Woman Brain-Dead After Paris Cryotherapy Accident

A woman in her early thirties is now brain-dead after a serious accident during a cryotherapy session at a gym in Paris, France. The incident happened earlier this week and had already claimed the life of another woman, an employee in her late twenties.

The Paris prosecutor’s office shared the update on Friday. They said the client had been taken to the hospital on Monday night in critical condition. By Thursday, she was declared brain-dead.

An autopsy was done on the gym employee who died during the same session. It showed that she died from suffocation due to a lack of oxygen. Officials believe a nitrogen leak may have caused the deadly drop in oxygen inside the cryotherapy chamber.

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Cryotherapy is a treatment that uses cold air to help with things like muscle pain, stress, and skin problems. It works by using gases like liquid nitrogen or nitrous oxide to cool the skin to very low temperatures — even below minus 100 degrees Celsius (minus 148 Fahrenheit). These sessions usually last no longer than three minutes.

Nitrogen is a gas that makes up about 80% of the air around us. It has no color or smell. The rest of the air, about 20%, is oxygen — which we need to breathe. If there is too much nitrogen in a closed room, it can push out the oxygen and make it hard — or even impossible — to breathe.

Supporters of cryotherapy say it helps the body feel better, similar to ice baths. But many health experts warn that there is not enough solid research to prove cryotherapy is safe or effective. They are asking for more studies to look at the short-term and long-term effects.

This is not the first time cryotherapy has raised concerns. In 2015, a woman in Las Vegas, USA, died after using a cryotherapy machine at a spa. She entered the cold chamber after work hours and was found frozen to death the next day by a co-worker.

Authorities in Paris are still investigating the recent tragedy.