Whole-body cryostimulation increases parasympathetic outflow and decreases core body temperature

•We examined a group of healthy men to assess responses to whole-body cryostimulation exposure.•We used modern, non-invasive and objective methods for cardiovascular parameters and core body temperature assessment.•Whole-body cryostimulation modulates core body temperature in healthy subjects.•Whole-body cryostimulation significantly improve autonomic functions, especially its parasympathetic part.

The cardiovascular, autonomic and thermal response to whole-body cryostimulation exposure are not completely known. Thus the aim of this study was to evaluate objectively and noninvasively autonomic and thermal reactions observed after short exposure to very low temperatures. We examined 25 healthy men with mean age 30.1±3.7 years and comparable anthropomorphical characteristic. Each subject was exposed to cryotherapeutic temperatures in a cryogenic chamber for 3 min (approx. −120 °C). The cardiovascular and autonomic parameters were measured noninvasively with Task Force® Monitor. The changes in core body temperature were determined with the Vital Sense® telemetric measurement system. Results show that 3 min to cryotherapeutic temperatures causes significant changes in autonomic balance which are induced by peripheral and central blood volume changes. Cryostimulation also induced changes in core body temperature, maximum drop of core temperature was observed 50–60 min after the stimulation. Autonomic and thermal reactions to cryostimulation were observed up to 6 h after the exposure and were not harmful for examined subjects.