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Sauna and Steam Baths – what are different health benefits?

ashish — Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:18:19 +0000

The use of a steam room or sauna is a health practice with numerous health benefits. Saunas and the steam rooms are the rooms designed for the treatments with the use of heated air, which is of a temperature that varies between 800 and 1000 degrees of Celsius.

Difference between a sauna and a steam room?

Sauna air is heated by hot, porous rocks that emit a long-lasting heat. Because the humidity in a sauna is low, saunas are usually made of softwoods. In a steam room, the water vapor carries the heat. The wall construction is typically acrylic, tile, marble, or other stone. Steam rooms are much cooler than saunas although they often feel warmer.

Steam Bath Benefits

A steam room is an enclosed room which is made warm and humid by use of a heater and steam.
- they have high moisture content.
- the condensed moisture relieves pressure in the sinuses and lungs, which helps to counteract conditions such as asthma and allergies.
- steam baths or rooms give us relief from muscle soreness, relief from stiff joints, immune system enhancement, lymph detoxification, blood circulation improvement and sinus congestion relief.
- people with respiratory ailments often prefer the benefits of the steam room to those of the sauna.
- steam helps in the enhancing the speed and intensity of the metabolism of our body, in turn leading to weight loss.

Sauna Benefits

A sauna is a low humidity chamber that uses hot rocks (or even infrared rays) to create a high, dry heat.
- cleaning and detoxifying your skin.
- increases blood circulation.
- improves immunity system.
- sweating in sauna helps eliminate bacteria and viruses from inside your body.
- heart pumps harder which is an aerobic workout in itself.
- the heat also helps in stimulating production of white blood cells, exactly what your body needs to fight off illnesses.
- sauna bath has been proven to help in weight loss.

NOTE : One must be careful, since the excessive exposure to the hot air may cause some severe burns. Because of that, it is very advisable to take a lot of water, both, from the inside (by drinks) and from the outside.

Relaxation Exercises : Progressive Relaxation

ashish — Thu, 08 Jul 2010 16:54:05 +0000

Progressive relaxation will help to relax the entire body. It will help you to create a mental image of this relaxed state that can be recreated instantly whenever it is needed.
This exercise can be done while lying in bed, face up and arms at your sides.
- Make fists with both hands. Clench your fingers although not so tightly as to be uncomfortable. Your wrists should feel tight and even in the forearms. Hold this tension for few seconds and then relax. You will feel heaviness and limp in your hands.
- Like in the previous example, make your fists tensed again, such that the muscles start quivering. Now relax. This should make your hands feel more warm and heavy, and this would extend to your lower arms.
- Now concentrate on your upper arms. Focus on your biceps, making them tense, and your hands should remain relaxed and heavy. Quivering will start, and then relax again. Now do this again, tense, hold and then relax.
- Now that you have a hang of this, this process of tensing, hold, relaxing should be done for as many muscle groups as possible. Once you are done with your arms, do the same for stomach, buttocks, thighs, calves, feet, chest, shoulders, neck, jaw and eyes.
- Once you have started doing this a couple of times, one of the prime advantages you will learn from this is being able to get relaxed. Without doing much of these relaxing, you will be able to easily distinguish between muscles that are tensed or relaxed, and be able to focus on the tensed muscles.

Helpful Hints for avoiding problems…

ashish — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 09:49:31 +0000

Prevention is better than cure. People get careless when their back is not hurting and they start doing all the things that they should not do to avoid back ache.
Precautions that you should take are :
- Your neck is best ruined when you hold the phone between your head and shoulders to avoid using your hands. Use a mouthpiece or else get a speaker phone to avoid this situation.
- People who say that in order to lift something, always bend your knees and crouch down to pick up something from floor level are not wrong. You should avoid leaning over from the waist to grab it. It creates a stress on the lower vertebrae.
- Driving for a longer time and in a wrong posture can create bad back ache. Take frequent breaks to get out and stretch. Keep your knees elevated and for that keep your seat as far forward. Keep doing neck exercises and shoulder lifts while you drive.
- Do not continue sitting in the same posture for longer periods. Take breaks to exercise and stretch your neck and upper back. Place a stool to elevate your knees and feel comfortable. You will feel comfortable if the lower part of your buttocks or lower back are pushed against the back of the chair.
- If the body is not prepared for active sports, then you should avoid playing active sports over the weekend. If you are planning to play a cricket match over the weekend with a gang of friends, spend a few extra minutes with the routines for the whole week preceding the get-together.
- Always turn to either of your side with knees close to the edge of bed to get up instead of keeping the legs flat on the bed, and straining the muscles of your lower back.

Hot Water Therapy Stretching: Elbow Across Chest

ashish — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 13:37:59 +0000

The Elbow Across Chest hot water therapy stretch is meant to treat middle back in hot shower.
- Stand comfortably in the erect hanging from a string position. Keep the shoulders relaxed and low.
- Touch the fingers of left hand to your left shoulder, pointing your left elbow straight out from your body at shoulder level.
- Grasp the outer side of your elbow with your right hand, and pull your left arm straight across your chest until a tension is felt but not pain in the left shoulder blade area. Hips or back should not be moved at all.
- Hold the tension point for about 30 seconds.
- Return to neutral, letting your arms come to rest at your sides.
- Do the same with your right hand: right fingers touching right shoulder, right elbow pointing straight out, grab right elbow with left hand and pull right arm straight across chest.
- Hold for about 30 seconds.

Hot Water Therapy Stretching : Head Down

ashish — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 07:27:13 +0000

The head down hot water stretching is meant to treat neck, trapezius, upper back and middle back in hot shower.
- Stand comfortably in the hanging from a string posture. Keep your shoulders relaxed, and as low as possible.
- Place the fingertips of both hands at the back part of the top of the head, as though you are peeling off a toupee from the rear forwards. Keep your elbows pointing forward, and do not rest the weight of your arms on your head.
- Gently begin to press forward with your fingertips, as you drop your chin towards your chest. Continue to press until you feel some tightness, but not pain, on both sides of your neck, and perhaps in your upper back.
- Relax into the tightness, and hold the stretch for about 30 seconds. If it should begin to hurt more instead of diminishing, reduce the pressure on your head.

Hot Water Therapy Stretch Exercise : Head to the Side

ashish — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 09:34:05 +0000

This hot water therapy stretching is meant to treat neck, trapezius and upper back in hot shower.
- Stand in a relaxed posture like your head is hanging from a string.
- Reach over your head with your right hand and place the right hand fingers on, under, or just above the left ear. The right elbow should be pointing directly to your right. Keep the right arm as light as possible.
- Let the fingers of the left hand walk down the side of your left leg while you gently pull your head to the right with right fingers.
- As soon as the tightness is felt on the left side of your neck, hold the position for 30 seconds. Keep breathing deeply and relax into the stretch.
- Return your head slowly to the upright position, and relax for a moment with arms at your side.
- Reach over your head with your left hand and place the left hand fingers on, under, or just above the right ear. The left elbow should be pointing directly to your left. Keep the left arm as light as possible.
- Let the fingers of the right hand walk down the side of your right leg while you gently pull your head to the left with left fingers.
- As soon as the tightness is felt on the right side of your neck, hold the position for 30 seconds. Keep breathing deeply and relax into the stretch.

How does stretching work and what are different benefits of stretching?

ashish — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 17:55:42 +0000

In an exercise, there is repeated motion and not held for longer than about six seconds. A stretch might consist of the same motion, but it is done only once, and with the position held motionless for 30 to 60 seconds.
While stretch, you extend the muscle and joint to the extreme position that can be comfortably reached. It’s a general thought that stretching is a good warm up before engaging in exercise, but in reality, stretch is best done after the body has been warmed up by an exercise. After an exercise session loosens and flushes out a tight muscle, stretching acts like the final hearty squeeze that you give a sponge after you’ve wet it and wrung it out repeatedly.
The stretches are grouped by trouble spot. The stretches should never hurt. When the final stretch position is approached, some tightness or tension is felt. As you continue to hold the stretch, the tightness will diminish. This is a sign that the muscle fiber is relaxing and stretching.
Breathing deeply and regularly during a stretch will help to relax you and increase the effectiveness of the stretch. With each breath, feel the healing steam and oxygen rush in , and all stress and tension fly out.

Hot water Therapy Exercise: Pelvic Tilt Backward and Forward

ashish — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 08:37:01 +0000

The Pelvic Tilt hot water therapy exercise is meant to treat lower back. This exercise can be done in hot shower as well as hot water tub.
Pelvic Backward Tilt
- Stand with your knees slightly bent and hands at your sides.
- Flatten the curve of your lower back by sucking your stomach in, pressing your belly back down your spine and lifting your pubis up. This is the pelvic backward tilt.
- Hold for six seconds.
- If this exercise is to be done in hot water tub, begin by lying on your back, knees up and feet flat on tub floor. Rest your head against the back of the tub.
- Suck in your stomach so that lower back flattens. Hold for six seconds. This is the pelvic backward tilt.

Pelvic Forward Tilt
- When you are done with backward tilt, from the same posture, relax your stomach and move your buttocks back, curving the small of your back. Knees are still bent. This is forward tilt.
- Hold for six seconds and repeat it for five more times.
- If this exercise is to be done in hot water tub, let your stomach out and arch your back so that your buttocks against the floor. Your lower back is slightly curved.
- Hold for six seconds and repeat it for five more times.

Hot Water Therapy Exercise : Knee Walk and Knee Circles

ashish — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 08:01:49 +0000

The Knee Walk hot water therapy exercise is meant to treat lower back. The assumption is that you are lying in hot water tub. The knee walk exercise is good for abdominal muscles, and doing it without hands will increase the workout for stomach.
- Position a towel or cushion beneath you, your head and shoulders as well.
- Recline against the back of the tub, or the edge of the hot tub.
- Settle down until you are nearly lying on your back, but do not drown.
- Knees should be up, your feet suspended, loose and comfortably dangling.
- Place your left hand on left kneecap and right hand on right kneecap.
- Walk your knees back and forth – a total of three to five inches back and forth is plenty.
- Do for 30 to 60 seconds.
- You can walk your knees without keeping your hands on knee caps once you are comfortable with this exercise.

The Knee Circles hot water therapy exercise is meant to treat lower back. The assumption is that you are lying in hot water tub.
- Position a towel or cushion beneath you, your head and shoulders as well.
- Recline against the back of the tub, or the edge of the hot tub.
- Settle down until you are nearly lying on your back, but do not drown.
- Knees should be up, your feet suspended, loose and comfortably dangling.
- Place your left hand on left kneecap and right hand on right kneecap. Keep your knees tightly together.
- Move your knees in a circular motion. Move at a comfortable speed. try to keep your entire lower back on the tub bottom at all times.
- Do not make big circles at first. Do this for a few seconds at first and work up to 30 to 60 sec.
- Once you are comfortable doing this exercise, do it without keeping your hands on knee caps.

Hot Water Therapy Exercise : Scared Cat to Swaybacked Horse

ashish — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 14:05:04 +0000

The Scared cat and Swayhorse hot water therapy exercise is meant to treat middle and lower back. The assumption is that bath or hot tub is available.
- To avoid the hard surface of the tub, place a towel or a soft cushion beneath yourself.
- Get down on hands and legs, with all your weight balanced. The tops of the toes should touch the tub floor.
- Depth of the water does not matter but your face should be above the water surface.
- Arch your back upwards gently. Drop down your head and hold the position for six seconds.
- Do not tighten any muscles other than those directly needed to arch the back.
- If you want to try this exercise in hot shower, bend your legs slightly, resting hands and weight on knees. Arch your back upwards slightly, squeezing your stomach and forming a curve with your head hanging down.

The Swaybacked Horse

- While in scared cat position, slowly and carefully flatten your back and relax your stomach and back muscles so that your back drops down a bit.
- Raise your head.
- Hold it for six seconds and then return to neutral.
- Repeat both position for six times.
- If you want to try this exercise in hot shower, drop the lower back by relaxing the stomach muscles and letting the curves release. With hands still on knees, raise your head to form the horse. Hold for six seconds, directing the spray of water to the middle back.
- Repeat for six times.