If you struggle with things like chronic pain, poor mood, or sore muscles, you may be a candidate for cold water therapy. Immersing the body in cold water is becoming a popular treatment method that can address a number of concerns.
Cold water therapy is an innovative treatment approach that involves submerging yourself in freezing cold water for a predetermined amount of time. Cold water therapy can be used long-term for chronic conditions or in short sessions for things like sports injuries or muscle recovery.
The Benefits of Cold Water Therapy
Cold water therapy is growing in popularity because it offers a variety of benefits. The following are just three of the most notable advantages patients experience with cold water treatments.
Muscle Recovery
If you want to speed up muscle recovery after a game or intense workout, stepping into an ice bath could help. Research shows that cold water immersion may delay the onset of muscle soreness after exercising.
Pain Relief
Another potential use for cold water therapy is as a pain reliever. When used in a physical therapy setting, cold water immersion has been shown to lower inflammation and reduce chronic or acute pain.
Improved Mood
One of the lesser-known benefits of cold water therapy is as a mood elevator. Studies have shown that cold water immersion could be linked to an increase in dopamine, the neurotransmitter in your brain that makes you feel happier.
Seeking Cold Water Therapy
While it may be an effective treatment method for several concerns, cold water therapy is still considered an unconventional approach in certain circumstances. Before starting cold water therapy, discuss the details with your regular physician to determine whether this is the right course of action for you.
Your bones are essential for providing your body with support and stability, especially as you age. When you get older, you are more susceptible to conditions that can weaken bones and make them more prone to breakage.
Keeping your bones healthy throughout your life will strengthen them in old age and make you less likely to develop conditions like osteoporosis. Take a look at these tips for healthier bones.
Increase Calcium Intake
One of the best ways to strengthen your bones is to increase your calcium intake. Many people are deficient in calcium, and it puts them at a higher risk of osteoporosis and other conditions that weaken bones. You can increase your calcium intake by adding more whole milk, yogurt, and calcium supplements to your diet.
Stay Active
You don’t need to perform strenuous exercises or intense workouts. A daily walk, swimming, or even playing golf are all good ways to remain physically active.
People who lead a sedentary lifestyle tend to have weaker bones than those who get regular exercise. To strengthen your bones and reduce the risk of osteoporosis, you should strive to stay active throughout your whole life.
Quit Smoking
Research has suggested that smoking cigarettes can increase your risk of bone breakage or developing osteoporosis. To help yourself maintain strong, healthy bones, it’s better to quit smoking as soon as possible.
Decrease Alcohol Consumption
In addition to tobacco products, alcohol can increase your risk of developing osteoporosis. For stronger, healthier bones, you should try to keep your drinking to a minimum.
Keep Hormones in Check
Some instances of weak bones and osteoporosis are linked to hormone imbalances. Getting your hormone levels regularly checked and ruling out thyroid conditions can help you keep strong bones for your entire life.
Spinal cord injury (SCI) often results in damage to the spinal cord or the nerves found within the spinal column. Currently estimated to affect over 17,000 new patients each year in the United States, with 81% of these patients being male, the most common causes of SCIs are motor vehicle accidents, falls, acts of violence, and sports/recreational activities.
Current SCI treatment methods are unable to support the regeneration of the spinal cord and often lead to permanent nerve damage that affects motor and sensory function. The nature of SCI injuries often leaves patients unable to function at pre-injury levels and results in significant impacts on issues related to physical, mental, and socioeconomic health.
As more is learned about the potential benefits of regenerative medicine in the regeneration and repair of damaged cells and tissue, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have emerged as potential candidates for the therapy management of SCIs; primarily because of their ability to release bioactive factors, their antiapoptotic effects, ability to inhibit scaring, and their ability to produce angiogenic effects.
Fracaro et al.’s review provides information about the damage from primary and secondary events after SCI, traditional treatments, and results of pre-clinical and clinical trials examining the use of MSCs as an SCI-tissue regeneration strategy.
Before sustaining an SCI, a wide range of inflammatory cells – all except for microglia – are found in blood vessels and throughout the spinal cord. Upon injury, it is common to observe immediate neuronal and glial death at the site of the injury followed by the development of an inflammatory process in the vascular and medullary region; it is this secondary response that results in the deterioration of the spinal cord and a general worsening of the condition. In the weeks and months following injury, remaining neutrophils and lymphocytes are found in the intravascular region, inactivated microglia remain in white matter, and macrophages are found in gray matter.
Traditional SCI treatments have demonstrated an inability to completely regenerate nervous tissue. Most of these traditional treatment methods attempt to reduce side effects and protect injured nerve tissue. Commonly used SCI treatments frequently include decompression surgery to relieve pressure and reduce hypoxia and ischemia; intravenous application of methylprednisolone sodium succinate (MPSS) to inhibit lipid peroxidation; neuroprotective agents to reduce cell dysfunction and death; and electrostimulation as a way to inhibit inflammation and reduce secondary injuries.
Despite the different techniques mentioned above, cell-based therapy is the only promising treatment aimed at regeneration. Stromal cells, and specifically MSCs, have demonstrated the potential for self-regeneration, differentiation, and immunomodulation. Although research has yet to determine exactly how MSCs promote functional recovery after SCI, they are widely thought to work through secreting different factors and biomolecules. MSCs have also demonstrated the ability to reduce inflammation, which is a very common secondary event occurring after SCI trauma.
The authors conclude this review by pointing out that a better understanding of the regenerative effects of stromal cells in the nervous system is required in order for the future development of cell-based therapies for patients with SCI.
Once you recover from an initial pain from an injury, dealing with the lengthy recovery time required before you can fully resume your regular activities can become challenging. Regenerative medicine may be able to offer faster, more complete healing to help restore function after an injury and have you back on your feet more quickly.
What Is Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine is an emerging field of care that focuses on amplifying the body’s natural healing abilities to restore damaged or diseased cells and tissues. Treatments such as stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma offer a minimally invasive way to expedite healing after an injury.
Stem Cell Therapy
Stem cells lie dormant in the body until there is a need to replace or repair specialized cells. Stem cells can divide infinitely and have the unique capability to differentiate or separate to create specialized cells, such as brain cells or muscle cells.
For example, if you tear a ligament in your knee, stem cells have the capability to differentiate into the cells necessary to repair your injured ligament. Stem cell therapy introduces a high concentration of those cells into the area, accelerating the healing process.
Platelet-Rich Plasma (PRP)
The platelets in your blood serve as the body’s first responders when you experience a wound. While it’s common knowledge that platelets provide necessary clotting to stop you from losing excessive blood from a small cut, they also contain critical growth factors, proteins, and bioactive lipids that foster repair and recovery.
Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) comes from your blood. After a standard blood draw, the sample goes into a centrifuge, where it is separated into PRP, platelet-poor plasma, and red and white blood cells. A physician then can administer the PRP into the injury site to stimulate the healing process and enhance its outcome.
What Conditions Can Benefit from Regenerative Medicine?
Regenerative medicine can help manage a wide range of painful or slow-healing conditions, including:
Sprains and strains
Tendinitis
Pulled muscles
ACL tears
Fractures
Rotator cuff injuries
Fractures
Meniscus tears
Additionally, many sports medicine physicians offer regenerative medicine treatments to speed up surgery recovery or slow the progression of degenerative conditions.
Regenerative medicine provides an option to explore that may potentially allow you to quickly return to normal activities while amplifying your body’s healing process. For those who struggle to slow down as they recuperate, regenerative medicine offers a beneficial solution for a faster, more comprehensive recovery.
Regenerative medicine, also known as stem cell therapy, uses the body’s natural healing response to promote tissue regeneration and repair. While the field is still developing, its benefits span many applications, from treating chronic illnesses to restoring function after sports injuries.
The most common treatments in regenerative medicine are stem cell therapy and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). Both methodologies start with the patients’ cells, genuinely capitalizing on self-healing and offering surprising benefits.
Alleviating Chronic Pain
Stem cell and PRP therapy introduce healing cells into damaged areas. Those cells can reduce inflammation, build new tissue, and prevent scar tissue from forming.
Patients might see the most benefits from using these therapies to alleviate pain from soft tissue injuries, including sprained ligaments, torn tendons, and strained muscles. In addition, new research shows promise for the treatment of degenerative conditions, such as osteoarthritis and degenerative disc disease.
Reduce the Use of Long-Term Medications
Traditional medical solutions for injuries or chronic pain include pain relievers or corticosteroid injections. Unfortunately, prolonged or excessive use of some medications harms your overall health.
Additionally, corticosteroid injections can cause more damage to your cartilage, tendons, nerves, and joints, despite temporarily alleviating pain symptoms.
Regenerative medicine treatments aim to heal the underlying cause of pain, not temporarily mask symptoms, reducing patients’ reliance on medications for relief.
Improve Healing Speed
Specific tissues and injuries take longer to heal than others. For example, the body’s healing process slows with age, lengthening the recovery period even for minor injuries. In addition, more severe injuries often take longer to heal.
Generally, slow-healing injuries are those that affect tissues with little blood supply, such as tendons or cartilage. Since platelets and stem cells travel through the blood to promote healing, injuries to these tissues take longer to recover.
Supplying damaged tissue with an extra boost of growth factors through PRP or stem cell therapy can help speed up the healing process.
Low Risk of Side Effects
When possible, regenerative treatment start with the patient’s own healing cells. As the treatment comes from the patient, there is little risk of rejection, infection, scarring, or heavy bleeding.
Overall Resilience and Strengthening
The effects of regenerative medicine can support long-term health and resilience. These treatments can potentially continue to strengthen the treated area even after healing as the tissues become more resilient and robust.
Regenerative medicine offers versatile, minimally invasive options to restore damaged tissue for more comprehensive healing. As science continues to develop these treatments, many patients are already enjoying the benefits of regenerative medicine. To learn more about the benefits of regenerative medicine, contact us today!
This website and its contents are not intended to treat, cure, diagnose, or prevent any disease. Stemedix, Inc. shall not be held liable for the medical claims made by patient testimonials or videos. They are not to be viewed as a guarantee for each individual. The efficacy for some products presented have not been confirmed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
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