Cryotherapy. You've walked past the chamber at your gym, but what does it actually do? You stand in a booth for two or three minutes while air somewhere between -110°C and -130°C moves over your skin. That's colder than the lowest temperature ever recorded anywhere on Earth.
The chamber used to belong to elite sport. Now it's in high-street spas and premium gyms, and it's sold on a much bigger promise than sore legs. In April 2026 the Global Wellness Institute's own cryotherapy panel told operators that credibility would come from responsible language and evidence-based protocols, not from flashier tech. When the industry's own trade body says that, the marketing has got ahead of the evidence.
In this article of Emerald's myth busting series, we look at the claim that cryotherapy slows ageing.
What the claim says
A few minutes in the chamber slows the rate at which you age. Do it regularly and the sessions stack up into extra healthy years.
You'll have met this one from a longevity influencer, or on a spa treatment menu next to the facials. Cryotherapy gets marketed under prevention, longevity and performance, which is a broad enough umbrella to cover almost anything.
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What the claim gets right
The cold does something real to you. A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 randomised trials found that whole-body cryotherapy lowers IL-1β, one of your inflammatory signalling proteins, and raises IL-10, which does the opposite job.
There is some evidence that whole-body cryotherapy can influence inflammation. A 2025 meta-analysis of 11 randomised controlled trials involving 274 participants found changes in inflammatory markers, including reductions in IL-1β and increases in IL-10, an anti-inflammatory signalling protein.
This is interesting because chronic low-grade inflammation is associated with ageing and several age-related diseases, sometimes referred to as inflammaging. However, changes in inflammatory markers do not necessarily translate into improvements in long-term health. We do not yet know whether the effects of cryotherapy are sustained or whether they have any meaningful impact on age-related disease.
Small studies have also investigated whether repeated cryotherapy sessions can influence metabolic health, including blood glucose regulation and insulin sensitivity. Some have reported promising findings, but the evidence remains limited, with small participant numbers and short follow-up periods. Larger randomised controlled trials are needed before we can determine whether cryotherapy offers meaningful metabolic benefits.
Where the claim falls down
Every one of those findings is a marker measured hours or weeks after a session. None of them is ageing. A cytokine that moves for an afternoon tells you nothing about how long you'll live, or how well. And the pooled sample across all 11 trials was 274 people, which is the whole randomised evidence base for the anti-inflammatory effect.
Nobody has tested the actual claim. Search the clinical trials register and you'll find more than 60 studies involving whole-body cryotherapy. They cover fibromyalgia, multiple sclerosis, atopic dermatitis, muscle recovery after exercise and, at Edinburgh right now, endometriosis pain. Not one has an ageing or lifespan endpoint. The trials haven't failed. They haven't been run.
Regulators haven't backed the chamber either. The US Food and Drug Administration has never cleared a whole-body cryotherapy device, and has said it hasn't seen evidence the treatment works for the conditions it gets sold for.
Then there's a swap you might not have noticed. Most of the cold-and-longevity coverage you'll have read is about cold-water immersion, the plunge pool, not the chamber. They're different exposures and the evidence doesn't carry across. The review behind the last round of cold-is-good-for-you headlines specifically excluded cryotherapy chambers.
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Emerald's stance
Emerald's position is straightforward. Cryotherapy has real short-term effects on your biology and no evidence that it slows your ageing.
The problem sits with the marketing rather than the treatment. Cold has legitimate medical uses, and most providers are selling an honest recovery session. Longevity is the word that outruns the data.
If you want something anti-inflammatory with outcome evidence behind it, start with sleep and resistance training, and track the markers that respond to them, like hs-CRP and HbA1c.
Cryotherapy is not without risks. A 2023 review of its safety identified 16 reported adverse events in the published literature, ranging from mild symptoms such as headaches and dizziness to more serious vascular and neurological complications. However, limited reporting means that the true frequency of adverse events remains uncertain.
People with certain cardiovascular or circulatory conditions, particularly uncontrolled high blood pressure, may be at greater risk. Anyone with an underlying medical condition should seek medical advice before trying whole-body cryotherapy.
References
He J, et al. Whole-body cryotherapy can reduce the inflammatory response in humans: a meta-analysis based on 11 randomized controlled trials. Scientific Reports. 2025;15:7759. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-90396-3
Costello JT, et al. Whole-body cryotherapy (extreme cold air exposure) for preventing and treating muscle soreness after exercise in adults. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2015;(9):CD010789. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9579836/
Legrand FD, et al. Evaluating safety risks of whole-body cryotherapy/cryostimulation (WBC): a scoping review from an international consortium. European Journal of Medical Research. 2023;28:387. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40001-023-01385-z
Effects of cold-water immersion on health and wellbeing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. PLOS One. 2025. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0317615
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