'Cool' New Spa On Broadway: Newport Cryotherapy

NEWPORT, RI—Newport Cryotherapy, which opened at 493 Broadway in June, is one of only two such spas in the state. (The other one is in Cranston.) So what's cryotherapy? According to Newport Cryotherapy's website, it's a treatment using sub-freezing temperatures of -166 degrees F to ease soreness, inflammation and other ailments. The therapy's also said to be good for anti-aging.

Casey Smith and Nick Sanginario, both of Newport, own the business together. Sanginario's a veteran, and Casey's his girlfriend. They live around the block in Newport, she said, and they started the business because Sanginario suffered from sciatica. He tried therapies and pain medications but couldn't find relief until he tried a cryotherapy spa in Fall River, Mass.

Sanginario, a former Marine who works for the U.S. Navy, "knew right away" this treatment worked for him, Smith said. He was so impressed he decided to open his own business.

They picked the location because they love the area and think upper Broadway's up and coming, she said.

"It's visible," she said, and "wasn't so deep into town" that the location would discourage people driving from Portsmouth or Middletown. "There's ample street parking, and it's not metered," she said. Plus, another new business has just moved into a storefront that's been vacant for years.

"It's a whole new Broadway," she said. They did all the work on the storefront before they opened last June, she said. Sanginario decided the exterior should be painted blue and added the new store awnings, she said.

The storefront used to be occupied by Cox Electric, a private electrician, she said. Before that, it was a liquor store.

Smith and Sanginario have lived in Newport for about six years. Sanginario is originally from Lancaster, Mass., and Smith's originally from Cumberland. The Navy brought him here. She moved to Newport after she finished college at the University of Rhode Island. She works full-time for a Medicaid company in Newport.

The spa is open from 4 to 7 p.m. weeknights and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekends. They've just moved to winter hours, she said, and are finding "more of a demand" during the evening after people are coming home from work.

Smith said the three-minute treatment does feel cold but mainly for the last minute. Customers wear a bathing suit. They enter a standup chamber, but the chamber doesn't cover the whole body. Everything from the shoulders up, including the head and neck, is outside the chamber, she said.

"It gradually gets colder," she said. "You will feel cold but not really until the last minute."

Smith said the treatment is not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. People sign a waiver before they undergo a treatment, she said, and if they have a medical condition, they should consult their doctor first. Cryotherapy's not for people with low blood pressure, for example.

The owners hope Newport Cryotherapy will become a full-service spa, Smith said. They also offer a sauna and Cannabidiol (CBD) products, which contain cannabis but are legal. The CBD products are used for inflammation and for anxiety, she said.

Photo Credit: Margo Sullivan/ Patch Staff