Cryotherapy is a form of physical therapy that can be applied locally and systemically. Local cryotherapy administered for instance as cold packs, cold air or sprays lowers skin and tissue temperature and subsequently decreases neuronal activity and tissue blood flow. In clinical trials cryotherapy showed analgetic effects and reduced local edema; this treatment is therefore an option in patients with painful and inflammatory rheumatic diseases and after traumatic injuries.Only scant experimental and clinical data are available for whole body cryotherapy at -110 degrees C. The analgetic effects demonstrated so far and the high percentage of adverse events observed with this challenging method currently do not support its routine use in clinical practice.