What is Cryo Recovery Suite?

A plain explanation of what we do, in the order you would probably ask about it.

The short version

Cryo Recovery Suite applies controlled cold to painful joints and soft tissue, in short sessions, as part of a planned programme with a registered practitioner.

That is the whole of it. There is no medication, no needle and no procedure. You come in, you are assessed, the cold is applied to the area you have agreed on, and you leave.

What cold therapy actually means

Applying cold to a painful or swollen area is one of the oldest things in medicine and it is still routine advice today. The NHS, writing about osteoarthritis, says that applying hot or cold packs to the joints can relieve the pain and symptoms in some people.

What is different here is the delivery, not the principle. A bag of frozen peas warms up within a minute or two, is awkward to hold in place, and gives you no control at all over the temperature at the skin. Our equipment holds a set temperature for a set time, applied to a specific area, with the same dose every session.

We are not going to tell you that makes it work better. Nobody has shown that, and we deal with it honestly on our evidence page. What consistency certainly does give you is a fair test — it is the only way to tell whether something is doing anything for you, because every session is the same session.

The equipment

We use a mobile localised cold-therapy unit with a handheld applicator.

• Targeted, not whole-body. There is no chamber and you do not get into anything. The applicator is worked over one area at a time — a knee, a shoulder, an elbow, an Achilles.
• It is kept moving. The applicator is not held still. There is a specified direction of movement for each treatment and the practitioner follows it.
• A protective product goes on first. The applicator never touches bare skin.
• Working temperature down to −10°C, set by the practitioner for you and the area being worked on.
• Short. Depending on the area, an application runs from a few minutes to about a quarter of an hour — not the whole appointment.
• Nothing enters the body. No injection, no needle, no incision.

The four stages of every visit

1. Assess

   We discuss your condition thoroughly — the effects it is having on your daily living, and your hopes and expectations.

2. Target

   We agree a treatment plan together, aimed at the pain that matters most to you, and at where the benefit is likely to be greatest.

3. Treat

   Specialist-led localised cold therapy, delivered to the affected area.

4. Review

   An immediate review afterwards, follow-up between visits, and preparation for the next appointment.

What happens in a session

An appointment is 45 minutes. The cold itself is a small part of it.

• Arrival and check-in. How has it been since last time, has anything changed, any new medication, any reaction to the last session.
• The skin check. We look at the area before anything is switched on, and clean it with lukewarm water.
• The application. The protective product goes on, then a few minutes to about a quarter of an hour of controlled cold, worked over the area. Your practitioner stays with you throughout.
• Afterwards. We check the skin and note anything worth recording.
• The record. Your practitioner writes up the area treated, the temperature, the time, the product used and how you found it.

There is no recovery time and you can drive afterwards.

How often, and for how long. Programmes typically run somewhere between one and ten sessions, and never more than three in a week. Your practitioner suggests a shape at your assessment and reviews it as you go.

What we claim, and what we do not

We think you are owed a straight answer, because a lot of cold-therapy marketing does not give you one.

What we will tell you

• Exactly what happens in a session, and what it costs.
• What the published research has found — including the studies with disappointing results.
• Whether, in your practitioner’s clinical judgement, this is a sensible thing for you to try.
• What we are recording about your progress, and what it shows.

What we will not tell you

• That cold therapy will reduce your pain. Some people find it helps; how much, and for whom, is not settled.
• That it cures arthritis or reverses joint damage. It does not, and we do not claim it.
• That it replaces established medical treatment. Where your symptoms need medical assessment or conventional treatment, keep seeking it.
• That our equipment works better than a cold pack. There is no evidence for that.

The UK advertising regulator’s published position is that it has yet to see convincing evidence that cryotherapy is effective. We would rather quote that to you ourselves than have you find it later.

So why would anyone come?

Because not proven is not the same as no good, and because the list of options for long-term joint pain is fairly short.

The current NICE guideline for osteoarthritis in over-16s (NG226) puts therapeutic exercise, weight management where relevant, and topical anti-inflammatories at the centre of care — and recommends against a whole set of electrotherapies. Cold and heat are not in that do-not-offer list. The American College of Rheumatology’s osteoarthritis guideline goes slightly further and conditionally recommends thermal interventions for small improvements in pain and function.

Add to that an assessment by a registered practitioner who will tell you if it is not for you, and a record that shows whether anything is actually changing. That is the honest case. If it is enough for you, come and be assessed. If it is not, we would rather you kept your money.

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