Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 11, 2026
Manual Therapy for a Chronic Non-Specific Low Back Pain Rat Model
Published on: August 11, 2023
[Whole-body cryotherapy for low back pain]
Alexander Schuh1, Achim Benditz2, Philipp Koehl3
1Sektion Muskuloskelettale Forschung, Klinik für Orthopädie und Unfallchirurgie, Klinikum Fichtelgebirge, Schillerhain 1-8, 95615, Marktredwitz, Deutschland. A.Schuh@Klinikum-Fichtelgebirge.de.
Background:
Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) is a cold treatment with temperatures ranging from -60 °C to -180 °C and was first used in 1980 by Yamauchi in Japan to treat rheumatoid arthritis. Outside Japan, this therapeutic method was first used in Germany in 1984. An air temperature of -120 to -110 °C cools the skin surface to as low as 5 °C, but does not change core body temperature.
Mode Of Function:
The cold stimulates the Aδ afferents thermally and inhibits the transmission of pain signals via the C-nerve fiber system from the spinal cord to the brain (information from the thermoreceptors and nociceptors has the same afferent pathways in the spinal cord-"conduction competition"). Furthermore, the Aδ afferent influx in the central nervous system (cortex, limbic system, thalamus) influences pain assessment and pain perception with corresponding efferent effects. In addition, WBC causes biochemical, hormonal, and immunomodulatory changes as well as accompanying muscle relaxation.
Application Spectrum:
WBC is increasingly being used in the treatment of back pain, fibromyalgia syndrome, and depression. Back pain, fibromyalgia syndrome, and depression often occur together. WBC is a component of multimodal treatment for back pain, especially when fibromyalgia syndrome or depression is also present.
