Health Benefits of Dry and Wet Saunas

When thinking about sauna, most of us consider relaxation as its main benefit. However, many researches have found other health benefits of steam and infrared saunas. But there are certain health risks as well to both wet and dry saunas. Find out how sauna bathing can improve your health.

Sauna helps with muscle pains by relaxing tired muscles

Athletes use infrared saunas regularly, because it helps them relieve the muscle tension after hard exercise. Sauna, can also give temporarily relive of arthritic pains. The reason for that is that at high temperature, our bodies produce endorphins - natural pain killers. So the effect of a sauna on muscle pain is absolutely natural and much prefered to taking drugs. Also, high temperature causes the increase of circulation rate, which also helps with soothing muscular pains.

Sauna helps you with stress relive

Not only your muscles feel relaxed after a session in the sauna, but everyday stress goes away. Sauna is a great way to fight mental fatigue that most of us suffer from in modern stressful life.

Sauna is good for lowering high blood pressure

Increased blood circulation, makes your blood vessels expand. As a result after taking both infrared and steam sauna, blood pressure goes down for most people. This effect is only temporarily, however, there is some medical evidence that using sauna often, about once a week, helps keep your blood pressure to a manageable level.

Sauna heart benefits

When you use a sauna, your blood vessels get wider while you are exposed to heat, but contact afterwards. This helps them stay more elastic and generally healthy. Also your heart rate increases from normal (about 60 per minute) to 110 per minute or even more, depending on how intense is the heat. This gives your heart quite an "exercise" without going to the gym.

Sauna bathing helps you sleep well

Do you have troubles falling asleep? The night after using a sauna, you will sleep like a baby, because all your muscles feel relaxed. This is also a direct result of increased endorphins level, while you are in a sauna.

Saunas have a weight loss effect

You can loose up to 300 calories using a sauna, because of the increased heart rate due to heat exposure. Of course, most of the kilos lost in the sauna, are water, but regular use of a sauna definitely contributes to weight loss. So it makes sense to use sauna bathing in addition to your diet and exercise.

Detox effect of sauna

Sweating in high temperature opens up your pores, and helps you get rid of toxins like lead, copper, zinc, nickel, mercury and other chemicals that are very bad for your body. Also sauna cleans your skin and gives it that radiant look and healthy feel. Even visiting a sauna once detox your body and clears the skin well, but the effect is greater if you use it on a regular basis.

Sauna health risks

For a healthy person moderate use of sauna presents, no health risks. However, people with conditions such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, asthma and some skin conditions. Sauna can also be dangerous during pregnancy. If you have any of these conditions, it's best to consult with your doctor before using a sauna. As a general rule, sauna with mild temperature under 90C, should be all right for everybody. Just avoid sudden and dramatic change in temperature.