Saunas offer many health and wellness benefits. This includes muscle recovery, stress relief, and better sleep. These come in different types, and one of the most popular ones today is infrared saunas. Infrared saunas use advanced technology compared to traditional saunas. But not everyone knows how they function. How do infrared saunas work?
This article will answer that question and help you understand better if an infrared sauna is good for you. You’ll learn what infrared is and what types of infrared saunas are available in the market. Moreover, this will discuss how they work to give you an idea of why many people love them.
What’s Infrared Technology/Heat?
Infrared technology, or infrared heat, is crucial to infrared saunas. It is a type of invisible radiation within the electromagnetic spectrum. This is similar to the heat radiated by the sun but without the harmful ultraviolet rays. Infrared saunas leverage this invisible light to produce a unique and effective heating experience.
Traditional saunas rely on electric or wood-burning heat sources. On the other hand, infrared saunas only use infrared technology to generate warmth. This technology emits infrared light, which your body perceives as radiant heat. This heat is then absorbed by the surface of your skin, leading to a sensation of warmth and relaxation.
What sets infrared saunas apart is their ability to target the body more directly. The body absorbs Infrared rays, causing water molecules within your cells to vibrate. This process promotes a gentle but deep sweat, helping to flush out toxins from your system. This focused heat therapy can provide a range of potential benefits. This includes improved circulation, pain relief, and relaxation. In effect, infrared saunas are a popular choice for those seeking a holistic approach to wellness.
Types of Infrared Heat
Infrared is classified into three categories, and so there are also three types of heat used by saunas:
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Near Infrared: This is the shortest wavelength and mimics the natural light produced by the sun. This penetrates up to just below the surface of the skin.
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Mid Infrared: This is a longer wavelength and can penetrate deeper into the body’s soft tissue.
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Far Infrared: This is the closest to the infrared heat the body gives off. This penetrates the deepest and can activate the sweat glands.
Is Infrared Sauna Safe?
Infrared heat is 100% safe, so that makes infrared saunas safe. There also haven’t been any reports of harmful effects of infrared saunas. Most people don’t realize that everything around them emits and receives infrared heat, just like the human body. Compared to what many may believe or fear, infrared heat is gentle. That’s why it’s also commonly used as a heat source in incubators for babies and animals.
Infrared belongs to the low-energy side of the electromagnetic spectrum. It doesn’t produce any harmful effects that other high energy sources do, like ultraviolet. It’s all around us every day, and you can even feel it just by placing your hand above your skin. The slight warmth your body is radiating is actually far infrared heat.
However, if you have medical conditions, too much and frequent exposure to infrared can cause some health risks. This is because the heat can cause dehydration and blood pressure changes. That’s why it’s important to seek professional advice first if you have any medical issues. Moreover, it's ideal to hydrate before and after an infrared sauna session.
How Do Infrared Saunas Work
Based on the three different types of infrared heat used by infrared saunas, these are how the three main types of infrared saunas work:
Near Infrared (NIR) Saunas
Near-infrared light is used to create radiant heat from the inside out. The heat is then absorbed by and penetrates the body, just below the skin's surface, to heat up the core temperature. This has a deeper heat than traditional saunas but is the most shallow among the infrared sauna types.
This heat absorption promotes wound healing, cell regeneration, and skin revitalization and can mitigate inflammation. NIR is also known to help improve wrinkles and fine lines, clear up acne lesions, and encourage collagen synthesis.
Mid Infrared (MIR) Saunas
Mid-infrared wavelengths are longer than NIR, penetrating the body’s soft tissue more. The water molecules in the body capture MIR, and vasodilation occurs with the body's heating. It helps expand the blood vessels and increase circulation so more oxygen can reach injured areas. This, in turn, helps reduce pain and speeds up the body’s healing process.
Far Infrared (FIR) Saunas
FIR saunas make up the majority of infrared saunas in the market. It’s one of the best types of saunas that can detoxify the body.
Far infrared is the longest wavelength and penetrates the deepest in the body, up to where the toxins and chemicals can be trapped and activate the sweat glands. Its produced heat is at the same level familiar and natural to the human body. This causes the water molecules in our cells to vibrate and release toxins.
Moreover, like MIR, FIR is captured by the body’s water molecules, stimulating vasodilation. Vasodilation causes the body sensors to tell the heart to pump more blood. It opens the blood vessels and lowers blood pressure. It causes the body to adjust from a sympathetic to a parasympathetic state — a fight-or-flight state to rest, digest, and heal state. This is where infrared saunas' stress relief and relaxation benefits come from.
Full Spectrum Infrared Saunas
This common type of infrared sauna uses the entire infrared spectrum: near infrared, mid-infrared, and far infrared. They use this technology to get the best of all the infrared heat or light types. So, the way it works is everything is all combined.
By combining all three levels of infrared, full-spectrum saunas offer a complimentary benefit of the unique effects of each infrared wavelength. This maximizes the impact and advantages of the use of infrared saunas.
Conclusion
Infrared saunas offer more profound benefits to the body than traditional saunas. With the use of different infrared heats, many different things go on with our bodies as we use infrared saunas. Again, how do infrared saunas work? Without heating the air, infrared heat, in general, can penetrate the body and work directly inside the body.
They’re 100% safe, so if you want to look at home sauna options, you can check out our infrared sauna collection. We offer different types of high-quality infrared saunas to accommodate your preferences and needs!
