Sauna Therapy & Back Pain
As your body gets older and you put it through more and more stress, bad things can happen to your back. Almost all of us have experienced a stiff back or tweaked muscle at some point in our lives. In fact, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reports that “[b]ack pain is one of the most common reasons people see a doctor or miss days at work. Even school-age children can have back pain.” This can go on for just a little while, or it can turn chronic and plague you for years. Eventually, slipped or herniated discs can give you all sorts of pain and suffering. The treatment for back pain might not be what you expect, though. Here are 3 reasons why sauna therapy for back pain could be your best bet.
1. Pain Medication May Cause Further Health Problems
Most of the time, when we’re in pain, we just turn to acetaminophen or ibuprofen, the most common pain medications. Some, like ibuprofen and other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), does reduce both the pain and swelling associated with pulled or bruised muscles. For serious back issues, your doctor might prescribe opioids, anticonvulsants, or other medications. However, these drugs usually come with their own risks.
Painkillers, especially opioids, can be addictive for many back-pain sufferers. Many pain medications thin the blood and prevent it from clotting – this can lead to internal bleeding, ulcers, impaired kidney function, and bowel damage. The risks increase the more you take those medications, so chronic back-pain sufferers can get themselves in serious trouble.
There’s got to be a way to get the benefits of reducing the pain and inflammation without damaging your internal organs, right? That’s where sauna therapy for back pain comes in.
2. Sauna Therapy for Back Pain Relaxes Muscles and Eases Swelling
When your body perceives pain, like from a slipped or herniated disc or a tweaked muscle, it reacts to try minimizing that pain. Your muscles tense up, you get anxious, and you might even fear movement. This is actually the opposite of what your body really needs and ultimately leads to a cycle that you might not know how to break.
Your body needs relaxation and increased blood flow to loosen up those tight muscles, feed nutrients to your muscles and ligaments, and heal the damage to itself. Sauna therapy for back pain, especially when you use an infrared sauna, provides all of that. Even better, Mayo Clinic’s research has found that sauna therapy is “linked to an improvement in pain and symptoms associated with musculoskeletal disorders such as osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, and fibromyalgia.”
The heat from an infrared sauna radiates through your body, penetrating several inches below the surface of your skin. This soothes your muscles and opens up your blood vessels. The increased blood flow helps your body feed nutrients to your muscles and ligaments. At the same time, the warmth relaxes those same muscles and ligaments, making them more pliable and reducing the stiffness. The overall effect of sauna therapy for back pain is very similar to that of muscle relaxants, without the side effects those medications can bring.
You’ll find, too, that regular sauna usage can give you other benefits, like a better immune system, stronger lung function, and better quality of sleep.
3. There Is Almost No Risk Associated with Sauna Therapy
When used properly, sauna therapy for back pain carries almost no risks. You should definitely consult a doctor before starting sauna therapy, since some medical conditions can be worsened, but by and large, saunas are safe and effective for reducing that pain in the back you’re suffering.
The key is to stick with short times in the sauna, no more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time. In fact, you might start out with just a minute or two and increase the time after a couple of sessions.
Since the sauna is a very dry heat, always make sure you drink plenty of water while doing your therapy, to avoid dehydration. This is especially true for patients treating a slipped disc.
You also shouldn’t jump right in the sauna after strenuous exercise. The extreme heat can be stressful to the heart, so make sure you’ve done a proper cooldown before you go into the gym’s sauna. Finally, if you start feeling light-headed or dizzy, get out of the sauna immediately.
If you enjoyed this article, there’s a great read about Sauna therapy here. Let us know what you think!
