Health, wellness, and safety are the primary driving forces behind the desire to undergo infrared sauna therapy. The answer to how often you should use an infrared sauna is multifaceted, and in this article we will explore the unique nature of the relationship between infrared wavelengths and your physiology to help determine the frequency of usage that is best for you.
Here are a few questions you may be asking yourself before undergoing your infrared sauna therapy:
- How often can I safely use my infrared sauna to maximize health benefits?
- Is more always better? How frequently should I take an infrared sauna session?
- What time of day should I use my infrared sauna to optimize results for my health?
- Can I overdo infrared sauna use?
- How much time should there be between infrared sauna sessions?
Getting Started: Build A Threshold Of Endurance For The Heat
Expert Tip: Allow one day of rest between each infrared sauna session for the first three weeks.
Introducing any new activity or substance into the body should be done in steady increments. To maximize the long term and long-lasting health benefits of the infrared sauna, the sessions should be both shorter and spread apart in the beginning as the body acclimatizes to the heat and the rays of the infrared spectrum. (This is particularly true if you are inexperienced with heat therapy) (1).
Infrared sauna wavelengths penetrate deeply into your body’s tissues and have a profound impact on the cellular structure of the body, making it among the most powerful forms of heat therapy available today. In order to maximize the benefits of this therapy, it is important to allow the body time to adapt (2).
Infrared sauna therapy is distinctive among heat therapy because it uses the invisible rays of the light spectrum to penetrate deeply into and beyond the epidermis to heat the body up from the inside out. This means that the external temperature of the sauna will not be as high as a traditional dry sauna. The lower temperature can be deceiving, however, the infrared light will penetrate into the soft tissue of the body to induce copious sweating despite the lower external temperature (3).
Be aware, the rates of perspiration are much higher with an infrared sauna than with steam baths or the traditional dry sauna. Allow yourself time to adjust to the heat generated through light and how your body reacts.
Ultimately, you are the sovereign authority on your health, and if you need to take a break from the therapy, listen to your body.
Expert Tip: Please allow a full 24 hours between sessions as you begin your infrared sauna therapy.
After three weeks of using your infrared sauna every other day you will be able to easily adjust the frequency of use to your needs. More frequent use of the sauna after the initial introductory period will be important to capitalize on the body’s response to the wavelengths. Similar to any exercise program or medical treatment; ritualized routine and commitment will augment the benefits reaped from your sauna.
Regular Routine Use Of An Infrared Sauna: A Daily Practice
Expert Tip: After the initial three-week adaptation period you will be ready for daily infrared sauna use.
(Provided this is supported by increased hydration and electrolyte replenishment support.) Consistency is a key ingredient to maximize the health benefits reaped from your infrared sauna therapy. Once the body is adapted to the infrared heat, the frequency of sessions can be increased while the periods of rest between sessions can be decreased.
Gratefully, time spent in your infrared sauna will be both pleasurable and relaxing, thus developing a committed routine is effortless. While there are a multitude of effective health benefits, using your infrared sauna is also satisfying and fun.
After your introductory three week period, you may want to set a goal to make time every day for your infrared sauna session simply because you will feel so good both during and after your session. Ideally, if hydration is optimal, you can safely enter your infrared sauna at least once a day for 30-60 minutes per session.
A Day Of Rest: Adaptation And Absorption
Expert Tip: It is advisable to take one day of rest every seven to ten days to fully incorporate the changes inside the body.
As the frequency of infrared sauna sessions increases, it is still important to take a day of rest to fully incorporate the transformation occurring inside the body. The physiological network of the body is miraculous as it perpetually seeks equilibrium. Even if you do not feel that you need to take time off from your infrared sauna, it is advisable to rest the body from heavy perspiration every seven to ten days. By giving your body a day of rest the transformative effects can be fully assimilated into the body’s network (4).
Preparation Through Hydration
Preparing the body for the transformational experience of an infrared sauna begins with proper hydration. Detoxification protocols, including infrared sauna sessions that require profuse sweating on behalf of the individual, demands legitimate hydration both before and after the sauna.
Ideally, hydration should begin several days before taking an infrared sauna. Most people do not drink enough water today in general, if you decide to undergo even a single infrared sauna session, then consuming healthful water in high quantity is paramount.
At least, three quarts of water a day should be consumed by someone engaged in regular sauna use. The infrared wavelengths, including near, mid and far all penetrate deeply into the initial epidermis of the skin causing the body’s temperature to rise from the inside out. While this method of heat therapy is far more effective in its detoxification protocol it also tends to cause dehydration easily if the individual is not properly hydrated before the session (5).
It is important to drink the best possible water; tap water with a filter is acceptable. Water that has been purified through osmosis is not adequate to hydrate the body. Bottled spring water, mineral water, or tap water with a filter will hydrate the body adequately in preparation for your sauna session.
After each sauna session, be mindful of refueling with electrolytes or mineral water, regardless of the amount of sweat produced during the session. It is through copious sweating that many of the health benefits of the infrared sauna are achieved, because of this fact it is necessary to hydrate the body before undergoing a Saunas.org sauna session.
Safe To Use Twice A Day
An infrared sauna’s state-of-the-art technology may be the most effective and safest infrared sauna available today. It boasts low EMF emission (electromagnetic radiation), which allows for you to safely enjoy the health benefits of the infrared sauna without any of the negative side effects, thereby giving you the freedom to enjoy your sauna twice a day without causing any harmful side effects.
Improved circulation through hyper-oxygenation of the blood relieves pain and discomfort in the body (6). Increasing the frequency of sessions in your infrared sauna to twice a day may relieve painful symptoms from a variety of diseases and give you freedom from discomfort to enjoy your life.
If you choose to take more than one sauna a day it is recommended that you decrease the time spent in the sauna to 15 minutes per session. As the body acclimatizes to the infrared heat you will be able to increase the time you spend in the sauna to 50 minutes per session.
* Please always listen to your body, regardless of how healthy any activity is, it is always possible to overdo anything.
Listen To Your Body
You are the sovereign authority over your own body; if at any time you feel naturally inclined to increase the frequency of use or take a day of rest, follow your own knowingness to maximize health benefits.
Dr. Lawrence Wilson, M.D. and author of Sauna Therapy recommends his patients take two infrared saunas a day, once in the morning upon waking and once in the late evening before bed. Dr. Lawrence writes in his book:
“In this age of toxic exposure and drug-resistant infections, infrared saunas are indeed a great blessing. No other single therapy has so impressed me.” (7)
The profound healing qualities of the infrared sauna are beyond the bounds of measurement; as you embark on this journey remember that proper nutrition and hydration will allow for more frequent use of the infrared sauna. It is not recommended that you exceed two fifty-minute infrared saunas a day. The intensity of perspiration is beyond the body’s natural ability to re-hydrate adequately.
What Is The Best Time Of Day To Sauna?
Start your day off right and use your infrared sauna first thing in the morning. Some medical practitioners suggest using your infrared sauna first thing in the morning and last thing at night to enhance the health benefits (7). A significant contributing factor in the process of ‘falling’ asleep is a decrease in the body’s internal temperature. Exposing the body to higher temperatures before bed may easily induce sleep (8).
Sources:
1) https://www.healthline.com/health/infrared-sauna-benefits#1
2) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4745411/
3) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5505738/
4) https://drlwilson.com/Articles/sauna_therapy.htm
5) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3312275/
6) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4935255/
7) https://drlwilson.com/Articles/sauna_therapy.htm
8) https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnins.2019.00336/full
Always consult with your medical provider to ensure that infrared sauna therapy is safe for you.
