Final answer:
Cryotherapy is a cold treatment method used to alleviate pain from DOMS, believed to work by reducing inflammation and numbing sore tissues. It decreases blood flow and swelling, slows pain signal transmission, and increases endorphin production.
Step-by-step explanation:
Cryotherapy is a treatment method that involves the use of cold temperatures to treat certain conditions, including delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). DOMS is characterized by pain or discomfort in the muscles that typically occurs one to three days after intense exercise, due to microscopic tears in the muscle fibers. While once attributed to the buildup of lactic acid, this theory has been dismissed as lactic acid is cleared from the muscle tissue too quickly to be the cause of pain that lasts for several days.
The primary belief now is that cryotherapy helps with DOMS by reducing inflammation and numbing sore tissues, which can bring about pain relief. It is thought that the cold temperatures cause blood vessels to constrict and reduce blood flow to the affected area, consequently decreasing swelling and inflammation. This process can also slow the transmission of pain signals to the brain, which might reduce the overall sensation of pain.
Furthermore, cryotherapy can stimulate the release of endorphins, which are natural painkillers produced by the body, providing another level of pain relief. Although cryotherapy can be applied in varying forms such as ice packs, coolant sprays, ice massage, and whole-body cryo chambers, the principle of therapeutic cold application remains the same.