by R. Renee Bembry

Created on: April 10, 2009

Stepping into a sauna to get steamed is like stepping into a heated wooden oven. Although sauna heat, whether dry or steamy, may only reach 185 degrees and home ovens may reach 450, heat from saunas hits your head in similar fashion to heat rushing from opened ovens. Of course, the purpose of opening sauna doors, unlike the purpose of opening oven doors, has nothing to do with cooking; and whereas utilizing ovens requires staying clear of their heated inners, saunas demand you enter their heated inners and stay in them for several minutes at a time.

While in a sauna, it is pretty much guaranteed that the temperature of your skin will reach about 104 degrees in a few short minutes; and in fact, many believe this continuous body heating is a good reason to bathe, which is the same as sit, in steamy saunas. After all, heat can be very relaxing to the body and heat decreases stress and tension and soothes tired achy muscles. Additionally, when skin temperatures are elevated for long periods of time, perspiration occurs in attempt to cool the body and thus, plays a role in aiding calorie burning. It has been shown, in fact, that twenty minute sauna stints can spur the release of a pint's worth of sweat from an average person's body.

Aside from the soothing relaxing impacts saunas have on the body and the overall good feeling sauna sitting leaves its users with; however, there is no clear cut evidence to back up theories suggesting steamy saunas, and dry saunas for that matter, have beneficial effects that go beyond relaxation and feeling good. Furthermore, sauna benefits that are recognized to be helpful to its bathers may not be for everyone.

Exposure to sauna baths speeds the pulse rate to a point of spurring the heart to practically double its blood pumping capacity. Whereas many see this as a plus for sauna use, suggesting speeding blood is great for circulation, some authorities disagree. This is because while the pulse is racing, blood is shifted away from internal organs and directed toward sauna bathers' overheated skin. This action, coupled with the fact that sauna effects on blood pressure varies from person to person, could be detrimental to persons with heart conditions and blood pressure problems.

Whether on the side of those who believe in substantial benefits from getting steamed in saunas or on the side of the precautionary persons awaiting more concrete sauna benefit proof, it's a good idea to exercise safety precautions whenever utilizing saunas.

Precautions

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