## 5 The Use of Thermovision to Assess the Effects of Chosen Physiotherapy Treatments  
### Cryotherapy  
Of the 51 papers found (PubMed \(n=23\), Web of Science \(n=28\)), a total of 21 works were analyzed after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the exclusion of copies. A total of 963 people (including 379 women, 566 men, and 18 non-identified subjects) took part in the study. The larger sample was composed of 480 subjects [49]; the smallest sample was 10 [53; 57; 62]. Most studies used local cryotherapy (LC) (\(n=12\)) [44; 45; 47; 50; 53; 54; 59; 60; 61; 62; 63; 64]; less often, whole body cryotherapy was used (\(n=7\)) [46; 48; 49; 51; 52; 55; 58]. One study used both WBC and LC (using liquid nitrogen vapor) [56], and one used WBC and PBC [57]. In the case of local cryotherapy, thermovision was used primarily to compare the effects of various cooling factors on the change in the temperature of the facial skin [44], the surface of the hand [45], quadriceps surface [47], and the front of the thigh [61] and knee joint [64]. In one of the studies found, thermography was used to assess the effect of exposure to one coolant (gel pack) depending on the duration of the procedure (5 min vs. 10 min) [53]. In the [PERSON] et al. paper [54], thermovision was used to compare the assessment of the effectiveness of ice massage and immersion in cold water in the context of using it as a method of supporting post-workout regeneration. Thermovision has also made it possible to describe the optimal cooling protocols of the anterior thigh in the rugby player population [60]. On the other hand, [PERSON] [62], using thermography, assessed changes in skin temperature in the anterior part of the thigh in response to a cold stress test after fatigue protocols during physical exercise. [PERSON] et al. [59] examined the influence of cold and thermotherapy on pain tolerance, and [PERSON] et al. [50] the influence of normobaric hypoxia on hand temperature reactions after a cold-water immersion test. One study demonstrated the reproducibility of the skin temperature of the lower extremities after the cold-endurance test [63]. In the case of whole body cryotherapy (WBC), thermography was used to analyze the distribution and dynamics of the temperature changes on the surface of both the whole body [46; 48; 55] and the individual regions of the body [49; 51; 52; 58]. Four studies focused on analyzing the body's response to WBC exposure [46; 48; 51; 52], and one assessed changes in the temperature distribution of the body surface under the influence of WBC, classic massage, and hot stone massage [58]. Thermovision made it possible to determine the safety conditions of the WBC procedure [49]. One study used thermography to validate the new WBC technology [55]. [PERSON] et al. [57] used thermography to compare whole-body temperature distribution between WBC and PBC, while [PERSON] et al. [56], focusing on the spinal region of Th5/Th6-L5/S1, verified whether PBC improves thermal diagnostics in spinal diseases in a manner comparable to WBC. Cryotherapy (cryostimulation) is a physical procedure that exposes the body to low or extremely low temperatures. Treatments are divided into whole-body cryotherapy (WBC), partial-body cryotherapy (PBC), and local cryotherapy (LC) [77]. In WBC and PBC, patients are exposed to extremely low temperatures (\(-110\)\({}^{\circ}\)C to \(-160\)\({}^{\circ}\)C) for a maximum of 3 min in a specially designed chamber (cryo-chamber) or cabin (cryo-cabin). In the PBC chamber (also called a cryosauna) the patient's head and neck are not exposed to the cold [78]. Cryotherapy is used in medicine, health, and sports, and its type depends on the desired effect. Exposure to cold causes strong fluctuations in skin temperature and leads to the stimulation of skin thermoreceptors, and thus to the stimulation of the thermoregulation center in the hypothalamus [79]. In local cryotherapy, a small area of the body is exposed to cold [64].