Does whole-body cryotherapy actually work for your health?

Triglycerides drop measurably after repeated WBC sessions, and LDL and total cholesterol also appear to decrease. That is the finding of a summary of seven studies. But the researchers themselves caution: the studies were small and the treatments differed so greatly from one another that you cannot simply add up the results. People with a lower BMI seemed to notice more of an effect. These are therefore preliminary signals, not firm conclusions.

For athletes who want to recover quickly after training or competition, WBC falls short. Cold-water immersion does show better results in that context. WBC adds little for athletic recovery on this point.

Following knee surgery (ACL reconstruction), there is some evidence that WBC reduces pain and lowers the use of painkillers. The certainty of that evidence is, however, low. In broader orthopaedic practice, for conditions such as osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia, outcomes are mixed and weakly supported. Side effects have also been reported: frostbite of the skin and temporarily reduced muscle strength.

In a small study of 22 participants with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, improvements in fatigue and concentration were largely maintained four weeks after the end of treatment. At the same time, so many participants dropped out that the results must be interpreted with caution.

A practical obstacle in all WBC research: treatments vary enormously between studies in temperature, duration and number of sessions. This makes it difficult to compare results or to know which protocol you need. Finally, the well-established cooling of newborns after oxygen deprivation to the brain is an entirely different matter from commercial WBC. The two should not be lumped together.