If they ever come to Finland, whether they are then in the city or in the countryside, an invitation to the sauna for wellness is sure for them.
Sauna is healthy
The sauna is a hot air bath with dry heat, which means that the humidity is extremely low, 20 to 30 percent. It can be said without exaggeration that the use of this bathing facility seems as important to the Finn as daily bread. From the earliest historical records we know that the frequent use of steam baths and sweat baths was already known in ancient times. In the Middle Ages, such facilities went out of fashion again in Germany, but in the far north this form of bathing has retained its popularity to this day. Today we meet the sauna also again in Germany in increasing measure, and the circle of its followers becomes ever larger. The question of what the principle of the sauna bath actually is, and what its effect is, naturally gains renewed interest. Some are at first a bit horrified when they hear that one exposes oneself to a temperature of more than 100 degrees in the sauna, and the first question is then usually: “Doesn’t one get cardiac arrest if one jumps into cold water after such heating or lets oneself be doused with it?” However, one can definitely calm down the anxious ones. The sauna is a hot-air bath with dry heat, which means that the humidity is extremely low at 20 to 30 percent. They are built mainly of wood, and larger saunas in public spas, wellness hotels or baths are lined with absorbent wood. Granite stones are heated on a simple fireplace in the sauna, e.g. Finnish farmers do it this way, but the sauna stove can also be heated with electricity or gas. The temperature in the sauna has a strong gradient due to the laws of physics. Under the ceiling is usually measured over 100 degrees, while on the floor is about only 40 degrees.
How does a sauna work?
If you enter the sauna unclothed, your skin immediately covers itself with a thin layer of sweat. With the low water content of the air, it evaporates immediately, keeping the body temperature within tolerable limits. This physiological protective effect of sweat evaporation causes the core temperature to rise only to 38 to 39 degrees even during a 20-minute uninterrupted stay in the sauna. A very simple experiment makes the process clear. If you blow on your skin, you are initially astonished to find that there is no cooling effect, but on the contrary a heating effect. This is easy to explain. The protective vapor mantle, formed from sweat, is eliminated by the blowing, and thus the heat can act directly on the skin. Varying from individual to individual, a very strong flow of sweat sets in after 5 to 10 minutes in the sauna, so that up to 1 ½ liters of fluid can be eliminated during 2 to 3 passes of 15 minutes each. What effect does the sauna have on the organism? Salts of various kinds are excreted with the sweat. This process is considered to be of great importance, especially by laymen, as a purification. Scientific studies have also proven that sauna leads to the activation of certain glands with internal secretion, especially the pituitary gland and the adrenal gland.
Heart and circulation in the sauna
However, the most important are the effects on the functions of the heart and circulation via the autonomic part of the nervous system. In the sauna, the pulse rate increases somewhat, most strongly in people with low blood pressure, less so in those with elevated blood pressure. Thus, for the heart, the strong stimulus of heat could be a certain burden. On the other hand, however, the skin vessels are greatly dilated, which is visibly expressed by the high red coloration of the skin, and by reducing the resistance at the periphery, the blood circulation is in turn relieved. In Finland, where people have a lot of experience with sauna, it is believed that everyone who can still walk into the sauna by himself can tolerate it. Very detailed studies have been undertaken to gain insight into the cardiovascular stress in all phases of sauna bathing, during heating and cooling by the cold bath and the subsequent rest.
Circulatory stress in the sauna
In Finland, where they have a lot of experience with the sauna, the opinion is that everyone who can still walk into the sauna by themselves can tolerate it. It has been shown that the circulatory stress caused by the heat stimulus in the sauna is quite small, and somewhat greater during the sudden cooling, but at no time equals the stress caused by 20 squats. Summarizing the effect of the sauna on the organism, the reaction of the vegetative part of the nervous system is in the foreground, which, as is known, controls the organ and circulatory functions of our body more or less automatically. This is the reason for the possible applications: They are mainly on the preventive side. With our habits of life, which still have so many traits of behavior that contradict scientific knowledge and thus cause stress symptoms especially on those organs that are subject to the control of the vegetative nervous system (this is shown in increased and low blood pressure values, constriction of the coronary artery, migraine, but also duodenal ulcers, etc.), this kind of preventive circulatory training and metabolic part gains a very extraordinary importance. Disturbed functions are better regulated by the influence on the vegetative nervous system and furthermore on certain glands with internal secretion, provided that, also otherwise, the entire way of life is changed accordingly. In particular, by reducing obesity, smoking and ensuring sufficient sleep.
Health and healing effects of sauna
However, sauna also has a beneficial effect on circulatory diseases themselves. In medicine, as is well known, more and more the view prevails that even sick organs can be improved in their performance by exercise. The maximum dilation of blood vessels, their subsequent contraction due to the cold stimulus are, to a certain extent, training exercises of the vessels, which also allow the damaged organ to better adapt to changed conditions. Even people with angina pectoris generally tolerate a visit to the sauna very well, as do patients with high blood pressure. But here, special precautions must be taken during the subsequent cooling down. It goes without saying that such patients should first consult a physician who is familiar with the use of physical healing methods, including the sauna. Such baths are actually unsuitable only in the case of heart defects, which have such a severely restricted range of adaptation that even the slightest effort causes shortness of breath. Even pregnant women can tolerate a sauna up to the last months, but it should not be started during pregnancy. The sauna also has good results with colds, as long as they are not accompanied by high fever. In bronchitis and tracheitis, the course of the disease is shortened, and even some cases of bronchial asthma are favorably affected. If we assume that sauna is a training treatment due to the general effects already described, then the logical conclusion is that one should not overdo it the first few times. In the beginning, one should not stay in the sauna longer than 10 minutes, then cool down, and make only a second pass. Gradually you can increase the time to 15, eventually 20 minutes, and alternate between sauna and cooling down three times (under or over). Used in this way, the health-promoting factors of the sauna soon become noticeable. Many a competitive athlete has come to appreciate its conditioning and performance-enhancing effects. It can be enhanced by massage, which should be done between the individual sauna sessions and not at the end of the sauna session. Beating with birch branches during the sauna bath, which is known in Finland, has the same effect. We can only welcome the fact that saunas are gaining popularity here in Germany. Some people even have their own sauna in their house or garden.
