I've had back and shoulder problems since puberty, and I've always joked that I had the joints of an old woman. When I was told about how cryotherapy was able to ease muscle and joint pain, I jumped at the chance to try it.

I went to the Locker Room, a small office in Minneapolis that offers cryotherapy for $35 per session. When I arrived, I met my technician right away and was given an overview of the benefits.The session could be considered a risk to those with heart and blood issues, or those who are pregnant. Since none of those applied to me, I continued on to the treatment. I was provided with a changing room, socks, gloves, slippers, and a robe. My technician brought me over to the machine and quickly gave me a run through of what would happen. I would be in the machine for two minutes, in which time my skin would get between thirty and fifty degrees. That would send a message to my brain to pull the blood in closer to the organs and send out newly oxygenated blood back into my extremities, relieving any pain there.

I was a little nervous going in, but mostly excited at the prospect of some pain relief. The website said that this treatment was a lot like an ice bath, but much quicker and didn't leave you stiff afterward. I was raised up once inside so that my head was above the top edge, and I handed my robe over to the technician. The treatment works by cooling only your skin temperature, so they more skin you leave uncovered the better. Right away and when the cold started, I felt it most on my torso. I'm usually used to feeling cold on my arms and legs, so it was a shock to be standing naked in what felt like ten degree weather. But any shock and discomfort left quickly. My technician was so amazing and talked to me the entire time so I wasn't focused on the cold and how long it was taking to be done. By the time she handed my robe back to me and lowered me back down, it had only felt like thirty seconds! Besides being chilly, my lower legs started to have the pins and needles sensation– not in a painful way; it mostly tickled. She then took my skin temperature which landed right in the middle of the desired result at 41 degrees. After about five minutes, I felt completely warm and normal again.

My body felt great afterward. I went in with pain in my arms from sleeping in a weird position, and a pain in my right knee joint for a few days, as well as the usual shoulder pain from my breasts. When I warmed up and paid attention to how I was feeling, my arm and knee pain was gone, and my shoulders felt like I had just gotten a nice massage. I was amazed that just two minutes did more for me than a half hour massage!

The treatments are pretty affordable for me, so I think that they are incredibly worthwhile and I will definitely be going back to try and work on getting out some deeper pain. If you are someone who experiences joint and muscle pain, cryotherapy might be something for you to look into. It's a quick and non-invasive way to relieve pain without breaking the bank.