I’m not good with cold. “Don’t worry,” Roman Gersh, the founder of Cryotherapy Toronto at 4646 Dufferin St., tells me. “Immediately after you get out, you will warm up like a Popsicle in the sun.”
I’m about to get a treatment called whole body cryotherapy. As per Gersh’s motto: It’s a “cooler way to health.” The treatment has been seen on Dr. Oz and Good Morning America and has become a “cool” — pun intended — trend with celebrities like Derek Hough, from Dancing with the Stars; actress Minka Kelly; Mandy Moore; and Tony Robbins.
It is a health-boosting treatment based on rapid short-term cooling of the skin’s surface. I admit, I’m slightly terrified, though I shouldn’t be. This treatment was discovered in Japan in 1978 and has been used to treat arthritis for decades.
The cryotherapy cabin emits a dry, cold mist that results in a dramatic yet brief reduction in body temperature. I’m about to head into the cabin for two to three minutes in 160°C below zero cold temperature.
I’m down to a sports bra, boy shorts, socks up to my knees, winter gloves and a special pair of booties to keep the sensitive parts of my body from getting frost bite (men usually put Band-Aids over their nipples.)
“It reduces stress, anxiety, depression. It helps you sleep better, releases endorphins, flushes toxins out of your system, elevates your mood and is both great for your immune system and skin by boosting collagen,” says Gersh.
And he adds, research has shown you can burn 500 to 1,500 calories on average while in the cabin, although he doesn’t like to focus on that. It also helps with pain relief that can last up to eight hours. He does up to 20 sessions a day. One session runs about $45 to $60, but Gersh recommends 10 sessions ($500) to reap the full benefits.
During a client’s first session, Gersh explains how it works while calming the client’s mental state.
“I promise you will be fine,” he tells me. “I’m one of the first people in Ontario to have one of these machines, but I guarantee you will be seeing them everywhere in the next couple of years.”
Many of his clients are athletes, including marathon runners, martial arts fanatics, wrestlers, cyclists and Iron Man competitors. His main demographic is between 30 and 55, although he has had clients from 12 to 75 years old.
As soon as I step in the cabin, my heart is pounding. Gersh starts the treatment, slowly lowering the temperature until it reaches minus 160 Celsius. I’m trying to find my “happy place” as a foggy freezing haze surrounds me, and yes, it is freezing. But amazingly, the two minutes only feels like a few seconds.
“That’s it?” I ask.
“That’s it,” Gersh responds. “For many people it becomes an addiction.” I can see why. I feel like the Energizer Bunny, as if I’m on a sugar high. And the pain I felt in my knee and hip joints, after a six-day marathon of yoga classes, is gone for the rest of the night, even into the following day.
Immediately after getting out, I am back to my normal body temperature. Who would have thought I’d enjoy the cold so much?
