Russian scientists discovered a way to heal bones… in Russia13:21 | 04 May 2023

Now cryotherapy – exposure to cold – is widely used in surgery (for example, in the fight against cancer), physiotherapy and preservation. Cooling inhibits swelling and reduces pain because temperature changes affect nerve cells, reduce inflammation and increase local immune potential. However, there is no practical way to treat bones with this method.

Researchers from Moscow State Technical University NE Bauman, National Research Center for Traumatology and Orthopedics named after NN. Priorov and Sechenov University drilled two millimeter-diameter holes in the hindfoot bones of 12 rats. Then, the model animals were treated with the Cold-01 device used in physiotherapy and cosmetology, and cryotherapy, which is the cooling of the skin in the injury area. One group of mice was treated twice a week, the other treated.

Six weeks later, the two groups were compared. It turned out that the fastest recovery occurred in the group in which cryotherapy was most frequently applied. At the same time, cryotherapy affected untreated limbs – the dynamics of bone restoration was significantly better than in the control group (paws were not cooled in such rats). This is because exposure to cold affects not only bone cells and blood vessels at the defect site, but also immune cells in the surrounding tissues and area, according to scientists described in an article in the Journal of Thermal Biology. body as a whole.

At the same time, the researchers warn: There’s no reason to say that cryotherapy will heal fractures faster in humans, too. Soft tissue thickness in humans differs from that in rats, and the instrument used is likely to require modifications for use in humans. Experts assure that preclinical studies will continue.