What To Know About Sauna Therapy?

The people of Finland are not the only people who know about the enormous advantages of sauna therapy. Around the world, physicians, researchers and other specialists have discovered the fantastic value of using sauna heat to stimulate the immune system, help boost the body’s white blood cell count, facilitate detoxification, and generate a state of general comfort that’s vital to the recovery process.

Did you know?

In a variety of states, experts continue to find out more about the therapeutic properties of the sauna. In Japan, as an instance, research by Dr. Chuwa Tei, professor of medicine and chairman of the department of internal medicine at Kagoshima University, and his colleagues have shown saunas’ usefulness in treating heart patients. In 1 study, Tei and his colleagues analyzed 25 guys with at least one coronary risk factor, such as high cholesterol, hypertension, smoking or diabetes, and a control group of 10 healthy men without risk factors. Once daily for 2 weeks, the researchers gave the experimental group a 15-minute, 140-degree Fahrenheit far infrared sauna bath followed by thirty minutes in bed covered in blankets.

Then they employed ultrasound technology to evaluate the operation of the participants’ vascular endothelium, the thin layer of cells that lines the inside of blood vessels. The treatment significantly improved the vascular endothelial function in the patients in the experimental group, which greatly pleased the researchers because endothelial dysfunction is thought to be the first step toward the narrowing of the arteries called atherosclerosis. In previous studies, Tei and his colleagues demonstrated that sauna therapy increased endothelial function in hamsters with chronic heart failure.

Sauna treatment

The sauna treatment also extended the lifetime of the hamsters by three weeks, when compared with the hamsters who didn’t receive sauna therapy. German researchers recently studied 22 kindergarten children who took weekly sauna baths and compared them with a control group which didn’t take any sauna baths. The children were followed for 18 months, and a careful record was made of the incidence of ear infections, colds, and upper respiratory issues. Children who did not take the sauna baths suffered from double the amount of sick days as their counterparts. Other findings indicate that it can be more than just the heat of a sauna that’s so valuable to human health.

Research has proven that an abundance of negative ions from the atmosphere we breathe is tremendously beneficial, though a deficiency of ions or a higher ratio of positive to negative ions may cause physical injury. Tests have indicated that the practice of splashing water on heated stones in a traditional Finnish sauna produces a high number of negative ions. And while The St. Petersburg Times quotes Dr. Timothy Meade, a U.S.-educated physician who works as regional manager for the American Medical Center in the Russian town, as saying, “I do not believe studies have been done where 10 Russians take a banya daily for 20 years and 10 Russian people do not, ” the paper does say that”almost anyone who encounters the banya will inform you that there’s a particular deeply felt sense of healthiness – exactly what the Russians refer to as a kaif or high – after a few hours” at the sauna bath.

Final note

Throughout Finland, Sweden, Japan, China, Germany, Russia, Canada, the U.S., and many other nations of the world, much proof and countless personal experiences exist to substantiate the widely held conviction that routine sauna bathing can be equally effective treatment for people suffering from ailments and afflictions like diabetes and hypertension and a highly effective preventative aid against colds, influenza and other health threats. Wherever you might live, if you’re sick and want to become healthy or if you’re healthy and want to stay that way, talk to an experienced health professional regarding the glorious merits of the sauna bath. Countless studies agree you could feel better and heal better in the soothing warmth of a sauna.