Infrared Saunas - How Do They Do That?

The infrared sauna appears to be the practical sauna when compared to the traditional Finnish sauna. With the infrared sauna’s variety of heater technology -- steel or incoloy rods and ceramic or newer carbon heaters that create infrared waves -- the infrared sauna heats the user directly rather than heating the room, and without using the steam method that the Finnish sauna uses.

Infrared saunas are usually a wooden box or small wooden room that contains several infrared heaters. Since the units are usually contained in a small room, it allows the air to heat and simulate the feel of the traditional sauna. In essence the infrared sauna box creates the atmosphere of the traditional sauna while the heaters provide the actual infrared therapy. The heaters produce radiant energy which is the same as the heat from the sun only without the harmful ultraviolet rays. The heaters do not rely on the air being hot but only enough that the body does not cool down from sweating.

The radiation from the infrared sauna penetrates the user’s body by 1.5 inches, thus heating the body rather than the air, which allows the user to remain in the room for a longer period of time. With the lower temperature and the user being able to remain in the room longer it helps knock toxins from the fat cells that are then sweat out. This process is said to heal and stimulate tissue and is an effective therapy for arthritis and tissue injury. Because the skin is the largest organ, regular sweating in a infrared sauna can help decrease the toxic load and contribute to better health and vitality.

Compared to a traditional sauna, the infrared sauna's health benefits are said to be the ability to stay in the infrared sauna longer and in turn release more toxins from your body. Through the increase in circulation, it is beneficial for a wide range of ailments. Increase in body circulation is often believed to be helpful in a variety of ways.