The University of Georgia Athletic Association will give its student-athletes a competitive advantage by offering access to a new state-of-the-art whole body cryotherapy chamber from Atlanta-based Impact Cryotherapy, a national leader in designing and manufacturing whole body cryotherapy systems.

“For decades, ice baths have been the recovery therapy of choice for collegiate and professional athletes”

Cryotherapy is used worldwide by athletes and others to maintain fitness and increase energy. Whole body cryotherapy helps to prepare for competition, recover faster from workouts and train harder.

Ron Courson, Senior Associate Athletic Director for Sports Medicine, said, “Our student-athletes in all sports train extremely hard, and recovery is a critical part of our overall program. Whole body cooling is new technology which provides an outstanding recovery option. We are excited about the capabilities with this new technology for our student-athletes, not only just with recovery but with treatment and rehabilitation as well.”

The athlete stands inside the chamber during treatment on an adjustable platform, which ensures their head remains outside the chamber. The Impact Cryotherapy chamber is filled with nitrogen vapor, which drops the temperature to a range of (minus) -120°C to -140°C and temporarily lowers the temperature of the skin’s top layer. This treatment lasts a maximum of three minutes. Once out of the chamber, the body immediately reheats.

“For decades, ice baths have been the recovery therapy of choice for collegiate and professional athletes,” said Richard E. Otto, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of Impact Cryotherapy. “Rather than endure 20 minutes in a tub of ice water, they can spend three minutes in our whole body cryotherapy chamber to achieve better, faster results. Athletes love it!”

Extreme cold has been used to treat inflammation for centuries; that’s the idea behind immersing the body in an ice bath. In the 1970s in Japan, cryotherapy treatments were used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, and that spread to Europe, which developed the whole body cryotherapy systems in use today. Impact Cryotherapy’s American-designed and American-manufactured system has quickly become the system of choice for professional athletic teams, including numerous recent installations in the NFL, NBA, MLB and NHL.