There’s a saying that the remedy for a broken heart is sauna therapy.
Okay, I made that one up. But that’s because saunas take me back to a day in med school when a friend came sobbing about a recent heartbreak.
Love is tough. I couldn’t do anything about it. But I had discounted coupons for a spa session that included a steam bath, so I asked her to tag along to take her mind off things.
It worked! The steam bath was so relaxing, and she felt much better. But this was before I knew anything scientific about sauna therapy.
Right now, it’s easy to understand why my friend saw an instant elevation in her mood.
Sauna therapy no doubt aids relaxation, but it is also believed to hold numerous health benefits for the heart and the entire body.
Let me walk you through everything you need to know about sauna therapy and its powerful healing potential for your body.
What isSauna Therapy?
Simply put, sauna therapy is the regulated use of saunas to improve one’s health.
These saunas are enclosed spaces heated to high but relatively bearable temperatures (between 150˚F and 212˚F) to help people relax.
But because the heat generated in a sauna raises the body’s core temperature and makes one sweat similarly to exercise, it may hold many other health benefits.
Sauna therapy is believed beneficial for health challenges, including mental illness, heart disease, chronic pain, and immune dysfunction.
And while innovations like electricity have evolved saunas into a modern-day wellness practice, they have been around for over 2,000 years.
You should know English is hardly the most authentic language. For example, “sauna” is actually a Finnish word.
It traces the history of the practice back to Finland. And for them, it has and still is, a way of life.
But the good thing is that after all this time, through research, we now know precisely what a sauna session does to the body.
And we have to admit; it may only be suitable for some.
Read on, and you’ll understand why.
Different Types ofSaunas
Over two millennia of sauna therapy’s evolution, it has never deviated from its original principle of using heat to aid relaxation. However, in that time, heat production in the sauna has evolved to become more efficient.
There are a few different types of saunas now, depending on the method used to heat the room. Here are the common ones:
- Steam Room Saunas
Traditional Finnish saunas typically use dry heat with less than 20% moisture. But steam room saunas keep humidity at 100% instead of dry heat and use moist heat to heat the room. - Wood Burning Saunas
Wood-burning saunas take us back in time because that’s how the Finnish people did it thousands of years ago. Wood is set ablaze on a stove and used to heat sauna rocks until they’re searing.
The rocks emit immense heat that warms the room, and this type of sauna has low moisture.
- Electrically Heated Saunas
The invention of this type of sauna in the ’50s made the practice more accessible to Americans. These saunas produce intense dry heat with little moisture, like the wood-burning saunas.
But instead of burning wood, electrically heated saunas use an electric heater attached to the floor or wall of the rooms to warm them.
- Far-Infrared Saunas
Among the most recently popularized and promising innovations in sauna therapy is the far infrared sauna, which uses unique lamps that emit light waves.
The waves emitted penetrate and heat the body directly without warming the room.
And even though it is done at lower temperatures than traditional saunas—between 100˚F and 140˚F—it makes you sweat the same way.
That’s why it is the preferred alternative for people who can’t stand the heat of traditional saunas.
Far infrared saunas may currently be the most efficient for sauna therapy, so we’ll go into it in more detail as part of the broader topic of infrared treatment in another article.
But whatever the type of sauna, what they do to the body is the same. So what exactly happens to your body in a sauna?
What Saunas DoIn The Body
It has already been established that saunas use high temperatures to help the body relax. And you might know how that works from how relaxed you feel after a hot bath.
But more than that, the heat generated also increases a person’s heart rate, and the heart begins to pump more blood.
It also loosens up blood vessels to let blood flow freely to the skin’s surface so the heat can escape the body.
As the heat persists and the temperature rises, you’ll sweat to cool off, which can be as much as a pint.
And while sweating may seem gross, it can be pretty magical because mimicking the effects of exercise by raising body temperature to sweat will release endorphins that make you feel better and relaxed [1].
Typically, the therapy involves sitting in a sauna room for about 5 to 30 minutes, depending on a person’s tolerance to heat.
But beginners are advised to start with 10 minutes or less, then work their way up to 15 to 20-minute sessions three times a week for the best outcome.
With far infrared, however, you can do sauna therapy daily if you’re healthy.
Interestingly, some studies directly link the frequency of sauna therapy to the life-extending benefits that can be gained [2, 3].
Here, we explore what those benefits are in detail.
Benefits ofSauna Therapy
The many suggested benefits of sauna therapy are rooted in its ability to raise the body’s core temperature and increase blood circulation.
Here’s what you stand to gain when that happens.
ImprovedHeart Health
There are many suggested benefits of sauna therapy. But the most touted ones are relaxation and improved cardiovascular health.
Truly, sauna therapy works by influencing the action of the heart. As the heat leads to broader blood vessels, it lowers blood pressure.
However, a study showed that blood pressure significantly decreased for patients with untreated hypertension when sauna therapy was combined with exercise [4].
So even though saunas mimic the effect of exercise on the body, they cannot replace a good workout routine.
Another insightful study followed over 2,000 men in Finland for 20 years and concluded that regular sauna therapy significantly reduced their risk of death from adverse cardiovascular events [2].
And patients with advanced heart failure may also benefit from sauna therapy, according to a 2016 research [5].
Reduced Risk ofMental illness
Being in a sauna heats the body and produces endorphins that can improve one’s mood.
Taking that benefit a notch further, a six-week study on people with major depressive disorder concluded that sauna therapy was promising as a fast-acting and long-lasting antidepressant [6].
And its effect on the brain is not limited to just mood improvement.
Even memory-based mental illnesses like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are less likely to occur with moderate to high-frequency sauna baths [3].
Relief fromChronic Pain
Muscle and joint tension reduce as body heat and blood flow increase during sauna therapy. That makes saunas likely to help ease chronic pain, including arthritis.
And true enough, the result of a 2008 pilot study on patients who have rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases showed clinically relevant pain and stiffness improvements during infrared sauna therapy [7].
ToxinRemoval
While the skin’s detoxification ability has been controversial over the years, it remains one of the most pitched benefits of sauna therapy.
Because saunas make you sweat, they are believed to remove toxins from the body in that form.
But when it comes to detoxification, the skin is less involved as an organ than the liver and kidneys.
Still, scientists observed that toxic elements like cadmium, lead, mercury, and arsenic were present in sweat in higher concentrations than in the blood, hinting that, perhaps, some detoxification occurs [8].
ImprovedImmunity
Saunas are believed to improve the body’s immunity.
Researchers from the University of Warwick demonstrated that our bodies speed up their defense mechanism the hotter they get [9].
That’s part of why the body induces a fever during an infection.
Not only does that temperature increase slow down the replication of the responsible pathogen, but it also makes the immune system work more efficiently to get rid of it.
In the same way, when saunas raise the body’s temperature, there’s proof that it induces the same improved immune system efficiency.
One study mainly looked into the effects of sauna therapy on blood indices that determine immune function. The result showed increased levels of those parameters, which translates to better immunity [10].
Reduced Risk ofDiabetes
Sauna therapy has also proved beneficial in preventing diabetes by reducing blood sugar.
In 2018, a study assessed 80 people for fasting sugar levels before they were subjected to seven steam baths on different days.
After all the sauna sessions, fasting sugar levels were reassessed and observed to be significantly decreased [11].
OtherBenefits
There are still many suggested benefits of sauna therapy.
In addition to the many already listed, it may also reduce symptoms in people with skin problems like psoriasis, provide relief for people with asthma, and even improve one’s athletic performance [12, 13, 14].
Although some believe sauna therapy can help them lose weight, there’s no proof.
Weight loss may occur during a sauna session, but it’s a temporary consequence of fluid loss and will return upon rehydration.
But before jumping into the sauna room to enjoy its benefits, there are risks you must know and a few crucial precautions.
Possible Risks of Sauna Therapy
Sauna therapy is safe for most people. But remember, we said this therapy is not for everybody.
Using a sauna is a significant risk if you’ve had a recent myocardial infarction, severe aortic stenosis, or unstable angina pectoris [15].
Just as the heat from a sauna holds many benefits, it could pose a few dangers. Here are some of them:
Dehydration
While sweat is desirable during a sauna session, consistent loss of fluids from the body can lead to dehydration. That is the most considerable risk of sauna therapy.
Dehydration may present as dizziness, headache, or severe thirst and can cause various medical problems, including shock, seizures, coma, and even death.
Unfortunately, this risk is higher for people with kidney disease.
Low Blood Pressure
Sauna heat on the body loosens up blood vessels and reduces blood pressure. That can be beneficial, but it poses a risk in some instances.
For example, people who already have low blood pressure could have it drop further, leading to dizziness or fainting because enough blood won’t get to the brain.
The American Heart Association also recommends not switching rapidly from a hot sauna to cold water—especially for hypertensives—because it can raise blood pressure [16].
Infertility
There have been a few fertility issues with men after sauna therapy.
A 2020 review even listed recurrent sauna practice as a detrimental exposure leading to global male fertility decline [17].
But while research has found evidence of this adverse effect of saunas on sperm production, it is reversible [18].
Still, it may be significant for men with already existing fertility issues.
Crucial Precautions
It’s good news that the risks of sauna therapy are few, but it’s even better that there are many precautions one can follow to reduce the chances of any adverse effects.
Here are a few tips to ensure the safest sauna therapy session:
Stay hydrated. Drink lots of water before, during, and after the therapy.
Never drink alcohol before a session. Alcohol not only causes dehydration, but it also exasperates the risk of low blood pressure [19].
Take breaks between sessions to cool down, and stay within 15 to 20 minutes per session.
Do not use the sauna if you are unwell. Wait until you recover.
Pregnant women and those managing certain medical conditions like hypertension should discuss with their doctors before using the sauna.
Conclusion
So sauna therapy cannot mend a broken heart in the real sense, but it makes up for that with its numerous benefits for the heart and the entire body.
What started in Finland as a recreational activity involving burning rocks on wood stoves is now an immensely promising global wellness practice that uses infrared rays.
While the saunas have evolved, they provide the same benefits they did thousands of years ago, only that we are now more aware of them.
And still using the same principle of dry heat for relaxation, the saunas are now understood to mimic the effects of exercise and reduce the risks of cardiovascular diseases, some mental illnesses, and diabetes.
While the benefits seem unending, including pain relief, toxin removal, and improved immunity, sauna therapy is not without risks.
In some cases, it can lead to severe dehydration, low blood pressure, and rare but possible male infertility.
However, you’re likely to avoid these risks by following critical sauna therapy tips like drinking enough water, sticking to the recommended 15 minutes per session, and avoiding alcohol altogether before and after a session.
Now that you know everything, all that’s left is to book a sauna therapy session with our experts.
And since most modern medical saunas use healing infrared light rather than regular heat, we’ll be going into more detail on infrared therapy in a subsequent article.
References:
[1]. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032716300854
[2]. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2130724
[3]. https://academic.oup.com/ageing/article/46/2/245/2654230
[4]. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1751-7176.2012.00637.x
[5]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27001189/
[6]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27172277/
[7]. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10067-008-0977-y
[8]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22505948/
[9]. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/05/180521095606.htm
[10]. The Effects of a Single and a Series of Finnish Sauna Sessions on the Immune Response and Heat Shock Protein Levels in
[11]. Effect of Steam Sauna Bath on Fasting Blood Glucose Level in Healthy Adults
[12]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11165553/
[13]. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0002934300006719
[14]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33211153/
[15]. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11165553/
[16]. Getting Active to Control High Blood Pressure | American Heart Association
[17]. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/and.13595
[18]. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5941775/
[19]. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1365-2796.1992.tb00941.x