HomeFeaturesHealth › Cold Therapy for Seniors: What It Is, and How It Can Benefit Arizona Seniors
 
 
 

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If you have the luxury of retiring in Arizona, you probably want to take advantage of every adventure the Foothills have to offer.  Unfortunately, as we age, hiking the hills or camping in the desert can pose some challenges. Achy joints, sore muscles, or just that overall feeling of lethargy can thwart your plans to spend a day antiquing in Tucson or enjoying a fishing trip on Canyon Lake. 

Luckily, you can take advantage of cold therapy treatments to ease your pain, clarify your mind and get back to living your golden years pain-free and energized.  So, without further ado, here are some facts you should know about the healing benefits of cold therapy for seniors.

What is Cold Therapy?

Before we launch into the benefits of cold therapy for seniors, let’s talk a little about what it is.  Cold therapy is also referred to as cryotherapy. As you might imagine, this therapy is about exposing the whole body, or body parts to cold temperatures in order to render positive results.  If you’ve ever put an ice pack on a sore knee, then you know exactly how effective cold applications can be for alleviating pain, reducing swelling and making you feel better in general.

How Can Cold Therapy Treatments Help You?

There have been many studies about cold therapy and the science behind cryotherapy.  As a result, there is growing evidence that it is a viable, natural therapy that has been around for a very long time. 

In fact, from ancient Egyptians to early Chinese medical practices conducted thousands of years ago, using ice and cold temperatures has proven to be an impressive therapy for everything from sore muscles, arthritis, swelling and more.  Here are a few examples of how cold therapy treatment can help you enjoy your senior years more fully and actively.

Immediate Pain Relief When You Need It

There’s nothing worse than planning to go salsa dancing on Havana Tuesday in Scottsdale only to be hindered by aches and pains.  Thankfully, you don’t have to skip out on your festive enjoyment if you have a Breg Polar Care Cube. This clever and convenient device delivers soothing, cooling therapy to your aching joints and muscles so you can don your dancing shoes and get back to living your life to the fullest. 

What’s more, a cold therapy machine like the Breg model will distribute cooling sensations that will ease old injuries and calm flare-ups in no time so you can be pain-free, flexible and ready for whatever adventure awaits you in the Arizona Foothills.

Say Goodbye to Headaches

With a portable, convenient Breg’s cold therapy machine, you can kiss headaches away with consistent and reliable cooling effects.  To explain, applying chilling treatments to the forehead or the back of the neck constricts blood vessels.  In turn, this constriction helps decrease the neurotransmission of pain.  Essentially, cold applications neutralize pain sensors so that you can rest easy and even overcome headaches or migraines without having to endure days or hours of nagging discomfort.

Surgical Recovery at the Ready

According to an article by American Senior Communities, 3.4 million senior citizens undergo some kind of orthopedic surgery every year in the US.  From shoulder reconstruction to knee replacement, surgery is a reality for seniors living in Arizona and across the nation. 

While these procedures might be commonplace, that doesn’t mean that recovery is commonly achieved.  As a senior, you might be uniquely positioned to experience difficulties during recovery, but cold therapy can give you an advantage. To explain, utilizing cold therapy on the surgical site after an operation can reduce swelling, alleviate pain, and get you on the fast track to a full recovery after the surgical procedure.

Is Cold Therapy Right For You?

The answer to that question is ultimately up to you, your needs and your condition.  However, cold therapy and cold therapy machines are proving to be a major contender in providing seniors better quality of life while enjoying activities more pain-free. 

That said, if you opt for cold therapy, you should consult your physician to make sure this kind of natural, alternative therapy is the best option for your health requirements and medical condition.