Contrast Therapy- Hot Sauna/Cold Plunge

The rule of thumb is, the hotter a sauna is, the lower quality it is. Our saunas are the best on the market and the temperature will range between 100-140 degrees.

Infrared heat is very gentle.  The experience is similar to lying in the sun on a warm day and feeling the heat radiate to the core of your body.  Unlike traditional (hot rock or steam) saunas–which operate at well in excess of 200°F–infrared heat has the benefit of being effective at a more comfortable operating temperature of 100°-150°F.

Traditional saunas heat the air vs. the body directly.  Rather than inducing detoxification and relaxation, this can make the experience unbearably hot and difficult to breathe.  Because infrared heat penetrates human tissue vs. simply heating the surface of the skin, infrared saunas are seven times more effective than traditional saunas at detoxifying the body.  By raising the body’s core temperature, infrared saunas can produce a sweat composed of 20% toxins vs. only 3% toxins with a traditional sauna.

Infrared heat is completely safe and healthy for all living things.  You can be exposed to infrared light for hours without the risk of burning.  Infrared is a naturally occurring output of the sun,but does not contain the harmful UV rays associated with unprotected sunlight.  In fact, infrared heat is so safe, it is used in hospitals to warm newborn infants.

Sweat fulfills two primary functions. It cools the body and it removes waste products out of the body.  This is accomplished through two main types of sweat glands.

The Apocrine glands, which are located in areas such as the armpits and scalp, secrete sweat which contains higher levels of fats and organic compounds. The second group called Eccrine glands number more than 2 million and are scattered over the entire body, handling most of the sweating process.

These Eccrine glands, over the course of a normal day pump out nearly a quart of sweat. However, in a steam environment of 180 degrees or more, they produce this amount in only 15 minutes. While this cleans the pores and skin, it is also excretes higher amounts of electrolytes. Sweating at these 180+ degree levels requires replacing the lost fluids and electrolytes.

However, using an infrared sauna at the lower temperatures of 110-125 degrees results in a stickier, more fat-laden sweat and less electrolyte loss. In fact, the sweat from an infrared sauna session is comprised of up to 20% toxins compared to only 3% toxins in the sweat produced in a high temp steam unit. This is a main reason it is the better choice for detox purposes.