Video·3 min read·May 2026

Understanding Cryotherapy: What the Latest Research Reveals

Cold Therapy • 3 min read • Based on research by Sebastien Racinais, Valentin Dablainville, Yohan Rousse, Mohammed Ihsan, Marie-Elaine Grant, Wolfgang Schobersberger, Richard Budgett, Lars Engebretsen (2024)

In the world of wellness and recovery, the search for effective therapies is ever-evolving. For athletes and active individuals alike, the use of cryotherapy—applying cold to the body for recovery—is a widely accepted practice. But how effective is it really? Recent research sheds light on the nuances of cryotherapy, prompting us to rethink its role in our recovery rituals.

As we explore the findings from a critical review published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine, we’ll break down the complex science behind cryotherapy into accessible insights. This understanding can empower you to make informed choices about your recovery protocols.

The Science Behind Cryotherapy

Cryotherapy involves cooling body tissues to reduce pain and inflammation. Traditionally, it has been believed to help with healing after injuries. The goal is to lower tissue temperature, which can temporarily alleviate pain and limit swelling. However, a recent review of 452 studies revealed a surprising conclusion: there is no substantial human evidence that cryotherapy aids in the healing of soft tissue injuries.

Most of what we know comes from animal studies. These studies suggest that while cryotherapy can provide immediate pain relief, it may actually delay muscle regeneration. This means that although you might feel better in the short-term, the long-term healing process could be compromised.

When to Use Cryotherapy

According to the research, cryotherapy may be beneficial within the first six hours following an injury. During this period, it can help manage pain and reduce the initial inflammation. However, the authors caution that using cryotherapy beyond 12 hours could interfere with the body's natural healing processes. This is an important consideration for anyone looking to integrate cold exposure into their recovery routine.

The key takeaway is to approach cryotherapy with intention. While it can serve as a useful tool for immediate pain management, relying on it as a long-term solution may not be advisable. The body’s natural inflammatory response is essential for healing, and we must respect that process.

Practical Implications for Your Recovery Rituals

Understanding the balance between immediate relief and long-term healing is crucial for developing effective recovery protocols. Incorporating cryotherapy into your routine can be beneficial, but it should not be the sole focus. Consider complementing it with other recovery methods such as gentle movement, proper nutrition, and adequate rest.

Ultimately, cultivating resilience in your body requires a holistic approach. Embrace contrast therapy—alternating between heat and cold—as a way to support your recovery while respecting the natural healing processes of your tissues.

Key Takeaways

Cryotherapy can provide short-term pain relief, but its long-term benefits for healing are unclear.
Use cryotherapy cautiously, particularly beyond the first 12 hours after an injury.
Integrate other recovery practices alongside cryotherapy for a balanced approach to healing.

Based on: Cryotherapy for treating soft tissue injuries in sport medicine: a critical review
Sebastien Racinais, Valentin Dablainville, Yohan Rousse, Mohammed Ihsan, Marie-Elaine Grant, Wolfgang Schobersberger, Richard Budgett, Lars Engebretsen (2024). British Journal of Sports Medicine

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Cryotherapy for treating soft tissue injuries in sport medicine a

The Core Claim

This paper from Racinais and colleagues, published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine in 2024, does something unusual in sports medicine: it challenges a practice so deeply embedded that most practitioners never think to question it. After screening 452 studies, the authors found exactly one human study on cryotherapy and tissue healing. One. The rest of what we know comes from animal models — and those animal models suggest that ice, applied beyond the first twelve hours after injury, may actually delay the healing we're trying to accelerate.

The RICE protocol — Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation — has been the default response to soft tissue injury since 1978. It's in every first aid kit, every coaching manual, every instinct of every parent who's watched a child roll an ankle. And it's built on a foundation that, according to this review, was never rigorously tested in humans.

How This Compares

What's particularly striking is that Dr. Gabe Mirkin, the physician who coined the RICE protocol in 1978, publicly retracted his confidence in ice as a healing tool in 2015. He wrote that both ice and complete rest may delay healing rather than help. The field has since moved to PEACE & LOVE — a protocol that notably drops the I for Ice entirely. Yet walk into any sports clinic today, and ice will still be the first thing handed to you.

This pattern shows up repeatedly in recovery science. We adopt a tool because it provides immediate relief, and we assume that short-term relief equals long-term benefit. The mechanisms don't always support that assumption.

Inflammation isn't the enemy. It's the signal. Blunting it indiscriminately is like silencing an alarm rather than addressing the fire.

Where Experts Agree and Disagree

There's genuine consensus that cryotherapy provides short-term analgesia. Nobody disputes that cold reduces pain perception in the hours immediately following an injury. The disagreement is about what happens next. Animal studies consistently show that prolonged cryotherapy suppresses the macrophage activity and satellite cell proliferation that drive muscle regeneration. M1 macrophages — the inflammatory cleanup crew — arrive slower. The M1-to-M2 transition that signals the shift from cleanup to repair is delayed. Satellite cells, your muscle's stem cell population, appear in smaller numbers and later than they should.

Whether these animal findings translate directly to human athletes remains uncertain. Human muscle has different characteristics. Sport injuries differ from laboratory contusion models. The authors are careful not to overclaim — but the absence of human evidence is itself a finding worth sitting with.

Practical Recommendation

Use ice in the first six hours if pain management is the goal. After that, proceed with caution. Movement, within tolerable limits, does more for healing than ice does. Load the tissue progressively. Let the inflammatory process run its course. This is the POLICE framework — Protect, Optimal Loading, Ice, Compression, Elevation — and it's a better guide than reaching for the ice pack reflexively.

The Surprising Connection

Here's what I keep coming back to: everything we know about cold exposure as a wellness tool — the hormetic benefits, the resilience adaptations — depends on the inflammatory and stress response systems functioning properly. Cold plunging for recovery and adaptation works because you're stimulating the body, not suppressing it. But ice applied directly to an injured site for hours on end does something different. It suppresses local metabolism, blunts the immune response, and interrupts the very cascade your body needs to rebuild. The same modality, applied differently, produces opposite effects. Dose, timing, and context are everything.

Cryotherapy for treating soft tissue injuries in sport medicine: a critical review

Understanding Cryotherapy: What the Latest Research Reveals

The Science Behind Cryotherapy

When to Use Cryotherapy

Practical Implications for Your Recovery Rituals

Key Takeaways

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