Could whole-body cryotherapy (below -100°C) improve muscle recovery from muscle damage?

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

Who cites it

17 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

1. Whole-body cryotherapy (extreme cold air exposure) for preventing and treating muscle soreness after exercise in adults.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015
   Pooled it
2. Comparative Analysis of the Influence of Selected Physical Factors on the Level of Pain in the Course of Temporomandibular Joint Disorders.Pain research & management · 2020
   Trial
3. Isolated and Combined Effects of Cold, Heat and Hypoxia Therapies on Muscle Recovery Following Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage.Sports medicine (Auckland, N.Z.) · 2025
   Review
4. Effects of Partial-Body Cryotherapy on Athletic Performance and Sleep Quality in Division I Collegiate Basketball Athletes.Journal of human kinetics · 2025
   Article
5. The impact of various post-exercise interventions on the relief of delayed-onset muscle soreness: a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in physiology · 2025
   Article
6. Whole-body cryotherapy in orthopaedics: current concepts.European journal of orthopaedic surgery & traumatology : orthopedie traumatologie · 2024
   Review
7. Pre-exercise cryotherapy reduces myoglobin and creatine kinase levels after eccentric muscle stress in young women.Frontiers in physiology · 2024
   Article
8. The Comparative Effect of Different Timings of Whole Body Cryotherapy Treatment With Cold Water Immersion for Post-Exercise Recovery.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2022
   Article
9. Massage as a Mechanotherapy for Skeletal Muscle.Exercise and sport sciences reviews · 2021
   Article
10. Exercise: A Protective Measure or an "Open Window" for COVID-19? A Mini Review.Frontiers in sports and active living · 2020
    Review
11. Whole body and partial body cryotherapies - lessons from human practice and possible application for horses.BMC veterinary research · 2018
    Review
12. Post-Exercise Whole Body Cryotherapy (-140 °C) Increases Energy Intake in Athletes.Nutrients · 2018
    Article
13. Unchanged Erythrocyte Profile After Exposure to Cryogenic Temperatures in Elder Marathon Runners.Frontiers in physiology · 2018
    Article
14. Effectiveness of Two Cold Water Immersion Protocols on Neuromuscular Function Recovery: A Tensiomyography Study.Frontiers in physiology · 2018
    Article
15. Multiple cryotherapy applications attenuate oxidative stress following skeletal muscle injury.Redox report : communications in free radical research · 2017
    Article
16. Whole-Body Cryotherapy in Athletes: From Therapy to Stimulation. An Updated Review of the Literature.Frontiers in physiology · 2017
    Review
17. An attempt to improve Ferreira-Junior model concerning the anti-inflammatory action of whole-body cryotherapy after exercise induced muscular damage (EIMD).Frontiers in physiology · 2015
    Article

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

Abstract

PubMed holds no abstract for this paper.

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