There’s nothing more frustrating than chronic pain, the constant companion that greets you from the moment you wake and tends to keep you up far into the night.

Heat heals. In particular, infrared heat therapy has led thousands of people down a pain-free path of healing, relaxation, and overall better health. 

Keep reading to learn some of the benefits of infrared heat therapy. 

WHAT HAPPENS IN AN INFRARED SAUNA? 

An infrared sauna differs from a traditional sauna in that it warms you from the inside out, instead of sitting in a hot room. With an infrared sauna, individual panels produce infrared waves that penetrate human tissue. As a result, your body heats up before the air heats up.

Thus infrared saunas can operate at a lower environmental temperature than a traditional sauna. You end up sweating more, but with a lower temperature since you can tolerate the environment longer. Your core body temperature can go up as much as two to three degrees in an infrared sauna.  

HEALING BENEFITS OF INFRARED HEAT THERAPY

Sauna treatments have proven their health benefits for centuries. Infrared heat therapy or infrared heat saunas have unique characteristics that make them especially effective for the following problems. 

STRESS AND SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Sleep loss and sleep deprivation cause a surprising amount of illnesses. If you can find any way to rest more and relax more, you will avoid a myriad of problems like those caused by sleep deprivation. 

Infrared heat saunas have proven themselves to be effective in helping clients deal with stress. You can feel the stress fall off you in waves as you sweat through a sauna session. 

Body temperature is a significant factor in getting a good night’s sleep. You need to have a cool body temperature to fall asleep. 

You can hack your body temperature by warming it up in an infrared sauna and then allowing it to cool quickly. When you do this, the quick cool-down jump-starts your brain into thinking it’s time to go to sleep. So an infrared sauna benefits your sleep habits. 

Better sleep means a better life. Your mood is lighter, and your immune system is stronger. You may still have the same stress-inducing problems, but you can handle them better when you’ve had a good night’s sleep.  

TOXICITY

A sauna session can be likened to giving your body a bath from the inside. When you sit in a sauna of any form, be it a traditional sauna or an infrared sauna, you sweat out the toxins in your body. Your sweat is a good thing because it’s your body’s way of cooling down your body, while eliminating the toxins lurking in your body. 

You can do your best to live a clean life, eating organic food, and using only natural products. But the basic act of living in any environment means you’ll take in environmental toxins. You can release those toxins through a good sauna session. 

Infrared saunas do an even better job of helping you detox than traditional saunas. Traditional saunas heat the air around you, making the room hot and often difficult to breathe. 

In an infrared sauna, infrared light penetrates your fat tissue and into your muscles deeper than the heat of a conventional sauna – heating you, instead of the air around you. As a result, your body releases more toxins, and you either sweat them out, or they’re eliminated through other organs like your kidneys or colon. 

SORE MUSCLES

A study of ten physical education students revealed the deep penetration of infrared heat you experience in an infrared sauna results in positive neuromuscular system recovery from a maximum endurance performance. 

In other words, anyone who pushes themselves to the max will find sore muscle relief from an infrared sauna session. Infrared heat penetrates three to four centimeters into the fat tissue and neuromuscular system, meaning it can deliver heat relief to sore muscles much faster than a traditional sauna. 

So the heat does more than just make you sweat- it treats your sore muscles. And helps them grow. 

It’s been shown that two back-to-back sauna sessions at 80 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes boosts growth hormone levels twofold, and that two sessions for one hour a day can cause an incredible 16-fold increase in growth hormone levels. These are tremendous gains for those looking to increase their muscle mass. 

Plus, the heat of the infrared sauna is more easily tolerated because the heat is directed at your body, and not at the air. So you can enjoy sitting in a relatively comfortable environment, temperature wise, while muscles recover. 

JOINT PAIN

Studies are showing improved joint pain relief with consistent infrared sauna sessions. One study treated rheumatoid arthritis patients with infrared sauna sessions twice a week for four weeks. 

After four weeks, patients reported decreased pain and stiffness and improved functionality. They also had less fatigue and more general comfort, thanks to infrared sauna treatments. 

CIRCULATION

A session in an infrared sauna can help improve circulation. 

Heat in general improves blood flow by dilating blood vessels, allowing nutrient rich blood to circulate more freely. By immersing the body in the heat of an infrared sauna, it improves circulation all over your body. 

If you struggle with circulation issues, such as constantly cold fingers and toes, swelling in the extremities, constant cramps and pain, or even numb appendages, an infrared sauna session can help. 

CHRONC FATIGUE SYNDROME

While the causes of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome are still being investigated, the symptoms are well known. An infrared sauna session can help combat the extreme fatigue, headaches, pain and mental fog that are symptoms associated with CFS. And can keep it away. 

Scientific evidence shows that sauna treatments for CFS can have both immediate, and long term benefits. One study treated CFS sufferers with regular sauna visits 3 days a week for 12 weeks, as well as twice weekly underwater exercise. Every single patient reported significant reductions in pain and other symptoms. 

A 6 month follow up interview after the completion of the treatment revealed that participants were still enjoying an up to 68% reduction in pain and CFS symptoms. 

BLOOD PRESSURE

Several German studies have indicated that dry saunas like infrared saunas can reduce hypertension or lower blood pressure. One study took a group of 46 hypertensive men and had them take in two sauna sessions a week for three months. On average, these men’s blood pressure went from 166/101 to 143/92. 

Scientists compare this drop to the same drop average individuals experience when they take medication to lower their blood pressure. 

Saunas are beneficial to heart health not just because they increase circulation, but they also increase the heart’s stroke volume. By pumping more blood with each stroke, the heart is able to function more efficiently, beating fewer times and with less pressure. 

If you suffer from hypertension or high blood pressure and are wary of the unpleasant side effects that come with blood pressure medication, speak to your primary care provider about how regular infrared sauna treatments can help lower your blood pressure naturally. 

HEAT UP, HEAL UP

Infrared heat therapy has proven itself to be an effective treatment for pain and stress. We know this because our founder experienced chronic back pain for decades of his life, before discovering infrared heat therapy. Read our founder’s story here to understand how we know infrared sauna health benefits. 

Book an appointment now. We’d love to help you find a solution to your pain.