Toward Personalized Protocols: A Scoping Review

Whole-body cryotherapy (WBC) is experiencing increasing adoption as complementary therapy. However, it currently suffers from a lack of comprehensive data regarding treatment protocols for patients, often appearing to rely more on empirical approaches than on established scientific rigor. A particular concern revolves around the customization of these protocols. Indeed, there is no justification for assuming that, for a given temperature-to-exposure duration ratio, the responses and benefits would be identical across different morphotypes, genders, ages, and so forth. The scientific literature is notably sparse on this topic. Nonetheless, this study aims to outline the framework of research initiatives that have begun to address this matter. Having initially explored the influence of cold intensity on exposure durations and demonstrated the potential modifications resulting from operator practices on perceived exposure temperatures, the analysis then demonstrates analytically that men and women cannot physiologically achieve identical cutaneous responses under the same protocol. Furthermore, it is mathematically shown that the establishment of predictive patterns for exposure durations allows for the differentiation between men and women, as well as among various regions of interest on the body.