GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) - Evaporated liquid nitrogen billowed in a cloud around Chase McMillon’s head as he slowly turned inside a chamber that hid his body from the neck down.
The temperature inside: minus 94 degrees Fahrenheit and dropping.
“It’s going like a tornado form right around my body,” McMillon said.
As the door opened, huge clouds of gas spilled out of the chamber, hinting at the subzero temperatures inside.
No, this was not a scene from a science-fiction film set. In fact, it’s an everyday occurrence inside Polar Brrr Cryo, a new cryotherapy business nestled among more standard retail fare in an ordinary strip mall at Knapp’s Corner.
The Grand Rapids Press (https://bit.ly/2nQ7p6t ) reports the first of its kind in West Michigan, the business opened in February and unveiled itself formally on March 10.
McMillon, one of three co-owners, explains there are a variety of reasons customers come looking for a chance to expose themselves briefly to temperatures as low as minus 205 degrees Fahrenheit.
“Our clients come in and they are seeking several different things,” he said. “It could be sleep - better sleep - it could be for pain relief; could be a better complexion.”
The chamber or “cryosauna” at the center of the treatment is based on a much older idea - cold therapy delivered using ice baths or other means.
Phillip Adler, a certified athletic trainer and manager of Spectrum Health’s orthopedic and sports medicine program, said he used “cold plunge” treatments when working in collegiate athletics. Adler said the new business takes that concept of ice baths to the next level.
The cryo-chamber promises similar benefits without the logistic challenges and logistic challenges of ice baths.
But Adler stopped short of confirming the legitimacy of claims about the treatment’s benefits.
“I can see the science behind the cryotherapy treatment, but I can’t say that enough literature has come out to validate as a legitimate medical treatment,” he said.
At Polar Brrr, patrons undress in the private treatment room - some donning wool socks and gloves on offer - and then step inside the chamber.
Then a cryotherapy technician - required to undergo two-day training provided by equipment manufacturer Impact Cryotherapy - opens the valve allowing liquid nitrogen to flow from tanks in an adjoining room and initiates the cryo-session. The technician can bring the machine to one of three levels depending on how extreme the client wants the cold inside the chamber.
The super-cold temperatures are not painful or even overly uncomfortable, McMillon said, though many customers need to work their way up to the third and coldest level.
“It’s like a tingly feeling,” he said. “But it’s cold, no doubt about it.”
Though sessions can last as long as three minutes, cryotherapy specialist Cyndie Peters explained she is able to stop the session at any point if a customer is uncomfortable.
Every 30 seconds, Peters clicks a button to continue the session.
“That’s a huge safety issue,” she said. “So it knows someone is here running the machine.”
McMillon’s partners in the business are Marc Dunton and Kim Holstege, whose personal experience is a driving force behind the business.
“She is what essentially got us to say, ’Yes, let’s do it,’” McMillon said. “Kim has got rheumatoid arthritis. She’s been dealing with that for about eight years now.”
After making weekly trips to Detroit for cryotherapy to help alleviate her symptoms, she was overwhelmed when he and Dunton told her they planned to open the business in Grand Rapids.
“She literally dropped on the floor and started crying,” McMillon said. “Seeing that kind of emotion is what made it real for us.”
Some customers come for relief after a demanding CrossFit workout, McMillon said. Others seek the purported benefits for their complexion, metabolism, circulation or sleep patterns. Others, like Holstege, are seeking relief from pain or muscle inflammation.
“Since we’ve been open we’ve seen so many people with rheumatoid arthritis, with fibromyalgia, people who are experiencing this tremendous pain,” McMillon said. “A lot of the times, I come in here and they say, ’I will try anything, because I don’t want to take painkillers anymore.’ That’s like the same story over and over.”
The claim is, by exposing the body to extreme cold, the cryotherapy process kick-starts blood circulation and other internal processes.
“The idea is we want to shock your body so it thinks you’re going to freeze to death,” McMillon said.
Adler said cold treatments are used by athletic trainers because it reduces the metabolic rate for damaged tissue, thereby decreasing the “heat” that results when the body responds to an injury.
“Cold is also helpful in pain control and vasoconstriction (blood vessel narrowing) which decreases blood flow to the area,” he said. “There is some literature that suggests cold decreases nerve conduction speed which also helps with pain.”
One of Polar Brrr’s most devoted customers is Dr. J. Todd Brown, a local orthopedic surgeon. Brown goes at least a few times each week.
“I generally feel invigorated by feeling cold,” he said. “I’m the kind of guy that takes a cold shower.”
Brown said he thinks there is something to putting the body into more extreme environments like those in which humans evolved - rather than always taking advantage of the comforts of heated seats and central air. He said he walks away from each treatment with a rush of motivation and enthusiasm.
An added benefit for Brown is that, since he is training with a Navy SEAL-style workout regimen, exposing his body to cold counts as preparation for the extremes he endures in that effort.
Though he’d never promise the treatment will cure arthritis or cancer, Brown said he definitely sees enough benefits to keep him coming back.
“It’s good to get stimulate and it’s good to stimulate your overall physiology,” he said.
But there are also skeptics who question both the promised benefits and the general safety of cryotherapy businesses.
The system has neither been reviewed nor approved by the Food and Drug Administration, which advises consumers to “beware of misleading claims” by companies offering whole body cryotherapy.
“Given a growing interest from consumers in whole body cryotherapy, the FDA has informally reviewed the medical literature available on this subject,” said Dr. Aron Yustein, a medical officer in the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health. “We found very little evidence about its safety or effectiveness in treating the conditions for which it is being promoted.”
A recent FDA consumer update advises consumers to consult with their doctor before exposing their body to the extremely cold temperatures, and points to risks including asphyxiation, especially when liquid nitrogen is used in the process.
That risk was highlighted when a Las Vegas cryospa manager was found dead inside a cryotherapy chamber in October 2015. It was later discovered that the woman suffocated after initiating her own session while alone in the facility after-hours.
But McMillon and his staff point to safety measures they’ve put in place including hiring trained and certified specialists, a policy requiring constant monitoring of therapy sessions and the installation of sensors, ventilation systems and alarms to ensure the nitrogen does not displace the proper oxygen content in the air inside the facility.
“If you do this the right way, it’s an extremely safe thing,” he said.
Certification for staff is achieved after a two-day training provided by the manufacturer of the store’s cryotherapy equipment.
For those interested in trying out a cryospa, Adler advised they discuss it with their doctor first, particularly if they suffer conditions that make them more sensitive to cold.
“Definitely consult your doctor before trying something like this,” he said.
Brown also recommended caution, saying first-timers should start with the lower setting.
“If there is any pain or anxiety or if the cold is too intense, then it might not be for you,” he said.
For now, Polar Brrr Cryo operates with only two employees, and the owners are primarily running the business themselves.
All three have day jobs. McMillon works in logistics and Dunton in automotive supply. Holstege owns a greenhouse in Hudsonville.
McMillion and Dunton said they enjoy the opportunity to sell the concept directly to customers and take pride in the fact they are building a new business from the ground up.
“I laid the floor myself,” McMillon said. “I painted myself. And it came out well. We’re just proud of everything around here.”
Averaging about 20 to 30 visits per day in their first several weeks, the partners are optimistic about Polar Brrr’s future.
“I don’t have any question about whether it’s going to take off,” Dunton said. “I think there’s a demand for it.”
As a relatively new phenomenon, he said, their biggest hurdle will be getting the word out about cryotherapy and convincing people to give it a try.
“A lot of people don’t know what cryotherapy is or the fact that we’re here,” Dunton said.
He said he doesn’t try to tell packages to new customers, but instead focuses on convincing them to give the service a try.
“The machine will sell itself,” Dunton said. “Either you feel better or you don’t. And most people do, so it’s as simple as that.”
Polar Brrr Cryo is currently open from 3-9 p.m. on Monday through Friday and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Tuesday and Thursday morning appointments are offered by appointment only.
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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press:MLive.com, https://www.mlive.com
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