There’s nothing quite like a 20-minute sweat session in a sauna. You feel more relaxed and rested after you’re done, and the heat helps relieve sore muscles and improves your overall health and well-being.
But if the high temperatures of a traditional sauna are just too much for you to handle, an infrared sauna may offer the benefits of a sauna without the extreme heat.
What is an infrared sauna?
Unlike a traditional sauna, infrared saunas don’t heat the air around you. Instead, they use infrared lamps (that use electromagnetic radiation) to warm your body directly. “These saunas use infrared panels instead of conventional heat to easily penetrate human tissue, heating up your body before heating up the air,” explains physical therapist, Vivian Eisenstadt, MAPT, CPT, MASP. Supporters of infrared saunas say the heat penetrates more deeply than warmed air. This allows you to experience a more intense sweat at a lower temperature.
Product Name: INFRA CABIN T810H BLACK
Product Code: 9510 9110
Size: 913 x 1938 x 913 (WxHxD)
Detail: 1-person
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Product Name: INFRA CABIN T820H BLACK
Product Code: 9510 9112
Size: 1213 x 1938 x 1013(WxHxD)
Detail: 2-3 person
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Product Name: INFRA CABIN T820H BLACK
Product Code: 9510 9114
Size: 1633 x 1938 x 1078 (WxHxD)
Detail: 3-4 person
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Benefits of using Infrared Sauna
1. Detoxification
Sweating is one of the body’s most natural ways to eliminate toxins, making it a crucial part of detoxification. When compared to traditional saunas, infrared saunas allow you to eliminate about seven times more toxins.
2. Relaxation
Infrared sauna therapy promotes relaxation by helping to balance your body’s level of cortisol, your body’s primary stress hormone. The heat generated by the sauna will also help to relax muscles and relieve tension throughout the body, allowing you to relax and de-stress.
3. Pain Relief
If you suffer from muscle aches or joint pain, infrared saunas can relieve this form of inflammation by increasing circulation and relaxing your muscles.
4. Weight Loss
The heat generated by an infrared sauna will cause your core temperature to increase, which can also lead to an increased heart rate — the same increase in heart rate that you experience when exercising. When your body has to work harder to lower your core temperature or keep up with an increased heart rate, your body will burn more calories, resulting in weight loss. An article, titled Effect of Sweating, in the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that a 30-minute infrared sauna session could burn roughly 600 calories.
5. Improved Circulation
As the heat from infrared saunas increases your core body temperature, your circulation will increase along with it. Consistent infrared sauna sessions, especially in the middle-infrared level, can stimulate blood flow, improve muscle recovery, and decrease pain and inflammation after intense exercise.
6. Skin Purification
Infrared sauna technology can help purify your skin by eliminating toxins from your pores and increasing circulation, resulting in clearer, softer, and healthier-looking skin.
7. Immune System Boost
The deep heating from the infrared heaters will raise your core body temperature, inducing an artificial fever. How does this benefit the body? Fever is the body’s natural mechanism to strengthen and accelerate the immune response, as seen in the case of infection. This enhanced immune system, combined with improved elimination of toxins and wastes via intense sweating, increases your overall health and resistance to disease.
8. Improves Appearance of Cellulite
Cellulite refers to superficial pockets of trapped fat, which cause uneven dimpling or “orange peel” skin. It appears in 90% of post-adolescent women and is rarely seen in men. Common, but not exclusive areas where cellulite is found are the buttocks, thighs, and the abdomen. Contrary to popular belief, cellulite is not related to obesity, and the appearance of cellulite is not always reduced by weight loss. Since the far infrared radiant heat warmer than conventional saunas, it is significantly more effective at reducing cellulite. There is a direct link between the slowing of metabolic rates and the storage of toxins in fat cells. Sauna use and far infrared heat can increase heart rate and localized blood circulation, which essentially reverses the above-mentioned trends towards the accumulation of liquids in the fat cells to reduce the appearance of cellulite.
9. Ease Joint Pain and Stiffness
Time spent in an infrared sauna benefits patients suffering from many forms of arthritis. Radiant heat has also been effective in the treatment of sprains, neuralgia, bursitis, muscle spasms, joint stiffness and many other muscular-skeletal ailments. Much of the stiffness, aches and soreness that comes with aging is reduced or eliminated.
There are guidelines you can follow, but ultimately, how you choose to use an infrared sauna is up to you. Here are some tips to get you started:
Drink water. Make sure you’re hydrated before going into an infrared sauna. Drink a glass of water before your session. You can also bring water into the sauna, especially if you’re sensitive to higher heats.
Choose the temperature. The average temperature for an infrared sauna ranges from 37˚C to 65˚C, with beginners starting out at the lower end and more experienced users at the higher end. If this is your first time, start with 37˚C. You may want to stay at this temperature for a few sessions. You can always increase the temperature each session until you reach 65˚C.
Length of time. For first-time users, start with 10 to 15 minutes. You can add time each session until you reach the suggested time of 20 to 30 minutes. Saunas come with a timer, so make sure to set it. You don’t want to stay in there too long and risk becoming dehydrated.
Clothing. How you dress is your choice. Some people will wear bathing suits, while others prefer to go in naked.
What you can do while in the sauna? Relax, read, meditate, listen to music. Just don’t go to sleep.
After the session is over. When your session is done, it’s suggested that you take your time and let your body cool down. Once cooled down, feel free to take a shower or bath. Just make sure you are drinking plenty of water.
Number of sessions per week. Most facilities that offer infrared sauna treatments recommend using the sauna three to four days per week. If you are healthy and tolerate the four days, you can use the sauna daily.