How Your Body Reacts to Sauna Heat

When you lounge in sweat baths or steam showers, warmth receptive nerve endings produce acetylcholine, a chemical which alerts the two to three million sweat glands embedded in the skin. The eccrine sweat glands, by far the most plentiful, respond to warmth. During a fifteen minute sauna, about one liter of sweat is excreted, depending upon the individual. Any smell associated with this type of sweating is caused by bacteria present, since eccrine sweat is itself odorless.

When you take a sauna, the warmth causes increased blood circulation near the skin and stimulates sweating which helps with the body rid itself of unwanted materials and improves general circulation. Some people suffering from toxic poisoning or severe allergies need to purge their systems by sweating heavily, the sauna delivers this easily.

Sweat also has the purpose of being a judicious rubbish collector. Sweating inside a sauna for fifteen minutes can rid the body of the same amount of heavy metals that would normally be eliminated by the kidneys during a much longer twenty four hour period. While only about one percent of what sweat contains is actually waste, it is enough to cause significant benefits to the body when these waste products are removed. Excessive salt carried by sweat is generally believed to be beneficial for cases of mild blood pressure.

A metabolic by-product, urea, if not disposed of regularly, can cause headaches, nausea and, in extreme cases, vomiting, coma and even death. Some physicians are so certain of the benefits of sweating out toxins that they will encourage their patients to supplement kidney machines with house saunas. Sweat also draws out lactic acid which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general low energy. Sweat flushes out toxic metals such as copper, lead, zinc and mercury which the body absorbs in polluted environments.

The body’s impurities are flushed away, even nicotine from a smoker’s body. The perspiration that occurs over the entire body while in a sauna or steam shower will help encourage clear, healthy skin and even gives a temporary, rosy afterglow. Even with all these beneficial effects to the body, most people still see saunas as primarily a place to calm down. The warmth and humidity relax sore muscles, relieve stress, and contribute to a truly healthy feeling that is not only a state of mind but a state of inner, physical well-being.

There is no need to worry about drying out your skin. Just a few minutes a day is all it takes to have your skin feeling nourished, revitalized and moisturized. You do not have to change your daily routine that much to achieve this.

When in the bathroom, tightly close the door and place a lightly rolled towel at the base to seal it. This prevents the steam from escaping out of the room, allowing it to build up and for you to benefit from the most beneficial properties of a shower – the cleansing humidity and heat. When the body, especially the face, is exposed to steam the pores start to relax and open up releasing all the debris and toxins that have built up in them. The result is a deep cleansing shower which will leave your skin glowing and refreshed.

Walk in shower enclosures allow you to shut the door and create a steam area quite quickly. This will keep the steam enclosed rather than letting it disperse around the bathroom

When showering, slowly increase the heat setting but not the extent that it is too uncomfortable for you. Many people have different tolerances to heat. If your tolerance to heat is low you may discover that not enough steam will accumulate. If this is so then turn up the heat, in the shower, to high, for a minute then turn it back down before getting back in it.

Whilst in the shower use an exfoliating loofah sponge or one of those nylon puffs to apply plenty of moisturizing body wash to the skin. Moving the body scrub in a firm circular motion is the most beneficial. It will allow you to reap the maximum benefit from your moisturizing body wash and will also exfoliate more effectively. The circular motion also has the added benefit of increasing the circulation to the skin which will give you nice radiant skin after the shower has finished.

After the shower it advisable to dry the skin by patting and not wiping or rubbing away the water. Doing this will encourage the skin to retain more of the water. After patting, cover your body, from head to toe, in plenty of moisturizer, massaging it into the skin in a circular motion. Allow any excess cream left to just sit on the skin. Then stand, naked, in the bathroom for one to two minutes allowing the skin to benefit more from the steam and to let the moisturizer fully absorb itself into the skin.

If you suffer with very dry skin you could, whilst standing in the steam filled room apply a second layer, from head to toe, of a moisturizing cream. After application, wait a short period of time to allow it to be absorbed before getting dressed.

When you leave the bathroom you will feel pampered, rejuvenated and completely moisturized. Just think of the money you’ll save in spa fees. Everything you need is right at home.