Cold Perspectives: Advancements and Applications of Cryotherapy in Clinical Settings

Dear Colleagues,

Prolonged or repeated cold exposure in humans causes physiological changes occurring in the endocrine, circulatory, neuromuscular, and immunological systems. The application of cold for therapeutic purposes is regularly referred to as cryotherapy and is restricted to the therapeutic use of cold in the management of painful conditions, a centuries-old practice that has already been used by the ancient Greeks. Cryotherapy varies depending on the medium used to achieve the desired purposes: immersion in cold water, the use of ice, or exposure to cold air. Nowadays, partial, local, or whole-body cold exposure is growing significantly and is widely used in the context of sports medicine after physical exercise to reduce effort-related pro-inflammatory responses, to relieve exercise-associated muscle soreness, damage, fatigue, and inflammation, and enhance muscle post-exercise recovery. 

However, a growing body of work has suggested that cryotherapy could play a role as a promising adjuvant therapy under various conditions of rehabilitation interest. In fact, it is currently being used to relieve symptoms in rheumatoid arthritis, fibromyalgia, ankylosing spondylitis, depression, anxiety, multiple sclerosis, sleep disturbances, muscle soreness after strenuous physical exercise, post-COVID-19 syndrome, and obesity. Therefore, we believe that it is important to highlight the potential use of cryotherapy for medical purposes and emphasize its relevance in the field of rehabilitation with the aim of stimulating scientific studies on its efficacy as an adjuvant treatment in various conditions of rehabilitation interest.

The aim of this Special Issue is to publish manuscripts in the form of original research articles, reviews, etc. Authors are encouraged to present their results and discuss original ideas and hypotheses in this field. We expect to stimulate discussions on fundamental questions that can be translated into the clinical context.

Dr. Jacopo Maria Fontana
Guest Editor

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