COLD PAIN THERAPY MARKET ANALYSIS

Cold pain therapy is a therapeutic application of cold, used in the treatment of acute soft tissue injuries and to reduce the pain in post-operative condition in orthopedic surgeries, treatment of benign and malignant lesions, and in pain management. Cryotherapy can be applied topically (on the skin surface), surgically or percutaneously. This can also be used to treat various skin conditions such as oral mucositis and tumors in the liver, kidney, bones, breasts and lungs, skin tumors, skin tags, pre-cancerous skin moles, and injuries.

Cryosurgery procedure involves use of extreme cold, produced with help of liquid nitrogen (or argon gas) to destroy abnormal tissues. According to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), cryosurgery is used for treatment of several types of cancers and some non-cancerous conditions. It is reported to be effective for treatment in early stage skin cancer, retinoblastoma, actinic keratosis, and cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. According to a study published in Journal of the National Cancer Institute, in October 2017, it was observed that cryotherapy was effective in controlling the side effects of chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.

According to the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA), cryotherapy is 'super cooling' of the body tissues for therapeutic purposes. Moreover, cryotherapy involves use of products such as ice packs on a certain portion of the body such as lower back. Whole Body Cryotherapy (WBC) involves exposing the body to liquid nitrogen vapors to reach ultra-low temperature ranging from -200 to -300 degrees Fahrenheit. WBC treatment is provided in relatively confined spaces or chamber for two to four minutes. However, U.S. FDA does not have sufficient evidence to recommend use of WBC to treat disease or conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, stress, multiple sclerosis, anxiety or chronic pain. Use of WBC has various risks such as burns, frostbite, and eye injury from extremely low temperature.

Increasing prevalence of skin, prostate, retinoblastoma, cervical cancer, and others and increasing rate of accidental and sport injuries are the major driving factors affecting growth of the cold pain therapy market. For instance, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 12,578 women in the U.S. were diagnosed with cervical cancer while 4,115 women in the U.S. died from cervical cancer in 2014. In addition, according to the Cancer Research UK, 3,224 new cases of cervical cancer were reported in 2014, in the U.K., alone.

Moreover, increasing workplace related injuries and sport injuries is expected to boost growth of the cold pain therapy market. For instance, according to the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), 0.6 million non-fatal injuries at workplace were accounted in 2016. Moreover, new cases of work-related illness in the U.K. accounted for loses of US$ 12.4 billion in 2016. Furthermore, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2016, around 2.9 million non-fatal workplace injuries and illness were reported by private industry employees in 2016.

Cold Pain Therapy Market Taxonomy:

On the basis of product, cold pain therapy market segmented into:

• OTC-based products
  • Pharmaceuticals
    • Gels, ointment and creams
    • Patches
    • Spray and foams
    • Roll-ons
  • Medical devices
    • Cold packs
    • Cooling pads, wraps and pads
  • Prescription-based products
    • Motorized cryotherapy devices
    • Non-motorized cryotherapy devices

On the basis of therapy type, cold pain therapy market segmented into:

• Cryosurgery
• Icepack therapy
• Chamber therapy

On the basis of device type, cold pain therapy market segmented into:

• Spray cryogun
• Dipstick applicator
• Cryoprobe
• Other devices

On the basis of application, cold pain therapy market segmented into:

• Dermatology
• Oncology
• Musculoskeletal disorder
• Pain management
• Sport medicine
• Physical therapy
• Ophthalmology
• Post-operative
• Post-trauma

On the basis of distribution channel, cold pain therapy market segmented into:

• Online pharmacies
• Retail pharmacies
• Hospital pharmacies

Recent developments in the cold pain therapy market

In July 2017, CSA Medical, Inc. received FDA clearance to expand truFreeze catheter offering to include Rapid AV Spray Kit. truFreeze system is used in cryosurgical procedures for application in gynecology, dermatology, general surgery, and in the removal of malignant lesions. Moreover, the addition of rapid AV Spray kit with truFreeze catheter is expected to reduce the surgical time thereby, reducing overall patient treatment time. 

In January 2017, PENTAX Medical — a company engaged in manufacturing, development and R&D activities in endoscopic product and services — acquired the C2 Therapeutics. C2 Therapeutics manufactures C2 CryoBalloon Ablation System for endoscopic ablation of tissue. Moreover, the acquisition enabled PENTAX Medial to strengthen its therapeutic endoscopy products and service portfolio.

Key players in the cold pain therapy market:

Some of the key players in the cold pain therapy market are CryoConcepts LP, Metrum Cryoflex, Brymill Cryogenic Systems, Mectronic Mediccale S.r.l., Sanarus, Wallach Surgical Devices, Zimmer MedizinSystems, CooperSurgical Inc., CSA Medical, Inc., Cortex Technology, Erbe Elektromedizin, GmbH, Special Medical Technology Co., Ltd, Medtronic plc, Galil Medical, Inc., and PHYSIOMED AG.