Imagine, getting inside an open-ended capsule chamber that looks like something between a space-ship and a stand-alone shower, where you get down with your clothes off and spend 3 minutes while it is a freezing -130-degree Celsius temperature inside. If the temperature alone has caught your attention, then it is not a big surprise.  This freezing cold capsule is a Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC) chamber, where a person is subjected to a burst of chilled air–with temperatures between -110 Celsius to -150 Celsius –every thirty seconds for about 2-4 minutes, putting the body into a thermal shock, as a treatment for injury or diseases.

The cold blast sends a signal to the brain that the body is in danger of freezing. The brains react by rushing blood flow from the limbs to the vital organs to keep them warm. This boosts both the immune system as well as metabolism.

The therapy is now gaining popularity across the world, in the field of sports, fitness, medical and beauty. Cryotherapy, also known as cryosurgery is being around for 30 years, quite popular among athletes in Europe and Japan. 

Application of ice packs to injured body parts, caused while playing sports or similar physical activity, is a norm. The ice packs are effective in relieving inflammation and controlling blood flow in the affected body part. The ice pack is a small part of the bigger picture of cold therapy or cryotherapy. In sports medicine today, cryotherapy or cold therapy is an established practice.  Athletes use the therapy for two purposes–to stimulate the body before exercise but also as a recovery tool to relieve pain or inflammation.

Tata Steels Sports Academy, in Jamshedpur, which has been a pioneer platform for advancement and promotion of sports, helping the industrial city in earning the moniker of the ‘Sports capital of Jharkhand’, has recently signed Bonphul Medsys, the sister company of Bonphul Air Products as supplier for Whole Body Cryotherapic Chambers, for its trainee athletes to benefit from the therapy.

Bonphul Medsys is a decade-old, healthcare-equipment company from New Delhi, who has been a trusted provider of top-notch healthcare equipment.