We love our infrared saunas, not just because of the warmth this time. of year.

Infrared sauna is different from tradtional or steam sauna in that instead of increasing the air heat, infrared light heats up your body directly without warming the air around you. This provides a safe, restorative session for your body to find healing and endless benefits.

Studies are on the rise examining the benefits of infrared sauna treatment for chronic health conditions, there is speculation among researchers that are finding sauna use to address high blood pressure, heart failure, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, chronic headache, type 2 diabetes, and arthritis.

1. Heats deep into the tissue: Infrared wavelength is too long to be perceived by the eyes, however, the body experiences its energy as a gentle radiant heat which can penetrate up to 1.5 inches (almost 4 cm) beneath the skin. By reducing soreness on nerve endings, infrared heat reduces muscle spasms and helps the body heal itself naturally. Infrared saunas provide substantial pain relief for many with sports injuries, joint pain/stiffness and other chronic pain conditions.

2. Helps eliminate toxins: Our 21st century bodies are up against an arsenal of toxins: pesticides, toxic metals, PCBs in plastics, environmental pollution, and even GMOs (genetically modified organisms).

Luckily, infrared sauna treatments can give your body the extra push to eliminate toxins. This is achieved through sweating, which has been shown in several studies to increase detoxification and lower circulating levels of toxins in the body.

3. Boosts nitric oxide: Dilating blood vessels nitric oxide production improves cardiac health, enhances performance during exercise, improves healing, reduces erectile dysfunction, lowers high blood pressure during pregnancy and improves respiratory response.

4. Supports immune system: Another way infrared saunas help boost your immune system is by expressing heat shock proteins (HSPs) within your cells. The HSPs' function is to reorganize and stabilize the matter within your cells when injury or illness compromises them.Sauna bathing is known to increase the production of white blood cells, namely lymphocytes, neutrophils, and basophils.

5. Improved skin tone: Research suggests that spending time soaking up far-infrared wavelengths can increase collagen and skin elastin production in skin cells and potentially lead to a more youthful, radiant complexion.Due to the increased circulation there are more nutrients are able to be delivered to your skin. With more blood flow, you'll see your skin glow with a rosier, healthier complexion.

6. Weight Loss: In a study of obese adults, researchers discovered “… body weight and body fat significantly decreased after 2 weeks of sauna therapy.” Researchers theorize this is due to increased heart rate and the body working to cool itself.

Interestingly, in the same study, patients at a normal weight with loss of appetite experienced “increased caloric intake and improved feeding behavior.” This demonstrates infrared sauna therapy may act as a sort of weight and appetite “balancer” by increasing the hunger hormone, ghrelin, in low appetite patients, while keeping ghrelin levels balanced in obese patients.

7. Improved Cardiovascular Function: Infrared sauna therapy has been shown to heart healhty. The effects have proven so powerful that studies have associated sitting in an infrared sauna with a reduced risk of sudden cardiac death, fatal coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and even all-cause mortality.

Due to the increased heart rate, blood flow, and improved blood pressure in patients using infrared sauna therapy. Interestingly, researchers compared the cardiac output patients experience in the sauna room to going on a brisk walk

8. Pain Relief: Another excellent aspect of infrared sauna therapy is its ability to reduce chronic pain. Research out of the Netherlands found that patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis who underwent infrared sauna therapy for four weeks experienced reduced pain, stiffness, and fatigue following treatment. Researchers speculate these benefits resulted from reduced inflammation levels, which lessen the friction between the patient’s joints resulting in chronic pain.

9. Wound Healing: Infrared sauna therapy has the remarkable ability to speed up the wound healing process. Specifically, research out of NASA has shown that infrared light significantly increases tissue growth and cell regeneration due to our mitochondria readily accepting infrared light.

10. Combats Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: A recent study found that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which results in extreme fatigue with no definitive cause, is greatly relieved in patients using infrared saunas. The study involved CFS patients sitting in a 60°C (140°F) sauna for 15 minutes, followed by bed rest under a blanket for 30 minutes in a separate room. This was performed once a day, five days a week, for a total of four weeks.

Negative mood, anxiety, and depression levels significantly improved after the therapy, with fatigue ratings on a scale of 1 to 10 sliding from 6.7 to 4.8 resulted. While there is no clear answer as to why infrared sauna therapy benefits CFS patients, researchers theorize it may be due to its ability to reduce oxidative stress and improve cardiac output, both of which have been linked to CFS.

11. Improved Sleep: Melatonin is also known as the 'sleep hormone' are required for you to fall asleep and stay asleep. Using a far-infrared sauna helps stimulate melatonin production in the body. The brain reacts to the light of the infrared spectrum to augment both dopamine and serotonin. As serotonin uptake rises there is more available to convert into melatonin in the pineal gland. Regular sauna use can result in healthy melatonin levels.

Resources:

Far infrared radiation (FIR): its biological effects and medical applications

Far-infrared saunas for treatment of cardiovascular risk factors

Clinical Effects of Regular Dry Sauna Bathing: A Systematic Review

The effects of repeated thermal therapy for patients with chronic pain

Feasibility and acceptability of a Whole-Body hyperthermia (WBH) protocol

A hot topic for health: Results of the Global Sauna Survey

Regular sauna bathing and the incidence of common colds

Sauna bathing is inversely associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease in middle-aged Finnish men