Cryochambers are cool after Covid ‘wake-up call’ for rich
THE rich and famous are installing cryotherapy chambers and infrared saunas into their homes after the pandemic gave them a “wake-up call” to start taking better care of their health.
Celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston have sworn by the “detoxifying” and “relaxing” benefits of using infrared saunas for years but it seems the spotlight put on health throughout Covid has helped the public catch on too.
From private mansions in Chelsea and Notting Hill to converted potting sheds in back gardens, installing cryochambers and infrared saunas at home has become the ultimate health marker in the trend-obsessed fitness and wellness industry.
“It’s largely driven by the fact that there’s been a wake up call for a lot of people and they’ve started to focus on their own personal wellbeing,” Ian Saunders, the chief executive of CryoAction, said. “People are more zeroed in on that because they’re realising that as good as the NHS is, the facilities can be rocked by something like the pandemic.
“People now see it as an investment in themselves … they are asking ‘what can I do to stay healthy’ rather than necessarily relying upon the medical services,” he said.
Mr Saunders added that the residential market for CryoAction, a specialist provider of whole body cryotherapy equipment, where the body is exposed to extremely cold temperatures in a chamber for several minutes, rose from 1 to 2 per cent of all inquiries prepandemic to 25 per cent.
With reported benefits ranging from
‘People are asking “what can I do to stay healthy” rather than relying upon the medical services’
improved circulation to weight loss, tighter skin and joint and muscle pain relief, sales of both infrared saunas and cryotherapy chambers have boomed.
John Wallace of Nordic, which offers bespoke spa designs, said the firm had seen a “big uptick” in interest. An infrared sauna from Nordic could cost in excess of £20,000 or £30,000, he added, with most customers opting to replace a bedroom or building an extension in their gardens.