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NormaTec and Cryotherapy both help assist people in recovery by helping them feel less pain. Nola Cryo provides compression therapy as one of our many services. 

Cryotherapy uses the same science of blood movement and healing as NormaTec but on a more cellular level. Instead of simply massaging the body, cryotherapy causes the capillaries’ vasoconstriction, resulting in shunting of the blood to the body’s core. When your three-minute session is over, the oxygen-rich and nutrient-dense blood rushes through the body and speeds the body’s natural healing process.  

NormaTech Adds an additional layer to recovery

Customers who choose to use compression therapy after a major workout will improve their recovery time. Relatively easy to use, NormaTec boots also offer a surprisingly personalized experience: you can adjust settings and zones to meet your preferences. Here is how it works. 

1. After connecting the power cord to the power station, and to each of the bootlegs, put each leg in a boot and zip them up. From there, you can press “play” on the power station, and off you go. 
2. Each NormaTec boot connects to a power station. You can program whatever length you want your recovery session to be (typically 20 to 60 minutes) and then set the intensity level from 1 to 7. 
3. The first inflation cycle fills the boots up with air to conform to your exact body shape. The boots will then inflate and deflate with varying pressure up and down the five different leg zones, beginning with your feet and working up to your quads. 
4. You can also set the controls to spend additional time in any of the five “zones” into which the leg is divided from feet to upper quads.
5. Another option is to program a “Zone Boost” in any of the five zones you feel need additional attention.  

While you might initially think that what NormaTec offers is similar to compression socks, there are significant differences. Compression socks or other compression clothing operate through static compression (holding steady the same amount of pressure, i.e., squeezing). NormaTec, on the other hand, speeds recovery through dynamic compression, which they call “pulsing.” Also, NormaTec’s different zones allow each of your legs’ specific five zones to take turns receiving the full benefit of the pulsing massage and compression.

Instead of just squeezing your legs and holding steady (like compression clothing), the dynamic compression of NormaTec combines movement and compression to more effectively transports all that post-workout gunk out of your legs. 

The engineering is fascinating. NormaTec boots use compression and pressure just like a one-way valve. The boots always begin at your feet, at the furthermost end of your limbs, then works its way up the leg. Next, the pulsing continues up to Zone 2 immediately above your feet while the boots hold static pressure steady at your feet in Zone 1. This pattern continues: the pulsing compression moves to the next zone upward while either the one or two zones immediately below hold steady static pressure. By the time the pulsing moves to Zone 4, the hold pressure in Zone 1 has been released. NormaTec has been designed to release the hold pressure in each zone as soon as possible: this allows that zone of your legs to get a small break before pulsing begins there again. (It’s better for your circulatory system to not have a continual hold of pressure everywhere.) After reaching your upper quads in Zone 5 and pulsing there, the whole system gives out a “whoosh”: the hold pressures in Zones 3 and 4 are released, and the cycle begins again at your feet. 

Fresh Legs 

NormaTec is best known for its boots. However, NormaTec also offers sleeves and hip attachments. Extreme athletes use Normatec boots to massage their legs after training and races to get that “fresh legs” feeling. This is particularly beneficial in two ways:

1. Your leg muscles will recover faster, and the compression will reduce inflammation in your legs; and 

2. You will experience a psychological relief that will translate into a renewed confidence. This is key in competitive sports where having a mental advantage is powerful.