Saunas have been used as an effective therapeutic technique for thousands of years. Would you believe that the Mayans had sweathouses around 3000 years ago? Well, Harvard Health Publications have provided evidence for the same. The term ‘sauna’ comes from Finland, where saunas have been popular for thousands of years. It means ‘traditional bath’ in the Finnish language and has become popular worldwide, with home saunas gaining people’s interest.

Saunas can offer the benefits of improvements in cardiovascular health, skin detox, and relief from stress. However, it is important to know about saunas and the best practices for using them to obtain the desired benefits. Let us learn more about saunas in the following post.

What are Saunas?

Before you find out how to use saunas, you should focus on learning about their definition. Saunas are rooms where the temperatures are in the range of 70^o Celsius to 100^o Celsius. The traditional Finnish saunas use a different mechanism with dry heat and relative humidity in the field of 10-20%. On the other hand, a Turkish-style sauna offers higher humidity levels.

The different types of saunas around the world use distinct mechanisms for heating up the room. Saunas work by increasing the skin temperature to almost 40^o Celsius, which can trigger heavy sweating. Subsequently, the heart rate increases in response to the body’s attempts to cool down the skin temperature.

How Many Types of Saunas Can You Find Today?

The most common types of saunas include wood burning, electrically heated, steam room or infrared room saunas. Wood-burning saunas have lower humidity levels and higher temperatures and use wood for heating the room and sauna rocks. Electrically heated saunas follow the same design, albeit with the use of an electrical heater for increasing room temperature.

The infrared saunas are completely different as they use special lamps for heating the person’s body rather than the whole room. On the other hand, you could not classify steam rooms as saunas, although they offer similar results. The steam rooms are characteristically different from saunas as they offer higher humidity, leading to moist heat.

How Can Saunas Help Your Health?

The impact of saunas on health has been one of the prominent drivers of their popularity. Here are some of the notable health benefits of saunas.

• Relief from pain in muscles and joints.
• Reduced stress levels.
• Better cardiovascular health.
• Effective management of skin problems.
• Relief for asthma.

Best Practices for Using Saunas

The health benefits of saunas can encourage you to book a sauna session right now. However, you must learn the best practices and rules for using saunas, such as the following.

• Avoid alcohol consumption before or during the session.
• Have a shower before entering the room.
• Drink copious amounts of water after the session.
• Make sure that you limit the time spent in the heated room.

Conclusion

The fundamentals of using a sauna room show that you could enjoy significant health benefits by following the correct guidelines. Saunas are a practical choice for relaxing as well as treating pain and other cardiovascular health problems. Learn more about saunas and find the best service for leveraging their health benefits to your advantage right now.