Kickas.org Forums Treatments, Drugs and Alternatives Alternatives Saunas?

Hi folks. Has anyone had much experience with saunas, either to good or bad effect? I know they probably just provide symptomatic relief, but I'm still curious if anyone has gotten any benefit from them. Please advise, thanks.

Ooooooo I love saunas, but they no longer love me.

I was a dry sauna devotee for all of my life until the great and horrible flare of 2008.

Since then the ANA animal gets very sick when overheated. I say (enviously) that if you like it GO FOR IT!

I have an IR Sauna for one person in my condo. I would prefer a wood burning sauna (with birch for hitting :)) as that is what I grew up with but this works quite well.
I have a 1/2 hour sauna with the temperature reaching 130 F so it isn't too hot and it is set for 1 hour. I usually start a sweat working down from 60 minutes at around 42 minutes and the next 12 or so is a nice straight forward sweat. I then have a shower and I feel pretty good for hours afterward.

Here's a good article comparing the traditional sauna and IR saunas:

http://www.finnleo.com/blog/2011/4/20/tr...craig-laht.aspx

Good luck!

Thanks for sharing Timo. To what do you attribute your feeling "pretty good" after your sauna?

Hi Erica. Pardon my ignorance, but what does ANA mean in your case?

I feel a little more limbre and also feel as if I have a less inflammation for a while. I'm quite sure, for my system, it is a temporary relief but one I look forward to after each session nonetheless.
I love saunas.
My dad built a traditional Finnish wood burning sauna in our basement with cedar walls and a shower in the sauna. It was absolutely fantastic.
In the dead of winter right after a sauna we'd go outside and scrape the snow off the lawn chairs and lay back and relax for a few minutes.
Then run like the wind back to the sauna once that heat protection wore off

Well that sounds like fun in cold weather! Here in Arizona we get no snow. But I have sauna access (not sure what kind) at my gym, so I'm curious to see if it makes me feel better. Thanks for sharing.

Dreamer- the Birch bark has some of the same chemical that can be found in aspirin. Native Americans were getting an actual medical boost to their system.

Timo- the group wants to know, if you can still make that "dash" from the deck into the house?

Hi Lon!
Ummm...no dashing for me anymore but I have it on good authority that shuffling is next big thing so I'm on track.....

I had in IR sauna for about 4 yrs. I now live in an apartment building that has a steam room and electric element sauna. When I had AS, it gave temporary relief. However, I found exercising and getting blood to the muscles provided even more relief (even though it was painful to do sometimes).

Note: Many people with AS end up with fused backs as they get older (such as my father). So from a young age I knew I had to maintain flexibility and preserve the gap between the vertebrae. To do this, I exercised & stretched regularly (despite how painful it was), drank lots of water (with sea salt) and made regular use of an inversion (traction) table. So when I finally figured out how to cure the condition, my back was well preserved & I had no lasting damage.

IR saunas work much better as the far IR rays travel deeper into the body (up to 1.5") causing you to sweat/detox from deep within the muscle. Other saunas require much higher external temperatures but only heat you up on the surface and are therefore less bearable & effective. Detoxing is the first step to healing your body. Detoxing through diet is more effective than saunas, but if you have the funds and room, they are certainly better to have one than not. IR rays have also been shown to detox EMF's (as do zeolites). The only problem is that parts of the IR sauna emit high EMF's also. There are some more expensive IR saunas with shielding for EMF's.

Also going from hot to cold temperatures strengthens your immune system. I like to have a hot sauna then have a cold shower, then back in the sauna. It is feels a bit extreme at the time, but is quite refreshing afterwards.

If you can't afford a sauna and would like something to help warm up the muscles to provide temporary relief, you can also buy IR back pads/belts. I had one that covered my whole back and I used it at nights or in the mornings in bed.

Now that I healed my Leaky Gut, I don't get back pain anymore, so I sold a number of the relief items I had. I did keep the inversion table though, I think they are great.