A visit to "FrostFit"

Yesterday we had appointments for treatments that I had found on Groupon... a Whole Body Cryotherapy session for me, and a Hyperbaric Oxygen Chamber treatment for Dwayne.

Dwayne has been interested in Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments for health for a long time. He even had a book about it when we were living in the house. He theorizes that the reason that folks lived so much longer before the flood could have been because the atmosphere was heavier (no rain, higher pressure, every breath would take in a greater concentration), the oxygen levels were possibly higher, so they breathed in more oxygen, and that may have enabled them to live longer.

When I saw the Groupon for a session available, I suggested that we should get it. At first he wasn't interested, but then I told him that I would try the Cryotherapy, so he agreed to do the Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment. (I gave him a choice of doing the Cryotherapy with me or the Hyperbaric Oxygen treatment, and he was quickly convinced of doing the Hyperbaric Oxygen instead of getting cold!)

Both of them have the potential benefit of helping with body aches and pains. http://frostfitlv.com/

This picture is of the flyer we picked up in the office. I did the "Arctic Chamber" and Dwayne did the "Hyperbaric Chamber".

When we got there, the young lady receptionist/operator suggested that Dwayne wait on beginning his treatment until I was done with mine since mine would only be a few minutes and he could watch what mine entailed - maybe in case he wanted to do it in the future!

Nitrogen is used to cool the air.

I had to wear a lightweight mask covering my mouth and nose, a headband covering my ears, gloves on my hands, tall socks up to my knees, and closed shoes on my feet. I kept on my own cotton camisole and cotton shorts (the robe came off while I was in the Cryotherapy machine). The machine is just behind me - the glass window allows you to see the foggy cold air inside it.

The operator asked me if I wanted to go with "Beginner", "Intermediate", or "Pro" level. Each step reduced the temperature and increased the time. I could elect to leave the machine at any point -- even if I picked one that would be a longer time. I asked, since this was my first time, if I should go with Beginner, and she recommended that I select Intermediate. She said that many people found that the Beginner level was too mild and didn't really feel like they had had the experience they expected. I can't recall the exact temperature that it got down to (minus 180 F or something like that) and the time for Intermediate was 2 minute 30 seconds. (Beginner was 2 minutes and Pro was 3 minutes.)

She put music on while I was in it - she said that most people enjoy dancing around while they are in the machine to pass the time and to avoid thinking about being cold! I did some Texas Two-stepping in the chamber to the C&W music that she put on for me!

While it definitely was cold, mostly only my skin got cold - toward the end I started feeling the cold in my knees (which react to cold weather too) - I think that may have been exacerbated because the shorts I had on were long and the socks were tall, so my knees were the only part of my legs which were not covered. I lasted the 2 minutes 30 seconds and felt fine.

This is an "after" picture of my legs and feet - note that my feet turned blue and got hairy! No... those are the slippers I selected to wear during the session - they had all sorts of neat looking slippers to wear!

Unfortunately, as I was preparing to go into the Cryotherapy session, I gave Dwayne the key to the locker where my clothes and phone were, and then he was in the Hyperbaric Chamber before I realized that, and so I could not get to my things until after his hour in the Hyperbaric Chamber was done!

I took this picture after Dwayne's session in the Hyperbaric Chamber was completed. During the time that it was pressurized, it was a taut capsule-like container. Dwayne could see out a small window above him and he said it was quite comfortable inside. He had his phone in there with him and could call the operator if he had any concerns or wanted to get out early. 

I got to talk with the receptionist/operator lady quite a bit while Dwayne's treatment was going on (since I had no glasses, phone, other clothes to put on, etc.!). I asked whether Frost Fit was a franchise and she told me no, that this center had been open since April of 2017, and it was opened by the doctor in the office next door. (I hadn't checked before, but I just looked on Google Maps and it appears to be Nevada Spine and Disc Health and Wellness (chiropractor).)

She told me that the "Cryo Penguin" service, which applies super cold just to a particular area of the body with pain, is what she would recommend as the preferred treatment for pain, rather than either of the two treatments we signed up for. She said that the Hyperbaric Chamber can help with pain, but it generally takes many sessions.

She also indicated that the Arctic Chamber that they have, which is a full body treatment with 100% breathable air, is unique to their center in this area. Most of the Cryotherapy places have your head and neck out of the chamber because the gas around your body is nitrogen - not breathable. This machine uses nitrogen to super-cool breathable air, so you are not in contact with nitrogen during the treatment. This is important to know because there was a death in a Cryotherapy place here in Las Vegas a couple of years ago. The operator stayed after the center was closed to give herself a session in the Cryotherapy machine - no one was there with her. Somehow, she asphyxiated from breathing air without enough oxygen in it - whether she leaned down into the air that was nearly all nitrogen or whether the machine malfunctioned, there does not seem to be consensus. (If I had known about all of this before going there, I probably would not have done it!!!)

We both survived our treatments - I think Dwayne enjoyed his more than I enjoyed mine, but I enjoyed learning about something new! Dwayne said that he felt really good right as we were leaving, but within an hour or so his back pain was about the same as it had been.