Which of the following is NOT a therapeutic effect of cryotherapy?

• A. Decreased blood flow to the treatment area
• B. Decreased edema
• C. Increased local temperature
• D. Decreased nerve conduction velocity

Answer: (C)

Cryotherapy cools the tissue to create vasoconstriction and reduced metabolic activity, which leads to analgesia and control of inflammation. The therapeutic results you see with cold therapy include decreased blood flow to the treatment area, which helps limit bleeding and swelling; decreased edema as capillary leakage and inflammatory processes are dampened; and decreased nerve conduction velocity, which slows pain signals and can reduce muscle spasm. Increasing local temperature is not produced by cryotherapy; warming the tissue is a feature of heat therapy, not cold therapy. So the option describing an increase in local temperature is not a therapeutic effect of cryotherapy.