What Are The Health Benefits of an Infrared Sauna ?
The infrared sauna has been around for a while now, but it still attracts many people who are eager to experience the numerous benefits of this kind of therapy. However, due to the lack of information and false propaganda regarding the high technology sauna, they can’t make up their mind regarding the purchase.
If you are considering an infrared sauna, but aren’t quite sure what the benefits are, don’t worry! Infrared saunas seem to be all the rage right now and people rave about how wonderful they are. But what exactly is an infrared sauna? What do they offer? In this guide, I share everything you need to know about infrared saunas, including how they work and the various benefits associated with them.
What Is An Infrared Sauna?
According to Mayo Clinic, an infrared sauna is a type of sauna that uses light in the infrared spectrum and electromagnetic radiation to create heat. This process is different from the traditional sauna, which relies on the heat produced by burning wood or steam.
Infrared saunas use special lights that emit infrared energy waves, which penetrate your skin up to 20 cm, thus heating your body directly from the inside out. The heat in an infrared sauna is dry, gentle and penetrating, and does not cause any burns or discomfort.
This form of therapy has been used for centuries, but only recently has it become popular in the West.
How Does Infrared Sauna Work?
Infrared saunas use special infrared lamps to heat up the air. These lamps emit infrared energy waves that heat the air and penetrate your skin up to 20 centimeters so that you can feel the warm air on your skin. They are also known as “near-infrared” or “nano-technology” saunas. Infrared light has a higher wavelength than visible light and is emitted from special lamps. The infrared light penetrates deep into the body, heating up the blood vessels, muscles, joints, and organs. This process helps to increase blood circulation in the body and flush out toxins through your skin (the sweat glands).
This type of sauna helps stimulate lymphatic drainage – a process that flushes out toxins from the body.
How Long Does It Take to Get Used to Infrared Sauna?
Since infrared saunas can produce a lot of heat, it may take some time for your body to get used to the intense heat. Here are some tips for getting used to infrared sauna:
Drink lots of water when you first enter the sauna. Infrared saunas can make you sweat, and this sweat can contain toxins that are harmful to your health, so drink plenty of water before entering the sauna. At first, it will be difficult for your body to get rid of these toxins because they have been stored in your muscles and organs. However, after a few sessions in an infrared sauna, you will be able to rid your body of many toxins that were previously stored in your body.
After you enter the sauna, do not sit down. The infrared sauna will heat up the air around you and make it very uncomfortable to sit down, so instead, stand or walk around the sauna for a while. This will help you work up a sweat and get rid of toxins from your body more quickly.
Avoid drinking alcohol before you enter the sauna. Alcohol can dehydrate your body and make it more difficult for your body to eliminate toxins through sweating.
Avoid exercising right before entering an infrared sauna, as this may cause dehydration or make it harder for your muscles to recover after exercising. If this happens, drink plenty of water after exercising and enter the sauna immediately.
After you have been in the sauna for at least 10 minutes, sit down on one of the benches and lean back. This will help your body get rid of toxins that have been stored in your muscles and organs.
After you have been sitting in the sauna for a while, you can move to another bench and lean forward, then stretch out your legs to relax them. After a few minutes, you can stand up again and stretch out your arms while leaning forward. These positions help to eliminate toxins from your muscles as well as relax them as well.
What Are The Health Benefits Of An Infrared Sauna
An infrared sauna has many health benefits. The infrared heat deeply penetrates into your body improving circulation, promoting detoxification, boosting the immune system, and relaxing your muscles. Probably you’ve heard about how great infrared saunas can be for your health, but do you know how great? Here are some ways an infrared sauna can benefit your health.
Chronic fatigue syndrome
Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) is a complex and debilitating disorder that affects about one million Americans, mostly women. Another three million Americans are suffering from similar fatigue-related illnesses, yet most of them are undiagnosed.
The condition results in severe exhaustion, cognitive impairment, and other symptoms that have no known cause or cure. Patients might suffer from headaches, muscle pain, insomnia, or any number of other conditions.
Using an infrared sauna can help to treat CFS because it raises the core body temperature to an average of 102 degrees Fahrenheit without increasing the surface temperature. This stimulates the body’s own immune system, which
produces cytokines that trigger the release of histamines and leukotrienes to fight off infections.
These compounds also help to open up the blood vessels and allow them to dilate. This improves circulation in the capillaries and reduces the severity of those symptoms by boosting energy levels. The infrared saunas also boost metabolism and oxygenate red blood cells so they can carry more oxygen throughout the body.
Muscle soreness
The infrared heat from an infrared sauna causes your muscles to relax, and your heart rate to slow down. It also helps to lower your blood pressure and reduce stress hormones such as cortisol. The heat penetrates deep into your muscles and joints and helps you feel less tired after exercising or doing sports activities.
Blood Pressure
First, let’s talk about what causes high blood pressure in the first place. High blood pressure is a result of stress in the body, especially the modern-day stress that we all face on a daily basis. This leads to more water retention and more toxins build up in our bodies. We eat foods that contain chemicals, preservatives, and other unnatural substances from the environment and we don’t get enough exercise or sleep anymore. All these things contribute to hypertension.
The heat from an infrared sauna can help people with high blood pressure by relaxing them and releasing water retention, which can help lower blood pressure naturally. Infrared saunas can also cleanse your body of toxins and increase your energy level so you will be more likely to exercise and eat properly. Studies have shown IR Sauna to be effective at controlling hypertension.
Skin Cleansing
The infrared sauna is very good for your skin. It helps cleanse your skin, removing the toxins that make it look dull and aged.
The sweat that is released during an infrared sauna session contains chemicals like ammonia and lactic acid. When this sweat mixes with the air, they combine together to form nitric oxide.
This nitric oxide has antibacterial properties which help in cleaning your pores effectively. This way your skin looks fresh and healthy.
Stress Relief
Saunas have been used for centuries for stress relief, dating back to ancient Finland where people would sit in steam baths to relax their minds, bodies, and spirits.
Heat therapy has been shown to relieve stress by decreasing levels of adrenaline, a hormone that triggers the fight-or-flight response when you’re stressed out.
Body Detoxification
The electromagnetic radiation in an infrared sauna is what makes it so beneficial for detoxification. The heat emitted from the lamps causes the water inside our cells to vibrate and expand. When water moves into open
areas of our cells, toxins are expelled through the pores in our skin (sweating). The increase in blood flow also helps with this process.
Free radicals are formed when we’re exposed to toxins and pollution, which can also lead to cancer. An infrared sauna helps to neutralize free radicals by increasing circulation and moving toxins out of the body through sweat. In a 30-minute session, you will eliminate up to 1/2 cup of toxins through sweat and breathing.
The process of sweating is one way that people have been able to rid their bodies of toxins for thousands of years. Infrared saunas make this process easier by increasing circulation and moving toxins out through the skin via sweat.
Infrared Sauna Vs. Traditional Sauna: What’s The Difference?
There are many differences in the structure and energy type of infrared sauna vs traditional sauna. Traditional saunas use wood as a heat source while infrared saunas use infrared lamps as the heat source. The temperature inside the traditional sauna is higher than the infrared one, which reaches only up to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. The traditional sauna is usually made out of wood, or at times concrete or stones. However, the infrared sauna can be made out of any material that can reflect infrared rays like plastic, glass, or even plywood.
Infrared Sauna:
An infrared sauna heats you up from within your body instead of heating it from outside your body. It uses a low-level light that is invisible to the naked
eye and penetrates deep into your tissues and muscles to release toxins from the body. The light energy transfers into heat energy to help detoxify the body through the sweating mechanism. This is in contrast with Traditional Sauna where you sweat out toxins through pores on your skin surface by increasing skin temperature.
Traditional Sauna:
Traditional Sauna heats you up from outside your body by increasing skin temperature. Sweating comes out of pores on the skin surface through increasing sweat gland activities which help detoxify by releasing toxins from the body.
What Are The Risks Of Using an Infrared Sauna?
There are no known risks of using an infrared sauna. Some people do experience mild side effects after using a sauna, including feeling tired, headaches, and being thirsty. In addition, it is possible that you might experience some mild temporary dehydration (meaning your body has a lower than normal blood volume). This is because the high temperatures can cause you to sweat out fluids.
A study published in the “Journal of Environmental Health” found that an infrared sauna session can increase levels of carbon monoxide in the blood. However, this increase is only temporary and will not have any long-term health effects. Sometimes, the high heat levels can also cause a brief drop in blood pressure. However, once you get out of the sauna or cool down, your blood pressure returns to normal.
In general, infrared saunas are considered safe for healthy people and people with chronic conditions who consult their doctors first. If you have any questions about whether you should use an infrared sauna, talk to your doctor before doing so.
You should not use an Infrared Sauna if you are pregnant.
Conclusion
Putting it simply, an infrared sauna is the working of deep penetrating heat your body and there are dozens of benefits associated with using this type of sauna. The logic behind the invention is simple: hot temperatures stimulate certain enzymes and dilate blood vessels while it purges excess fluids from within. All these improve your body’s metabolic functions which, in turn, will increase your overall health and quality of life.
