A hand-operated cooling device for cryotherapy for treating pain, includes a main body and a receptacle, which can be inserted at least partially into the main body, for the exchangeable accommodation and insertion of a gas pressure vessel. The main body includes a manual gas outlet actuation arrangement, which can effects the outflow of a gas from the gas pressure vessel when the receptacle is inserted. The receptacle includes a cooling surface, which can be cooled by the outflowing gas and by the gas pressure vessel jacket, wherein the gas can be conducted inside the main body and inside the receptacle by a gas conducting arrangement and can exit at the receptacle adjacent to the cooling surface. Commercially available gas pressure vessels, can be inserted into the cooling device, so that a simple and cost-effective use of therapeutic OT medical cryotherapy having a pleasant cooling effect is made possible.
