Infrared Sauna & Steam Sauna News

A new book called “Beat The Flu Bird Flu” claims saunas are one of the way to tackle the flu infection.

Mr Avlicino, the author of the book said: “The book talks about self-help measures that can prevent infection. For instance, it says use alcohol hand sanitizers. Thaw frozen meat and poultry in the fridge not on kitchen work top. Install a shoe-dip on your doorsteps. Have a hot sauna to rid the body of viruses. Bathe in a light bleach solution to kill germs on your skin. Use UV light, with caution, to disinfect rooms. Don’t share dishes, cutlery towels or bedding with anybody”.

I guess this applies to all type of flu and is another great excuse to get steamy - however a comunial sauna might not make you popular - you might have trouble explaining how that sneeze won’t pass germs in this heat.

If you find yourself in california and your feeling the need to sauna then why not pop into Gardena Sauna, Gardena CA. Oh, and you’ll also have to be female to enjoy the facilities. It’s perfect for women who would rather not share with us fat sweaty men and host a load of other women friendly stuff like body scrubs, tanning rooms, chinese herb therapy and foot massages. It has a salon as well.

Regarding saunas side of things it has 4 jacuzzi, heated stone therapy (you can sleep on it! and lose as many calories as a 20k run - not sure about that), dry sauna, hot sauna, cold sauna?!, warm sauna, salt sauna (interesting) .

And to top it all - $15 admission! Visit Gardena Saunas

Now what would be the male equivalent sauna retreat? - aside from those seedy massage parlor types.

The verteran ice hockey star, Chris Chelios, who at the age of 45 is still playing top level ice hockey has an unusual fitness regime. Whilst most peers of his age have long since retired, Chris is still going and is considered an athletic marvel by his ‘younger’ teamates. The fitness secret Chris has long since employed is the use of saunas during his workouts. Chris regularly sits on his stationary bike whilst in the saunas and sweats it out for up to 45 minutes a session. As you can imagine this causes his to excrete vast amounts of sweat and no doubt give him quite a cardio workout.

Remember Chris is a professional athelete and it’s perhaps not the wisest exercise routine for those starting out with saunas - but who knows - maybe this will catch on. Might have make saunas bigger - or maybe just turn of the air-con in the gym!

Three men are sitting naked in the sauna. Suddenly there is a beeping sound. The first man presses his forearm and the beeping stops. The others look at him curiously. “That’s my pager,” he says. “I have a microchip under the skin of my arm.”

A few minutes later a phone rings. The second man lifts his palm to his ear and starts talking. When he finishes he explains, “That’s my mobile phone. I have a microchip in my hand.”

The third man, feeling a little low-tech, steps out of the sauna. In a few minutes he returns with a piece of toilet paper extending from his ass. The others raise their eyebrows. “I’m getting a fax,” he explains.

This and more jokes can be found at http://www.top20fun.com/

We all know that Tom Cruise is into scientology and all that but what has that to do with saunas? Well he’s involved in a project to help firefighters detox. Apparently the toxic particles they were exposed to at 9/11 are still trapped within the firefighters systems. Some of the toxic particles were among the smallest ever seen.

Since 1981, the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education (FASE) has been at the forefront of research efforts related to the detoxification program program developed by L. Ron Hubbard, including previous projects involving firefighter exposures and Tom has been very much hands on with this cause.

The method used to aid detoxification is a combination of exercise, saunas and vitimin and oil suppliments. Results have caused black paste to be emitted from the firefighters skin pores and have stained towels yellow, black, blue and orange!

More information can be found at the New York Rescue Workers Detoxification Project

You may have heard in the press of a claim that children born to fathers who were exposed to excessive heat during conception are more likely to suffer from brain cancer. The report claims that sperm may become damaged if exposed to excessive heat (such as being in a sauna or by using a electric blanket) and pass on genetic defects to the child.

It’s worth pointing out that the test sample was very small, 318, and that the researcher conceded that the evidence was speculative at this stage. However, that said, the testicles are kept outside the body for a reason - to keep at least 3 degrees below normal body temperature. So if you are planning on trying to conceive, it’s probably better to err on the side of caution and give the saunas a miss for the duration.

More information can be found on the BBC website.

Sauna were in the mainstream news recently. The British newspaper The Sun went with a story of a Muslim woman who took a sauna whilst dressed in full robes and her hijab. After enduring a sweltering ten minutes in the sauna, she cooled off in the pool for a further ten minutes, again in full robes and jihab. Staff didn’t highlight the dress code as they were apparently too worried about offending the woman. The sauna was populated with other users in normal swimming cozzy attire. Some pointed out the dress code but their comments when unregarded.

The incident took place in a David Lloyd fitness club and it’s not clear whether the womans motives were recreation or political.

I suppose we’d better start out the infared sauna category with a post about what infrared saunas are all about.

Most people are aware of the traditional sauna and how it works by producing a really steamy environment in a wooden box - those crazy Fins. Regular pouring of water over heated rocks is continued until the required temperature in the sauna is met. Instead the far infrared sauna heats its occupants with infared heaters that emit far infared radiation (more about far radiation another time). An infrared sauna does not heat the surrounding air only the skin of the saunas occupants thus making it a more efficient mode of sauna over the traditional variety which can waste energy heating the surrounding air. An infrared sauna is typically a cedar wooden box containing several infrared heaters.

Infrared sauna are claimed to be safe and beneficial by their producers and promoters. In fact there are numerous claimed benefits to using an infrared sauna one being that it’s ability to allow heat to penetrate more than 1.5 inches into the body which is reputed to heal and stimulate tissues providing an effective therapy for arthritis and tissue injuries. Producers claim that using infrared saunas allows one to achieve health benefits similar to those from a conventional steam sauna. Such benefits may include: regularly sweating in a far infrared sauna can help excrete toxins, giving a full body detox, from the body through the skin and also give a workout for your heart. As the biological process of producing sweat consumes calories, it’s claimed that typical sauna session could be the equivalent to running 2-6 miles and losing as much as 600 calories (calorie loss is dependant upon your current level of fitness). If true this is a great low impact method of lowering weight for those unable to do regular exercise. It’s also claimed that the use of far infrared saunas has a benficial effect on your skin as the flow of sweat to the surface of the skin is claimed to open up the pores and in turn, cleanse the pores.

There has never been a better time to buy an infrared sauna as prices have tumbled and their popularity has grown. So perhaps it’s time to put these claimed far infared sauna benefits to the test. If you own an infared sauna please comment on your experiences with it so far.

The nineth sauna world championships are being held in Heinola, Finland this year on the 3-4 August 2007. Apparently some of the great names of past competitions will be competing. The entrance fee for this years event will be 50 euros. Doctors certification is necessary prior to being accepted into the competition. Certifications need to be submitted by 11th May 2007. Expect temperatures in the region of a steamy 110 degrees C. More info can be found at www.saunaheinola.com

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