LAS VEGAS (AP) – Nevada has created health guidelines for cryotherapy after a Las Vegas spa worker was found dead in a tank that subjects users to subzero temperatures, a treatment that experts say has been growing in popularity but is largely unregulated and whose benefits are not proven.
Dr. Tracey Green, the state’s chief medical officer, said Friday that the guidelines from the state health department recommend that the machines not be used by minors under 18, those under 5 feet tall and anyone with certain health conditions, such as a history of stroke, high blood pressure, seizures and infections, as well as people who are pregnant or have pacemakers or claustrophobia.
Users should only have one session per day for no more than three minutes and have their blood pressure taken before and after.
“When things are available to individuals that don’t have any medical basis, we try to assure that there are safe practices,” Green said, likening it to the generally accepted guidelines for sauna use. “Any time we feel there’s risk, these kinds of guidelines can be developed.”
This comes exactly one month after Chelsea Patricia Ake-Salvacion, 24, accidentally died of asphyxia caused by low oxygen levels while in a cryotherapy machine at the Rejuvenice spa where she worked, the Clark County coroner’s office said. She was found dead on Oct. 20 after apparently using the treatment on herself the night before.