Contraindications of Cryotherapy
- Impaired sensation.
Patients cannot report when they become anesthetic from cold.
Tissue damage occurs slightly below temperatures that produce numbness. - Impaired circulation: tissue damage may result from vasoconstriction.
- Open wounds after 48 hours.
- Hypersensitivity to cold, such as Raynaud's phenomenon, cold urticaria, cryoglobulinemia, and paroxysmal cold hemoglobinuria.
- Angina pectoris or other severe cardiac disease.
- Regenerating peripheral nerves.
Knight K: Cryotherapy Theory: Technique and Physiology. Chattanooga, TN, Chattanooga Corporation. 1985