Cryotherapy In The City

If you have been working hard to maintain that beach body all summer but are beginning to feel the effects in the form of muscle and joint pain, we suggest heading over to Cryo World to give your ailments the cold shoulder.
Cryotherapy exposes the body to extremely low temperatures between -110°C and -150°C degrees Celsius. Nitrogen vapours create this massive drop in temperature and stimulate the body’s temperature receptors prompting the brain to withdraw blood to core organs and activate the immune system. The body boosts histamine and serotonin levels, which have the effect of reducing inflammation. The production of type three collagen is also activated, which improves skin elasticity and reduces cellulite, according to the boffins over at Cryo World.
 
After becoming popular with sports teams and athletes in the West, Cryo World decided to bring cryotherapy to China, starting with Shanghai and Beijing, offering three types of procedures; whole body, local and facials.
Before starting our whole body cryotherapy treatment, we were instructed to take off all our clothes (men must keep on their underwear), put on tube socks, insulated shoes and gloves, and make sure that our bodies were completely dry before stepping into the machine.
 
We were a little scared before entering the upturned coffinlooking cooling machine, but were told to think of it as a very cold sauna. Seeing as we don’t think twice about exposing ourselves to extreme temperatures in a confined space for a few minutes in swanky hotel gyms, we decided to give it a go; safe in the knowledge that the highly trained professionals knew what they were doing.
Whole body treatments (starting at RMB 350 per session) last between two to three minutes, depending on stamina, and we were advised to keep moving within the chamber while the nitrogen vapours poured in. It was freezing cold but, surprisingly, not uncomfortably so. Upon finishing the treatment, skin was left slightly red as we readjusted to room temperature, and we did notice during the day that we felt more energetic. This, we were told, was due to a boost the treatment gave us in mitochondria – the energy producing powerhouses that occur naturally in our cells. These drive our aerobic capability and help our muscles become more fatigue resistant. 
We also tried a localised facial treatment (from RMB 350 for one session), which lasted for around 20 minutes, and involved a funnel of nitrogen vapour being directed onto our faces in varying degrees of temperature. Whilst refreshing, it also left us with immediately reduced pores and lighter, brighter skin.
 
Cryo World is offering a summer special deal until the end of September, with a whole body cryotherapy treatment for only RMB 150 during weekdays between set hours. Contact them for more info.
 
Cryo World. 667 Changhua Lu, near Anyuan Lu; 3/F, 150 Hubin Dao, near Jinan Lu. Web: www.cryo.world