Bucks &amp; Oxon

<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-lowdown">THE LOWDOWN</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse1.jpg" alt="Soma House " class="wp-image-171641" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse1.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse1-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse1-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Cryotherapy is the cutting-edge wellness treatment du jour. The England football squad did it to tune up before Euros matches, Angela Rippon did it to stave off injuries while training for Strictly, and no self-respecting Silicon Valley billionaire would forgo a regular blast of cryo to turn back the clock. So what on earth is it, I hear you ask?



Well, basically it involves standing in a chamber chilled to effectively -100C or lower for approx three minutes &#8211; or longer if you can safely bear it. Like many of the latest health and beauty therapies, cryotherapy was big in LA first, as well as in Scandinavia, where they get along famously with an ice-bath. Now it&#8217;s available right here in Bucks at the new Soma House clinic near Flackwell Heath. Naturally, I had to go along to try it out for myself. I&#8217;m always trying to chill out more, after all.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-vibe">THE VIBE</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoAnn.jpg" alt="Soma House" class="wp-image-171639" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoAnn.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoAnn-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoAnn-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Ann, who founded Soma House with her daughter Chloe, gave me a warm welcome on arrival at her hi-tech studio in a converted barn. I can&#8217;t say the same for the cryotherapy chamber. When Ann opened the door to give me a preview of what to expect, a blast of freezing mist swirled out somewhat uninvitingly. The chamber&#8217;s base temperature is -86C, Ann explained &#8211; but add in the windchill factor and it&#8217;ll feel more like -100C, or as low as -125C for the hardiest/fittest. For context, that&#8217;s far colder than the North Pole &#8211; more like the outer reaches of Mars, I&#8217;m guessing.



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="715" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse5.jpg" alt="Soma House cryotherapy" class="wp-image-171659" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse5.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse5-800x572.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse5-400x286.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



There are health benefits to this exposure, of course. If you&#8217;re a sporty type, cryotherapy helps repair muscles and improve performance. The day I visited, David, a football coach for Marlow United, and his son Mason had a joint cryotherapy session to help repair Mason&#8217;s hamstring in time for his next match. You don&#8217;t have to be an athlete though. Cryo also has beautifying effects &#8211; including boosting collagen, speeding up metabolism (a session can burn 500 kcals) and detoxifying the skin. It&#8217;s also used to improve mental health conditions and ADHD, and can ease menopause symptoms if you&#8217;re in that zone &#8211; it&#8217;s all about the rush of endorphins as your body rapidly reheats on exit. Would I emerge from the chamber looking five years younger and feeling as mentally zingy as Frozen&#8216;s Queen Elsa in her &#8216;Let It Go&#8216; mindset? There was only one way to find out.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-treatment">THE TREATMENT</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse2.jpg" alt="Soma House" class="wp-image-171642" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse2.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse2-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse2-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">David (left) and Mason in the Cryotherapy chamber</figcaption></figure>



It turns out you can listen to music in the chamber &#8211; perhaps to take your mind off how extremely cold it is. What would I like, asked Ann? The options are endless: the soundtrack from Frozen, Ice Ice Baby, anything by The Arctic Monkeys &#8211; you get the picture. As a polar opposite I had Disco Inferno, so I jigged around to &#8216;Burn, baby burn&#8217; , as icicles formed in my hair. You wear a headband and facemask to protect sensitive extremities, but expose as much skin as possible in the recommended attire of shorts and a sports bra.



How did it feel? Like waking up on Christmas Day in the North Pole and deciding to strip semi-naked and run out into the snow &#8211; except actually it feels far colder than that. There&#8217;s a strip of light running up the side of the chamber which turns from blue to pink to show how much time you have left, like a human egg timer. When Ann opened the door after three mins in the deep freeze, I was more than ready to get out. An exit safety check showed my skin temperature had plunged to 14C. Wim Hof eat your heart out!



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-results">THE RESULTS</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoMe.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-171640" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoMe.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoMe-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/CryoMe-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Despite the slightly alarming experience of becoming a human snowman, my body re-heated remarkably rapidly. I thawed within minutes and my skin bounced back to its usual 33C. (Note: it&#8217;s only the skin temperature that plummets in the chamber; your core temp should remain roughly the same). Once I felt the warmth rushing through my veins again &#8211; a pleasant tingling sensation &#8211; I recovered enough to take a post-chamber selfie (above). I was later told I looked &#8216;glowing&#8217; &#8211; and I certainly felt energised for the rest of the afternoon and slept more soundly that night. I&#8217;d also had one of those annoying back-to-school bugs, but that cleared up too. Turns out the best way to cure a cold is to stand in a freezer. Who knew?



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-the-muddy-verdict">THE MUDDY VERDICT</h2>



<figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" width="1000" height="750" src="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse3.jpg" alt="Soma House" class="wp-image-171643" srcset="https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse3.jpg 1000w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse3-800x600.jpg 800w, https://dev.muddystilettos.co.uk/bucksoxon/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2024/09/SomaHouse3-400x300.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px" /></figure>



Good for: Anyone looking to push the boundaries of wellness tech and reap the beauty and mind-body health benefits. If you love wild swimming and ice-baths, you&#8217;ll take to cryo like a penguin to an iceberg. As well as cryotherapy, Soma House offers hyperbaric oxygen therapy, compression therapy, IV therapy and red-light therapy. You can <a href="https://soma-house.co.uk/services/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">read more here</a>.



Not for: Anyone looking for a relaxing massage and a facial while sipping a matcha latte in a towelling robe. Soma House is set up to offer the beauty treatments of the future. Honestly, spa days are so 2023.



The damage: A single session of cryotherapy costs £59 &#8211; or £69 for two people in the chamber at the same time. A course of three or four sessions are recommended. Members of <a href="https://themarlowclub.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Marlow Club</a> get 10% off all treatments at Soma House.



By Harriet Dennys



<a href="https://soma-house.co.uk/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Soma House</a>: Unit 5, HTF Business Centre, Heath End Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, HP10 9AE. [Note: The Business Centre (on Hard to Find Farm!) is a new development so your SatNav may prefer HP10 9QH]. Contact: <a>+44 7534 896479</a>, or hello@soma-house.co.uk.

Chill out! Muddy reviews cryotherapy at Soma House, Bucks

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