Jun 25, 2018Cryotherapy Leads to Injuries
Missouri State University has investigated a cryotherapy-related incident that resulted in injuries to two men’s basketball players. However, the school will not release its findings to the public.
According to the News-Leader, on January 22, King Owens, owner of Kombat Cross Training, brought a whole-body cryotherapy machine to Missouri State’s JQH Arena, for use by the basketball team. After undergoing the treatment, Abdul Fofana and Reggie Scurry both developed severe blisters on their feet and were unable to play for the rest of the season. Three days after the incident, the News-Leader published a story in which the FDA and other experts questioned whether cryotherapy was efficient or safe, and a day after that, MSU began its own investigaiton.
Jean Maneke, an attorney for the Missouri Press Association, said that while MSU can legally withhold the results of the investigation, it may be morally obligated to release the findings, because two of its players were injured.
“The university does have to deal with the fact that parents entrust their kids to the university,” Maneke said. “The university depends on pulling in students. Parents of students will look at the perception of whether students are safe on campus or not.”
Scurry said that his feet were in the chamber for only five seconds. After exiting cryotherapy, he said he felt fine at first, but felt pain five minutes later.
“I went through the worst pain in my life. Literally the worst,” Scurry said. “I don’t think you understand the pain I went through with my feet.”
