Saunas increase your heart rate and cause blood vessels to widen, increasing circulation. Improved circulation can have many health benefits, including pain relief, stress reduction, improving cardiovascular health, and more! Read on to discover seven reasons why you should add frequent sauna use to your personal wellness routine.
Pain Relief
Aches and pains can wear us down. By adding regular sauna use to your routine, you can speed up the healing process and reduce inflammation, which will help ease chronic pain. This is made possible by the increased heart rate and circulation that occurs during a sauna session. To get the most benefit, we recommend using a sauna 1 to 3 times a week.
Stress Reduction
75 Percent of Americans experienced moderate to high-stress levels in the past month. “At times, stress is a helpful tool capable of boosting energy and attention. Most of the time, though, stress is a negative force in a person’s life that triggers a host of unwanted effects.”, say’s The Recovery Village. Some of the unwanted side effects of stress listed by The American Psychological Association include; muscle tension, respiratory issues, stomach discomfort, hair loss, and insomnia. During a sauna session, your muscles relax, and endorphins are released, which naturally aids in stress reduction.
Improve Cardiovascular Health
Emerging evidence suggests that sauna bathing can help improve your cardiovascular health. In a prospective cohort study, 2315 Finnish men followed for 20.7 years showed that higher frequency and duration of sauna bathing were inversely associated with a lower risk of sudden cardiac death (SCD), fatal coronary heart disease, and cardiovascular disease.
Better Sleep
Say hello to a better night’s sleep when you add sauna sessions to your regular wellness routine. After a sauna session, you will feel complete relaxation throughout your body. “This is the result of your body cooling down rapidly after you have been in the sauna for the standard length of therapy.”, according to Craig Lahti, he then goes on to explain that, “The results of these sauna effects are a release of muscle tension throughout your entire muscular system. This triggers the brain and tells it that your body is ready to go to sleep”.
Cleanse Skin
Sweating is good for your skin! The water hydrates you, minerals and salt work as natural exfoliants, and urea and uric acid help combat dry skin and dermatitis. To get the most out of your sauna session, we recommend staying hydrated and ending your trip with a cold shower. This will help boost your circulation and ensure that the impurities you sweated out do not reabsorb into your skin.
Improve Brain Health
“Regular visits to the sauna can help lower the risk of developing dementia and Alzheimer’s disease as well as dying of heart ailments; a Finnish study suggests,” Reuters Staff shared. They then went on to say that “researchers at the University of Eastern Finland found a link between sauna visits and memory diseases after following more than 2,300 middle-aged Finnish men for more than 20 years. In the study, men who went to the sauna four to seven times a week were found 66 percent less likely to be diagnosed with dementia, and 65 percent less likely with Alzheimer’s disease, than those taking a sauna once a week”. Regular sauna use could also potentially alleviate symptoms of depression, anxiety, and insomnia by increasing serotonin production. More studies are being done to explore this.
Boost Immune System
When you use a sauna, the high heat causes a rise in your core body temperature, “This artificially induced fever mimics the body’s natural defense mechanisms, stimulating the production of white blood cells which assist the body in fighting infections.”, according to Caitlin Stores from Endeavour College of Natural Health. White blood cells can help the body fight infections by moving through blood and tissue, looking for microbes such as bacteria, viruses, parasites, and fungi. When they find them, they launch an immune attack to remove them.