6 Benefits of Infrared Sauna Therapy

Are you interested in detoxification, relaxation, and increased circulation? Have you been searching for a way to burn calories without adding pressure to your achy joints and muscles? If so, infrared sauna therapy could be the missing link.

Sweating is a great way to burn calories and detoxify your body. However, it can be a real struggle finding a way to sweat out those toxins if you’re injured or unable to exercise.  

Whenever I feel stressed or need to detox my body, I absolutely love to sweat in my Sunlighten infrared sauna. Let me tell you about infrared therapy, how it works and how you can reap all of its benefits. 

Infrared Levels

The infrared spectrum consists of near (NIR), mid (MIR), and far (FIR) waves, each with distinct characteristics and frequency ranges. These different levels represent the different sizes in infrared wavelengths and refer to the intensity of the treatment. Most people find that:

• Near-infrared (NIR)  is the shortest infrared wavelength and penetrates the skin’s surface most effectively. When delivered through an infrared sauna, NIR promotes skin renewal, cell health, wound healing, and tissue growth.
• Middle-infrared (MIR)  is a longer wavelength that can penetrate deeper into the body’s soft tissue where inflammation occurs. MIR helps expand blood vessels and increases circulation, so more oxygen can reach injured areas of the body. This reduces pain and speeds up the healing process. 
• Far-infrared (FIR) is the longest wavelength. It can reach deepest into the body where toxins are stored. FIR stimulates the sweat glands, resulting in a deep, detoxifying sweat. 

Before, it was impossible to deliver these three peak wavelengths at one time from a single source. Not anymore! Sunlighten Solocarbon 3-in-1 is the only sauna heater on the market that can provide all three infrared wavelengths in one place, meaning you can get the immune boosting benefits of NIR, the muscle relaxing powers of MIR, and the detoxifying energy of FIR all in one place. 

6 Benefits of Infrared Sauna Therapy

Infrared sauna therapy comes with many benefits as I outline below. While traditional saunas rely on humidity to heat up the room around you, infrared saunas heat your body directly by emitting wavelengths of light that you immediately absorb. Localized heat sent right to the source means tolerable temperatures and a quicker, deeper sweat.

1. Detoxification

We ingest toxins every day, from the air we breathe to the food we eat. Thankfully, our body has ways to prevent those toxins from making us sick. Sweating is one of the best ways to detox your body. Everytime we sweat, we’re flushing out the toxic substances and heavy metals that we encounter in everyday life. Infrared sauna therapy promotes this process by using what experts call a heavy metal detox protocol to mobilize specific toxins nearly three inches below the surface of your skin. Rather than simply heating the air to draw out toxins, infrared saunas heat your body from the inside to expel them from deep down.

2. Relaxation

Relaxation is more important to health than most people realize. While some stress is unavoidable, chronic stress can contribute to a host of health conditions such as leaky gut, adrenal fatigue, insomnia, heart disease, and autoimmunity. While we may not be able to avoid stress entirely, relieving it naturally can help minimize its impact on your health.

Infrared sauna therapy promotes relaxation by helping to balance your body’s level of cortisol, your body’s primary stress hormone. The heat generated by the sauna helps relax muscles and relieve tension and stress throughout the body.

3. Pain Relief

Heat is great for recovery, pain relief, and inflammation. However, infrared light can penetrate further down into the joints, muscles, and tissues, promoting circulation and blood flow. Good circulation is critical for proper healing. Red blood cells carry oxygen and nutrients to the site of strain or inflammation, which helps increase the production of healing white blood cells. 

And because many painful autoimmune symptoms stem from an overload of toxins, sweating them out of your system can help relieve that form of inflammation. 

4. Weight Loss

Did you know that a 30-minute infrared sauna session can burn up to 600 calories? While sweating out calories might sound too good to be true, the heat generated by an infrared sauna actually causes your heart rate to increase – the same heart rate you experience when exercising. 

During a sauna detox session, your body’s temperature increases. The body has to work hard to cool itself, increasing the blood flow and heart rate as a result. Much like moderate exercise, this helps your body burn calories and supports healthy weight loss. This can be an effective lifestyle choice for those who cannot participate in traditional exercise programs.

5. Improved Circulation

As the heat from infrared saunas increases your core body temperature, your blood vessels constrict and allows for healthy blood flow. Consistent infrared sauna sessions, especially in the middle-infrared level, can cause your blood vessels to dilate. The volume of their inner lining reduces, which in turn increases the circulation needed to maintain healthy blood pressure. 

This reaction is similar to the way your body responds to low or moderate exercise. By raising your heart rate and increasing your circulation, infrared saunas replicate a cardiovascular workout. Since your heart is a muscle, each workout makes it stronger, and helps it deliver more oxygen to your body’s cells. 

6. Skin Purification

The short wavelengths of near infrared light (NIR) can reach deeper levels of your skin and remove toxins such as dead skin cells, oils, dirt, and bacteria. Additionally, an increase in circulation and delivery of oxygen to injured or damaged areas helps with cell turnover, therefore reducing the appearance of scars. 

Heating your body to it’s core triggers it to release the toxins clogging your pores; with each sweat, you’re detoxifying your body and promoting clear, soft, and healthy-looking skin. 

How Sunlighten Saunas Maximize Health Benefits 

If all these benefits aren’t amazing enough, Sunlighten takes it to the next level by using ultra-low EMF technology to bring their EMF levels to lower than 95% of common household devices – less than 1 mG to be exact! This level of exposure decreases your risk of developing EMF symptoms such as insomnia, brain fog, loss of appetite, headaches, and nausea. 

They’re also built with solocarbon heating panels, the most effective far infrared sauna heaters on the market today. Solocarbon panels are proven to be 95% emissive, meaning that 95% of the energy being produced is in the therapeutic range to increase core body temperature for a deep, detoxifying sweat. This is the active ingredient that has been clinically shown to lower blood pressure, aid in weight loss, and support detoxification.

When you’re seeking health and wellness tools, the last thing you want to worry about is EMFs or toxic products making them unhealthy. With Sunlighten saunas, you don’t have to worry.

How to Use an Infrared Sauna

• Hydrate: Your body needs water to survive. If you aren’t hydrated before stepping into a sauna, you could become dehydrated quicker. So, each day you plan on detoxing in your sauna, make sure your water intake increases by drinking plenty of water before, during, and after your sauna detox session. 
• Choose the right temperature: Sunlighten recommends you begin your detox session when your sauna reaches 100°F. The optimal sauna experience occurs between 100° and 130°F with beginners starting out at the lower end and more experienced users at the higher end. There are also three different treatment intensities to consider, which I’ll discuss in a minute. 
• Set Time limits: The amount of time spent in a sauna session may vary depending on your tolerance and daily activity level. I recommend starting with 10-15 minute sessions every other day, then working up to 40-minute daily sessions in the optimal temperature range. As with anything else, it’s important to listen to your body; excess sweating, nausea, fatigue, or flu-like symptoms means it’s time to step out and cool down. 
• Rinse off. After each sauna session, it’s important to let your body cool down naturally rather than hopping in a cold shower. Dry off with a towel and keep hydrating until you feel your body return to it’s normal temperature.

Risks of Infrared Sauna Therapy

There are many amazing health benefits that come with using an infrared sauna. In general, infrared saunas are safe for most people. If you have a medical condition on medications, or implanted devices, you should talk to your functional medicine physician. 

A review of Infrared sauna therapy found some side effects such as heat discomfort, dehydration, low blood pressure, lightheadedness, and nausea. However, in most cases the side effects were mild.

My Recommendations

I personally have an infrared sauna in my home from Sunlighten Saunas that I use daily, but that may not be a practical option for everyone. If purchasing your own sauna is not an option, you can also receive treatments from natural spas that house their own infrared saunas.

I recommend starting with 10-15 minute sessions at 100-130 degrees fahrenheit if you’re new to infrared saunas and slowly working your way up to 40 minute sessions.

If an infrared sauna is not available, but you have access to a regular sauna, you can still achieve some degree of detoxification with 10-20 minute sessions at 190-200 degrees fahrenheit.

There has never been a more relaxing way to achieve your optimal health. With the help of infrared sauna therapy, all these health benefits and more are just a sweat away.