Basking in a traditional sauna with heated steam has been a relaxing pastime for millennia. But in recent years, infrared saunas have become more popular. They have even become the premier way for sauna lovers to get a good heat-soak. Not sure what an infrared sauna is or how it works? Let’s explore infrared saunas in greater detail together.
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Infrared Heat Explained
In a nutshell, infrared light is a kind of light emitted far enough from the visible spectrum of light that it is invisible to our eyes. But just because we can’t see infrared light doesn’t mean we won’t feel it.
Infrared light can also go through many types of solid matter, including walls and even our skin. Infrared saunas use this unique type of light to heat our deeper tissues more effectively and to create a more invigorating and revitalizing sauna experience compared to traditional saunas.
How Do Infrared Saunas Work?
To understand how infrared saunas work, it can be helpful to compare them to traditional saunas. Traditional saunas have you sit in a room and wait for steam to heat the air around your body, progressively warming your muscles and other tissues and providing some mild health benefits.
Infrared saunas, however, are much more effective. The infrared lamps built into their walls and ceiling emit infrared light that instantaneously reaches your body. Since the light isn’t blocked by regular matter, it can quickly and easily penetrate through your skin and warm the deeper tissues of your body without pause.
But don’t worry! Infrared saunas are very gentle. Most people find the feeling to be similar to basking in the sun on a relaxing day at the beach.
Types of Infrared Saunas
There are three primary types of infrared saunas (not counting differences in amenities or controls). These different saunas each warm the space of their sauna compartments the same way, but they produce different types of infrared heat. Here’s what you need to know:
- Far infrared saunas, despite their name, actually produce infrared heat in a wavelength that is close to the heat given off by our bodies. Far infrared light can quickly be captured by water molecules in your body and, therefore, provide your deeper tissues with fast heating. Shop Now.
- Near-infrared saunas are the opposite of far infrared saunas. They produce infrared light of the shortest wavelength. But as a benefit, this type of infrared heat penetrates the deepest into your body. Therefore, it’s the ideal choice for warming and relaxing deeper bodily tissues and muscles.
- Mid-infrared saunas emit mid-infrared heat, which lies between near-infrared and far-infrared. While there aren’t many saunas that focus solely on mid-infrared heat, this is still an important wavelength that can help with circulatory issues.
- Full-spectrum infrared saunas combine the best of all three, emitting near-, mid- and far-infrared heat. As a result, these saunas are ideal for treating any kind of issue and providing your body with the widest range of holistic health benefits. Shop Now.
The Benefits of Infrared Saunas
With their ability to more effectively heat our bodies, infrared saunas can provide us with a number of significant benefits:
Skin Revitalization
Many people have found that infrared saunas can provide mild skin revitalization affects. That’s because infrared light can help to stimulate collagen production in skin cells. Collagen is the primary compound that allows our skin to retain its shape and texture. Our bodies naturally produce less collagen as we get older. But infrared saunas can help you replace that collagen, potentially lowering the likelihood of wrinkle formation.
Tissue Repair Pain Relief
When infrared saunas warm our bodies, our blood vessels dilate and become wider. This makes it easier for oxygenated, nutrient-rich blood to reach surface tissues and torn muscles, especially after a workout. Those tissues are able to better repair themselves as a result.
Plus, the heat and blood vessel dilation can relax sore muscles and lead to pain relief throughout your body. You might experience pain relief in your arms, legs, core, and head.
Relaxation
Like traditional saunas, infrared saunas are a great way to relax and destress. Simply soak in the warmth and let your tension go. The sauna’s warming effects cause our muscles to loosen up, gradually coaxing us into a less stressful state over time.
Detox
As your body heats up, it begins to sweat out toxins. Toxins and other impurities are purged from your system naturally as you sweat, alongside water and salt. That’s because our bodies gradually accumulate certain compounds, such as mycotoxins and pesticides, over time—whether it’s from our diets or our environments.
Sweating can help to rid the body of foreign substances like heavy metals and other toxins. Infrared sauna detox therapy can help you to sweat more and flush these substances from your body faster than other methods.
Mood & Mental Energy Boosting
Lastly, infrared saunas may be able to improve your mood and even your mental energy. This is partially due to the above-mentioned physical effects, but there’s also some evidence that infrared saunas can provide mental health benefits and boosts to cognition.
Enjoy an In-Home Infrared Sauna!
Want to enjoy the benefits of infrared sauna detox therapy in your own home? Explore the Clearlight® Clearlight Infrared Sauna models available at The Sauna Life today! We have options available for indoor and outdoor use as well as options ranging from cozy one-person saunas to 4-5 person saunas that are great for small groups.