Coroner: Nevada Spa Worker Suffocated in Cryochamber

A Nevada spa worker who was found dead in a cryotherapy chamber last month accidentally suffocated, the Clark County coroner's office ruled Tuesday, NBC News reported. 

Chelsea Ake-Salvacion, 24, died as a result of "asphyxia due to an oxygen-poor environment" inside the cryotherapy chamber at the Rejuvenice spa sometime before she was found on Oct. 20, the Clark County Office of Coroner said in a statement.

Ake-Salvacion is thought to have gone into the chamber — which supporters say helps in pain management — alone after the business was closed.

Nitrogen used to cool the chamber displaced oxygen, sending levels from around 21 percent found in normal air to as low as 5 percent, the coroner's office said.

Whole-body cryotherapy is offered as an alternative to cold-water immersion or ice packs, but machines are supposed to be used for no more than three minutes because temperatures can fall as low as minus 240 degrees Fahrenheit.

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