When the word “sauna” is recalled, the word “cryo” (from Greek kryos – cold, frost, ice) gives goose bumps. When you first hear “cryosauna,” it is difficult for the brain to connect these two opposites into one.
Meanwhile cryosauna exists, and the course of procedures of freezing becomes very popular way of influence on an organism in cosmetology and even in medicine. The correspondent of SE was not afraid of low temperatures and shared her impressions.
What is cryosauna? This sauna on the contrary – instead of the heat it uses very cold air. And not just cold, but unearthly temperatures – 150-170 degrees below zero. So my excitement before the procedure and doubt – whether I need to climb into it, I think, are quite understandable.
Initially, cryosauna was treated with rheumatism. For the first time the device was used in Japan in 1978. Therapy showed good results. Then the experience of the Japanese adopted in Germany (they began to use the device in 1984).
In Russia, cryosauna was developed by the dean of the St. Petersburg State University of Refrigeration and Food Technology Baranov A. Yu. The first experimental chamber was created in the institute, which was put into use in 1998 in one of the sanatoria of the city of Gelendzhik. Later, an effective effect was established in the treatment of allergies, all skin diseases, neurodermatitis. It turned out that visiting the cryosauna increases the activity of the immune system, compensates for hormonal problems, has a powerful corrective effect in alcohol and drug abstinence.
Nor could doctors notice the cosmetic effect of the procedure – the course of visits to cryosauna tightens the skin, makes it more elastic, and, of course, struggles with excess weight (1000 kilocalories burned per minute).
Many miracles have been written about these miracles of cryosauna. Although, honestly, I was not interested in the effect of the deep freeze, but what is it like to stand for a minute at a temperature like on the dark side of the moon? In addition, as it turned out, it raises the mood, which in any case is pleasant.
To take an invigorating procedure, I went to the wellness center “Effect”. On the phone, the administrator asked me if I was with their doctor. It turned out that before you get into the freezer, you need to find out if there are any contraindications. And those are hypertension, oncological diseases, tuberculosis, acute infections, some gynecological diseases. By the way, in the adhesion process cryosauna, on the contrary, is shown.
At the consultation, the doctor inquired about my ailments and did not find anything that would prevent me from frostbite. She also told about her impressions from the first course of visiting cryosauna. I remember most of all that by the end of the procedure, according to the doctor’s statement, the nervous system comes to the fullest rate.
What happens in the cryosauna? In an extreme situation, the vessels shrink sharply, and after they leave the booth, they expand dramatically. Metabolism becomes better, all processes begin to flow more actively.
I was taken to the office, where there was an apparatus resembling a vertical solarium. While I was undressing, the unit was noisy, warming up, that is, cooling.
Undress completely, put on your socks brought with you and soft slippers given out there, so as not to frostbite your legs. And it’s not a joke.
The doctor decided that for the first time I had enough to spend a minute and a half in cryosauna. I poured steam from the booth, a milky color, into which I stepped, closing my eyes. It was so cold inside that the skin refused to perceive such a temperature. Extreme feeling was felt by every cell of the body. And the body reacted unexpectedly – waves of very pleasant sensations spilled over it. You can not breathe the steam, but you can, holding your nose, sit down in the thick of it, so that the frosty vapor gets on your face and transforms it. One and a half minutes passed in a very intense, bright flash. At the last seconds the body began to grow numb, and when it seemed to me that the consciousness was about to leave me, the cabin doors opened.
The mirror reflected a frightened, trembling creature. It seemed to me that I cringed twice. But with every second of the thawing, it was a feeling that I myself and everything around blossoms.
The mood really improved. However, it fell a little when it became clear that the obligatory consultation of a doctor (250 rubles) was worth more than the procedure itself (100 rubles). Well and in the rest it is similar to how after a bath you dive in a snow. Or vice versa.
Pleasant tingling on the skin for a long time did not pass, fatigue was not felt even in the late evening, and the dream did not take long to wait and during the night did not interrupt. The extreme condition benefited the skin as well – immediately after the procedure it seemed to me that it was stretched all over the body, like on a drum. This is a great gym for her. I think that after ten procedures (so many contain the course), the state of health and skin condition really improve.
