Infrared Sauna, Cryo and Compression Therapy, at GoCryo!

I wanted to give you everyone insight on all these trending health therapies- cryotherapy, infrared sauna and compression therapy… Do they really work? Are they worth the time and investment? My short answer is yes, and here is why.

I got the chance to visit GoCryo, a local cryotherapy spot in Clairemont which is centreal San Diego . Upon first entering, I was overwhelmed with a sense of ease as the place was clean and nicely decorated. We were greeted quickly and taken care of by a personal assistant that made us feel very welcome and put all our (my) worries at ease. She mentioned that it didn’t really matter what order we do the therapies, it just depended on how we wanted to feel when we left the studio. If you do infrared sauna/compression therapy last, you will feel most relaxed upon leaving, whereas if you do cryo you will leave feeling energized. It was the weekend, so we decided to do compression therapy last so we could leave feeling relaxed. The order in which we chose to do these therapies was as follows: infrared sauna, cryotherapy, and then compression therapy. My experience with each of the following were as follows:

Infrared Sauna: I have always been a fan of saunas, but I had never been in one with an infrared light. The different lights provide different benefits, for example the red can make you feel relaxed and also increase libido, so naturally I chose this one. I spent 30 minutes in the sauna, breathing deeply and sweating A LOT. The sweating didn’t begin until about the 15 minute mark, because these saunas penetrate deeply from the inside out. After about 30 minutes, I was fully drenched and felt amazing afterwards. The benefits from using these infrared saunas are: detoxification, weight loss, improved blood circulation and blood pressure, pain relief, relaxation, skin purification, and more. I definitely felt the detoxification effects immediately, and I am excited to see how the other benefits unfold as I do more sessions.

 

Whole Body Cryotherapy: This was my first time doing cryotherapy, and it definitely was interesting! For those of you who don’t know what cryotherapy is, you are basically freezing your whole body for a short period of time. You enter a chamber in which temperatures drop to about -245 degrees, for 3 minutes. As the body warms back up, there is increased blood flow throughout the body, which helps in muscle repair, reduces inflammation, and helps with a general sense of overall well-being. As I entered the chamber, I was nervous and it didn’t really start to get too cold (since I was just in the sauna) until about 1 minute and 30 seconds in. Liquid nitrogen comes out of the chamber to increase chilliness, and it is perfectly safe to breathe in, but I had to make sure I was breathing more oxygen than nitrogen. I also rotated every 20 seconds to make sure one area didn’t get too cold. It’s hard to think under these conditions, but I just breathed to stay mentally calm. When it was over, I took my gloves and socks off (which you put on to make sure your extremities don’t freeze) and went out of the chamber. My body was red, and I felt a sort of euphoria as blood rushed back into my muscles. I felt like I could run a marathon! How crazy. Other benefits of cryotherapy include: relief of chronic pain and fatigue, accelerated recovery, increased collagen production for healthier skin, boosted immune system, accelerated metabolism, and natural biological regeneration. So amazing! I am definitely excited to try this one again.

Compression Therapy: After both the sauna and cryotherapy, we headed to compression therapy. This is such a new space that I haven’t really heard of until recently, but it is really promising. During compression therapy, you basically put on these funny looking boots that zip up and inflate and deflate for about 30 minutes (it feels like someone is taking your blood pressure on your legs). Those 30 minutes were really relaxing! The benefits of this therapy include: increased blood circulation, relief of muscle tension, reduced pain and soreness, and recovery aid. I can’t wait to try these out after a hard workout.

After all of these therapies, I felt very relaxed. Overall, my experience at GoCryo made me want to come back for more. I can’t wait to come back and do this on a weekly basis! Feel free to book online at www.gocryosd.com/booknow/ or call/text 858.255.0699