If you’ve been seeking an alternative treatment for inflammation and have been wondering “does infrared sauna help with inflammation?”, you’ve come to the right place! Within this article, we’re going to explain how infrared light can impact the body, and the relationship between infrared sauna and inflammation.
Chronic inflammation is often treated with harsh steroids that can have detrimental side effects. So, while these treatments are effective in the short-term, there are often long-term negative impacts and leave many seeking alternative treatments.
An infrared sauna has many mental and physical health benefits. Infrared therapy does not have any short or long-term negative side effects, as long as you approach the treatment in a responsible way by staying hydrated, using for an appropriate length of time and letting your body cool down slowly after.
Does Infrared Sauna Help Inflammation?
Using infrared sauna for inflammation is effective as it targets key areas that can trigger an inflammation response in our bodies such as poor circulation, high stress, chronic pain and toxins in the system. In order to reduce overall inflammation in the body, infrared light rays penetrate deeply past the epidermis and into the soft tissue, using heat and light to treat inflammation.
What Is Inflammation?
Inflammation is an automatic response from our immune system that is designed to fight harmful infections, injuries, and toxins. Chemicals are released from our white blood cells into the bloodstream or tissue to protect from foreign elements and lead to increased blood flow in the affected area. This process can cause redness, warmth and sometimes swelling. If the inflammation response is triggered without need it can cause damage to our bodies. Some common triggers include stress, poor sleep, sub-standard nutrition, dehydration, exposure to chemicals, germs, radiation, or even blue light.
The Difference Between Chronic & Acute Inflammation
There are two types of inflammation – chronic and acute. Chronic inflammation refers to a long-term condition that can have effects on the whole body. Chronic inflammation is a constant, low-level of inflammation that is triggered by the immune system detecting an internal threat and sending white blood cells to fight it. If this response is triggered with no cause, then the white blood cells surge through the body without purpose causing damage along the way. Sometimes if this response is strong enough the white blood cells can start to attack healthy tissue or cells.
On the other hand, acute inflammation is an immediate response to a specific, short-term trauma, like when you stub your toe or cut your finger with a knife or even when you have an infection like the flu. The inflammation response is immediate and essential to stop the injury from festering or turning into a chronic condition.
How Infrared Sauna Therapy Can Help Inflammation
1. Improved Circulation
Our circulation system is responsible for sending blood, oxygen, and nutrients around our bodies. If this system is impaired or operating at a lower rate, symptoms can include tingling, numbness, throbbing, stinging pain and muscle cramps, often in the extremities like the arms and legs.
Infrared light helps increase circulation because the cells in our bodies are highly responsive to infrared light and a reaction takes place whereby the cells are hyper oxygenated and start to flow more freely and quickly around the body.
So how does sauna help inflammation? The answer is that inflammation can be a result of a lack of oxygen in the affected area, so by increasing oxygen in the blood and increased blood flow throughout the body a decrease of inflammation will naturally occur.
2. Stress Reduction
Many studies have shown that chronic stress can create chronic inflammation which, in turn, leads to other serious health problems. Infrared sauna decreased stress in two ways. Firstly, it allows you to take time out of your day to relax both your body and your mind away from people and things that could create stress, whether that be your work, family, or something else. It helps relieve your physical body of stiffness and pain while allowing your mind time to switch off. Balancing cortisol is key in bringing dangerously high stress levels into a more manageable range.
Infrared light can also restore balance to the HPA (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis in our bodies. The HPA axis is a complex system that controls our reaction to stress. If this axis is off balance, we can experience many symptoms that affect our mood, digestion, immune response, sex drive and energy levels.
3. Chronic Pain Relief
When considering the link between infrared sauna and inflammation, chronic pain relief is also a natural consideration. Chronic pain can rob us of our vitality and make things we once enjoyed unbearable. By releasing the body’s natural painkillers, endorphins, infrared sauna has been shown to provide relief even for extremely painful conditions including fibromyalgia, rheumatoid arthritis, and chronic headaches. Endorphins have an opioid-like effect on our bodies and by targeting muscles and joints with infrared light, inflammation can be reduced significantly.
4. Detoxification
Modern life means that we all exposed to and consume toxic materials daily. From heavy metals in our soil and water, to air pollution and toxic chemicals sprayed on and around the fresh produce we eat. As a result, our body often holds a considerable amount of toxins. Infrared heat breaks up the toxins in our system and induces intense sweat. Once the toxins have been broken up, they can more easily be purged through sweat, resulting in a detoxification of built-up toxins within the body.
So, Does Sauna Help Inflammation?
The answer is a definite yes! The strong relationship between infrared sauna and inflammation is clear. Infrared sauna will support your natural systems to decrease inflammation by improving circulation, reducing stress, relieving chronic pain, and detoxifying your body. It will allow you to control inflammation by reinforcing your bodies intuitive functions without the need to resort to harsh medications to get the inflammation under control.
Infrared saunas are one of the most enjoyable ways to reduce inflammation, providing short and long-term health benefits beyond just the physical. Improved circulation, reduced stress levels, relief from pain and detoxification are just a few of the benefits you’ll enjoy. You will also be left mentally refreshed and ready to tackle just about anything.
Located in the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Rimba Sweat’s exclusive infrared sauna Sydney studio has both standard and large rooms so that you can enjoy relaxing benefits by yourself or with a friend.
Our studio is a consciously curated space designed to promote healing. Experience the restoration and clarity that comes with the age-old practice of sauna combined with the modern technology of infrared heat.
Are you ready to enjoy a private oasis? Book online now and enjoy access to our luxury infrared sauna studio in Manly.