What Is Therapeutic Sauna?

Therapeutic sauna is an extension of sauna bath therapy. This type of sauna provides many health benefits. It is an interesting way to relax. The trick is to provide a gradual heat in the starting and then cooling. These temperature changes of the sauna do many good things for your health.

Due to chronic illness, many patients are not able to do enough exercise to boost the natural anti-stress hormones in the body. Sauna helps in reducing stress. It provides a cardiac workout that is equivalent to half of a standard walk.

Since asthma patients are not able to do strenuous exercise, therapeutic sauna is a good option for them to boost natural endorphins. Patients of chronic bronchitis also benefit from it. Patients of rheumatoid arthritis are unable to move their joints and suffer from acute pain in knees.

Therapeutic sauna has shown to alleviate joint pains in such patients. Sauna is helpful in the skin disorder psoriasis. Since the therapy hydrates the skin and does not cause dryness, it helps in beautifying a mature skin.

The therapy can be given safely to elderly people and to the infants above 3 months of age. Those with stable coronary disease can also practice therapeutic sauna regularly. It has shown to reduce symptoms of common cold temporary.

Regular therapy increases endurance in athletes.  It also increases red cell volume and plasma volume in athletes. Additional advantages for athletes are that the therapy increases their peak respiratory oxygen intake, improves exercise tolerance and decreases systolic blood pressure.

There are certain conditions in which use of therapeutic sauna is contradicted. Sweating during the therapy may aggravate itching in patients suffering from atropic dermatitis. Those who have unstable angina pectoris must avoid therapeutic sauna. Also, those who have had a recent case of myocardial infarction or are patients of aortic stenosis must avoid this therapy.

To avail maximum benefits of therapeutic sauna, one must follow the therapy everyday for one month.