Unlike traditional sauna that makes you sweat by heating up the surrounding air, infrared sauna is applied directly to the body to raise the body temperature for initiating sweating. That might sound gross but wait till you read about the benefits of far infrared sauna.
Infrared sauna is of three types- near, middle and far. It uses light to generate heat and is relatively much more effective than traditional sauna. Each of these types are used for specific purposes and refers to the intensity of the infrared radiations:
Near Infrared Sauna: For healing wounds, anti-aging and increasing immune function.
Middle Infrared Sauna: For relaxing tired muscles and increasing blood and lymph circulation.
Far Infrared Sauna: For detoxifying tissues and skin cells.
Benefits of far infrared sauna go beyond these which will be laid out in detail later, but first let’s see how sweating is good for our body.
Sweating is body’s natural way of eliminating toxins at the cellular and tissue levels. That might explain the term “sweating out in gym”for any exercise or “gymming” is not adequate unless it makes you sweaty.
You might already be familiar with the cooling effects of sweating, but what you might not be aware of is that it is the best way to lower the cortisol level in our overloaded system. Cortisol is often called the stress hormone that makes one lethargic and adds that stubborn belly fat.
Now imagine if you are not feeling well or have to miss out on gym or exercise for a couple of days due to travel or busy schedule, wouldn’t it be great if you could just sweat it out naturally?
Also, wouldn’t it be awesome if along with sweating you could also kick a few calories and lose weight?
Benefits of far infrared sauna include this and much more! Yes surely the traditional sauna would make you sweat, but it is not capable enough to give you further benefits like maintaining a healthy blood pressure, keeping stress at bay and maintaining tissues’and cells’health.
Those who can not stand the higher temperatures of the traditional saunas might be delighted to experience the benefits of far infrared sauna at much lower temperatures but with the same results that a moderate exercise routine yields.
The skin feels rejuvenated after each session as the toxins are chucked out of the system and pores get enough oxygen to breathe. A beginner should ideally start with 4 minute sessions and then progress towards longer sessions keeping the tolerable level of heat in mind.
According to Dr. Brent A. Bauer, some studies have also shown evidences of the benefits of far infrared sauna in rheumatoid arthritis and congestive heart failure, which is being investigated further.
But here is a word of caution for lymphedema patients, far infrared sauna sadly doesn’t help if you have lymphedema and it might aggravate the swelling due to the increased lymph flow. Please consult your doctor before going ahead with far infrared sauna to know the pros and cons in details.
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