy output to actually have a biological effect,” Dr. Jagdeo said. “Imagine a glow stick. It produces a color. But you could shine it on your face all day, and it’s not going to change the way your skin works.”
Moreover, the medical community hasn’t determined the standardized dose for treating skin conditions such as hyperpigmentation and acne at home. Dr. Marmur chose her MMSphere dosing on Blu-U, an in-office blue light typically used as an alternative therapy for precancerous lesions.
“Consistent Sphere treatment for seven weeks will equal the energy given in the office with the Blu-U,” she said.
Another device, the Dr. Dennis Gross DRx SpectraLite FaceWare Pro, $435, releases red and blue light in a mask format, with each session lasting only three minutes. The mask’s LEDs are in contact with the skin, which may be a more effective treatment.
Dr. Jagdeo said, “This is a tremendously undertapped area in medicine. But LED light therapy is going to revolutionize the way home medical treatment is delivered for skin care over the next 10 to 15 years.”
If you’re considering developing your own LED facial mask, at Kayian Medical, our team of experts knows what they’re doing. We developed the Aduro mask, the top facial mask in the beauty industry with celebrities such as Julia Robert fans of the Aduro Mask. For more information, visit https://www.aduroled.com/.
