Cryogenic Therapy
A medical and generally therapeutic procedure based on the short-term contact of the skin surface with the gas cooled to the temperature of -180ºC to -120º C. The duration of the contact is considerably important. Since the skin surface has to be cooled to the temperature low than 0º C (32º F) for at least 90 sec., the time of the therapeutic treatment should last from 2 to 3 minutes.
The procedure consists of a person immersing up to the neck into the gas (atmosphere) cooled to –130º -180º C. The temperature and the length of the procedure are selected depending on the characteristics of the skin. The procedure affects only the thin layer of skin where thermal receptors are located, while the rest of the body does not experience a substantial overcooling.
Cryogenic physical therapy provides an intensive stimulation of the immune and endocrine systems, increases the endorphins level in the blood, and blocks painful sensations of any origin for hours. Therefore, the whole body experiences a positive therapeutic impact. It also promotes the improvement of peripheral and micro-blood circulation, and consequently, a release of hormones from adrenal glands and hypophysis. The cooling process affects no more then 5% of the body, i.e. the parts that safely endure the variations of temperature. Thus, cryotherapy works as a certain stimulation of the body without exhaustion of its resources.
The most commonly shown effects of the cryotherapy are analgesic, anti-swelling, anti-inflammatory, relaxing, and overall rejuvenating, which as a combination, have a profound health improving impact that cannot be overestimated. The stimulation of skin receptors and the cooling of the skin surface are so rapid and extreme that the body response is not directed as much towards thermal regulation, as to activating the adaptation mechanisms, including hypothalamus, hypophysis, nervous, adrenal, immune, and other systems. Without interfering with the main functional mechanisms of the body, a short-term exposure to cryogenic temperatures triggers a chain of physiological reactions responding to all phases of (thermal) stress, which in its turn, activates all physical reserves of the body.
Pomeranian University Cryotherapy
World Wide Cryogenic Research
CryoUSA Cryogenic Research
Cryogenic Technical Data
Bio & Neuro Feedback
When you raise your hand to wave hello to a friend, or lift your knee to take another step on the Stairmaster, you control these actions. Other body functions -- like heart rate, skin temperature, and blood pressure -- are controlled involuntarily by your nervous system. You don't think about making your heart beat faster. It just happens in response to your environment, like when you're nervous, excited, or exercising.
One technique can help you gain more control over these normally involuntary functions. It's called biofeedback, and the therapy is used to help prevent or treat conditions, including migraine headaches, chronic pain, incontinence, and high blood pressure.
The idea behind biofeedback is that, by harnessing the power of your mind and becoming aware of what's going on inside your body, you can gain more control over your health.
How Does Biofeedback Therapy Work?
Researchers have found that biofeedback promotes relaxation, which can help relieve a number of conditions that are related to stress. During a biofeedback session, electrodes or finger sensors are attached to your skin. These electrodes/sensors send signals to a monitor, which displays a sound, flash of light, or image that represents your heart and breathing rate, blood pressure, skin temperature, sweating, or muscle activity.
When you're under stress, these functions change. Your heart rate speeds up, your muscles tighten, your blood pressure rises, you start to sweat, and your breathing quickens. You can see these stress responses as they happen on the monitor, and then get immediate feedback as you try to stop them. Our biofeedback therapist helps you practice relaxation exercises, which you fine-tune to control different body functions. For example, you might use a relaxation technique to turn down the brainwaves that activate when you have a headache.
Source: BCIA.org
Virtual Reality Therapy
Virtual reality (VR) has been used for decades as a tool for therapists to administer virtual reality exposure therapy (VRET) in a safe and controlled manner. Due to cost and technology limitations, it has not been widely available, to date. With the advent of affordable mobile VR headsets, such as the Gear VR, there is a new opportunity to apply telemedicine to decentralize mental health treatment, reaching more patients and improving lives around the world.
Briefly, CBT is a psychotherapeutic treatment administered by a therapist trained in mental health disorders and specifically in CBT. Patients typically attend a limited number of sessions that focus on a specific problem, helping the patient identify, recognize and change disturbing thought patterns and feelings that are leading to negative or destructive beliefs and behaviors. There often is an avoidance behavior that stems from the anxiety.
For example, if a person spends a lot of time thinking about plane crashes and accidents, they might avoid air travel. Or if they worry about how others perceive them in public, they may avoid social situations and become isolated, leading to depression and other issues.
CBT can be thought of as a set of tools one can use to overcome these limitations, providing a way to cope with their thoughts and feelings effectively. CBT goes hand in hand with ET, which gradually encourages patients to face the troubling thoughts and fears directly. Over time, this effectively lowers the peak anxiety the person experiences when they are exposed to whatever causes the anxiety.
Virtual reality is now convincing enough to simulate many of these anxiety-inducing stimuli, and is a safe, controllable and effective way to conduct various types of ET and CBT. Although ET is an obvious fit with VR, there are many other psychiatric conditions, such as childhood developmental disorders and autism, where VR may play a more dominant role in the future.