Health Benefits of Steam Therapy Using the Steamy Wonder Spa™ Portable Sauna
Since ancient times, steam therapy has been used by traditional healing systems around the world to improve and maintain good health and beauty. Turkish baths, Indian sweat lodges, Finnish saunas, and Japanese steam rooms are just a few examples of cultures that harness the power of steam. Even Hippocrates recognized that he could cure many illnesses by creating an artificial fever, which is what happens during a Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatment.
Today, most Western health practitioners are unfamiliar with the benefits of steam therapy, as research in the West is extremely limited. Contrast that to Japan, where steam bathing is recognized as an effective treatment for a wide variety of conditions, including mild depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, nicotine addiction, hypertension, chronic pain, respiratory conditions, and cardiovascular disease.
Our Health Benefits section focuses on ten health issues that our customers and their clients often use the Steamy Wonder Spa™ to address. We explain how steam therapy helps with these health issues and offer supporting research and testimonials to help you evaluate if the Steamy Wonder Spa™ is right for you!
Today, most Western health practitioners are unfamiliar with the benefits of steam therapy, as research in the West is extremely limited. Contrast that to Japan, where steam bathing is recognized as an effective treatment for a wide variety of conditions, including mild depression, chronic fatigue syndrome, nicotine addiction, hypertension, chronic pain, respiratory conditions, and cardiovascular disease.
Our Health Benefits section focuses on ten health issues that our customers and their clients often use the Steamy Wonder Spa™ to address. We explain how steam therapy helps with these health issues and offer supporting research and testimonials to help you evaluate if the Steamy Wonder Spa™ is right for you!
Weight Loss and Cellulite Loss Benefits and Steamy Wonder Spa™
A moderately conditioned person can easily sweat off 500 grams of sweat in a sauna, which is the equivalent of running three to four miles or 475 to 600 calories (about 48 minutes of running). While the weight of the water loss is regained by rehydration, the calories burned are not.
How Steam and Treatment Packages Help You Lose Weight and Reduce Cellulite
As you relax in the Steamy Wonder Spa™, your body is working hard to eliminate toxins and burn fat. Weight loss becomes possible because body fat becomes water-soluble at 110 degrees, and the body can sweat out fats, toxins, and heavy metals. During heat treatment, your heart works harder, pumping blood at a greater rate to boost circulation, and supply the conditioning benefits of continuous exercise. Heart rate, cardiac output, and metabolic rate increase. Because the metabolism rate increases during the Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatment, you are burning calories, not just water!
Scientific Research
As the body works to cool itself, there is a substantial increase in heart rate, cardiac output, and metabolic rate. Blood flow during whole-body hyperthermia is reported to rise from a normal 5 to 7 quarts per minute to as much as 13 quarts per minute.
This benefit was recognized in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association as long ago as August 1981: "Many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system, not to build big leg muscles. Regular use of a sauna imparts a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning calories as regular exercise."
According to a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, sauna bathing is well tolerated, safe, and has therapeutic value for most healthy people and most patients with stable coronary heart disease.
Researchers examined the benefits and risks of sauna bathing for healthy adults and children and patients with coronary heart disease, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. This comprehensive review of the world's biomedical literature (1966 to the present) was carried out by investigators from the Department of Internal Medicine and the University of Oulu, Finland, and the Division of Cardiology, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.
This benefit was recognized in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association as long ago as August 1981: "Many of us who run do so to place a demand on our cardiovascular system, not to build big leg muscles. Regular use of a sauna imparts a similar stress on the cardiovascular system, and its regular use may be as effective a means of cardiovascular conditioning and burning calories as regular exercise."
According to a study published in The American Journal of Medicine, sauna bathing is well tolerated, safe, and has therapeutic value for most healthy people and most patients with stable coronary heart disease.
Researchers examined the benefits and risks of sauna bathing for healthy adults and children and patients with coronary heart disease, hypertension, and congestive heart failure. This comprehensive review of the world's biomedical literature (1966 to the present) was carried out by investigators from the Department of Internal Medicine and the University of Oulu, Finland, and the Division of Cardiology, Washington Hospital Center, Washington, D.C.
Purification and Maximum Detox With a Portable Steam Sauna and Steam Therapy
Clients are increasingly aware of the wide variety of toxins that may be in their bodies, including herbicides, pesticides, food additives, air pollution, and household chemicals. When ingested, these chemicals can remain in the body for years, altering their metabolism, causing enzyme dysfunction and nutritional deficiencies, creating hormonal imbalances, and lowering their threshold of resistance to chronic disease. Today, studies show that most people have between 400 and 800 chemical residues stored in the fat cells of their bodies. When bodies exceed the limit of what can be excreted, they begin to store these toxins. The Steamy Wonder Spa™ Portable Steam Sauna provides the ultimate detoxification.
Symptoms of Toxicity
The following symptoms are often related to toxicity: allergies, acne, anxiety, burning skin, brain fog, chronic fatigue, chemical sensitivities, depression, eczema, frequent colds or flu, insomnia, loss of dexterity, low body temperature, memory loss, mood swings, muscle and joint pains, and poor concentration.
Regular Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatments can be offered as a standalone modality or combined with other healing therapies, such as massage, to provide a practical and enjoyable way to help clients remove these toxins from their bodies. The benefits of detoxification include weight loss, pain relief, increased alertness and energy, lustrous skin and eyes, and enhanced immunity.
How Steam Helps You Detoxify
The heat experienced during a Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatment speeds up the chemical processes in the body, making it one of the most simple and comfortable ways to rid the body of accumulated toxins. As the pores open and the millions of sweat glands start to excrete, the body rids itself of metabolic and other waste products. Sweat contains the same elements as urine. For this reason, the skin is sometimes called the third kidney.
Regular sweating can help detoxify your body as it rids itself of accumulated carcinogenic metals (lead, mercury, zinc, nickel, and cadmium), alcohol, nicotine, sodium, sulfuric acid, and cholesterol.
Sweating is such an effective detoxifier that some physicians recommend home saunas to supplement kidney machines. Sweat also draws out lactic acid, which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general fatigue.
Sweating is such an effective detoxifier that some physicians recommend home saunas to supplement kidney machines. Sweat also draws out lactic acid, which causes stiff muscles and contributes to general fatigue.
Scientific Research
The Steamy Wonder Spa™ provides the benefits of steam treatments recommended by Ayurvedic medicine. Recent scientific research indicates that ayurvedic detoxification treatments reduce levels of toxicants by 50%. (Source: Sept/Oct 2002, Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, Vol. 8, No. 5, pp. 93-103.)
How Steam Improves the Skin
The skin is our body's largest organ and is essential to eliminating impurities. As we sweat in the Steamy Wonder Spa™, the skin pores begin to open, and built-up sebum and impurities move out. Dead skin cells are softened and exfoliated so that new, softer skin can emerge.
The result is that many common skin conditions improve with periodic or regular Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatments:
- Acne: Perspiration emulsifies the fat of the sebaceous glands, clearing them of sebum and bacteria, which is excellent for acne.
- Anti-Aging: Exfoliation treatments with Steamy Wonder Spa™ open the pores, allowing the superficial and deep layers of the skin to be receptive to the nutrients in natural skin care products. The deep penetration of vitamins, minerals, and moisturizers helps restore and maintain skin elasticity and tone. Steam creates a seal on the skin's surface, enclosing the nutrients within the layers of the skin, where they may be absorbed and processed.
- Dry Skin and Wrinkles: Increased blood supply rushes fluids to the skin's surface, enhancing the development of collagen, filling in the spaces around cells, and plumping up wrinkles. Regularly stimulating the skin helps combat the collagen breakdown that results in aging and sagging skin. The resulting effect is deeply moisturized, radiant skin.
Stress Reduction and Steamy Wonder Spa™ Treatments
The most immediate benefit of a Steamy Wonder Spa™ Portable Sauna treatment is relaxation. In just a few minutes, the gentle warmth of the Steamy Wonder Spa™ softens hard knots of stress by loosening up all the muscles, allowing the clients to deeply relax in the privacy and silence of the Steamy Wonder Spa™. With the addition of our custom-dried herbal blends placed directly into the steam generator, your client will experience deeper benefits of relaxation and rejuvenation.
Scientific Research:
An artificial fever induced by Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatments can also help with mood elevation. A study conducted by H.I. Robins at the University of Wisconsin found that "the mood states of cancer patients following whole-body hyperthermia show a significant improvement in depression. This was attributed to the increased B-endorphins, the same endorphins released with exercise."
“I’ve been using my Steamy Wonder Spa™ for more than five years now... The service asked for the most is the 1 ½ hour steam massage. While I am steaming their body, I use a nice face lotion to massage their face, neck, and scalp. Then, I place cold compresses on their forehead and throat while they continue steaming. By the time we begin the massage, their body is toasty warm. The massage goes deeper with less effort on my part. This service is popular, profitable, and much appreciated among our clients. The combination of steam with massage is simply unbeatable.”— S. Skudler, Deeply Relaxing Massage, Colorado
“I’ve been using my Steamy Wonder Spa™ for more than five years now... The service asked for the most is the 1 ½ hour steam massage. While I am steaming their body, I use a nice face lotion to massage their face, neck, and scalp. Then, I place cold compresses on their forehead and throat while they continue steaming. By the time we begin the massage, their body is toasty warm. The massage goes deeper with less effort on my part. This service is popular, profitable, and much appreciated among our clients. The combination of steam with massage is simply unbeatable.”— S. Skudler, Deeply Relaxing Massage, Colorado
Steam and Cellulite Reduction
The skin is our body’s largest organ and is essential to eliminating impurities. As we sweat in the Steamy Wonder Spa™, the skin pores begin to open, and built-up sebum and impurities move out. Dead skin cells are softened and exfoliated so that new, softer skin can emerge.
Effective cellulite reduction can be achieved by increasing circulation, stimulating metabolism, detoxifying, and eliminating excess fluids. The Steamy Wonder Spa™, used in conjunction with detoxifying mud and essential oils and/or manual manipulation of the tissues, accelerates effective cellulite reduction.
Relief From Joint Pain
Steam therapy has been used for hundreds of years by many cultures in the treatment of arthritis, rheumatism, joint stiffness, and muscle spasms.
How Does It Work?
The deep heat of the Steamy Wonder Spa™ helps to relieve pain by causing the blood vessels to dilate. It causes increased blood circulation and allows more oxygen to get to soft tissue injuries and sore muscles. This helps reduce pain and speeds up the healing process. Increased blood circulation carries metabolic waste products and delivers oxygen-rich blood to oxygen-depleted muscles so that they recover faster. Muscles relax most readily when tissues are warm.
Scientific Research:
Sauna bathing has been used as a form of thermal therapy to treat pain and other symptoms of rheumatic disease. In studies based on interviews with over 200 patients, 40% to 70% of participants reported that sauna bathing alleviated pain and improved joint mobility. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine, February 1, 2001, Volume 110)
How Steam Works
As heat penetrates the muscles, capillaries dilate, and there is an increased flow of oxygen to sore muscles. Muscles and tissues become more pliable and relaxed, helping to increase mobility and reduce stiffness.
Scientific Research:
Sauna bathing has been used as a form of thermal therapy to treat pain and other symptoms of rheumatic disease. In studies based on interviews with over 200 patients, 40 to 70 percent of the participants reported that sauna bathing alleviated pain and improved joint mobility. (Source: The American Journal of Medicine, February 1, 2001, Volume 110.)
In addition, a researcher at the New Jersey Medical School found that heat therapy was more effective than analgesics for low back pain. Several distinct types of pain, including lower and upper back pain and menstrual pain, can be treated with low-level heat therapies.
The results showed that the low-level heat therapy provided significantly more pain relief beginning on the first day of treatment than the oral analgesics, and the effects lasted more than 28 hours after the treatment was completed.
In addition, a researcher at the New Jersey Medical School found that heat therapy was more effective than analgesics for low back pain. Several distinct types of pain, including lower and upper back pain and menstrual pain, can be treated with low-level heat therapies.
The results showed that the low-level heat therapy provided significantly more pain relief beginning on the first day of treatment than the oral analgesics, and the effects lasted more than 28 hours after the treatment was completed.
Steam Therapy and Respiratory Conditions
Steam inhalation is an effective treatment for respiratory conditions and is highly recommended for the treatment of sinusitis, bronchitis, allergies, and asthma.
How Does It Work?
- Relieves inflammation and congestion of the upper respiratory mucous membranes
- Relieves throat irritation by moistening the air
- Relieves spasmodic breathing (asthma, croup)
- Loosens secretions and stimulates the discharge of mucous from the throat and lungs (natural expectorant)
- Relaxes muscles and relieves coughing
- Keeps the mucous membranes from excessive drying
Scientific Research
Patients with asthma or chronic bronchitis reported that sauna bathing improved their breathing. (Source: Hydrotherapy: Simple Treatments for Common Ailments by Clarence Dail, MD. and Charles Thomas, Ph.D., The American Journal of Medicine, February 1, 2002, Volume 110)
Steam Therapy for Circulation and Inflammation
Steam therapy assists in alleviating inflammation and edema. The increased peripheral circulation provides the transport needed to help eliminate the edema, which helps to end inflammation, decrease pain, and speed up the healing process.
How Steam Works
Heating one area of the body produces reflex-modulated vasodilation in distant body areas, even without a change in core body temperatures. If, for example, you heat a forearm, then both lower extremities dilate, or if the front of the trunk is heated, then the hands dilate. Heating the muscles produces increased blood flow, like during exercise.
Temperature elevation produces an increase in blood flow and dilation directly in capillaries, arterioles, and veins. Thus, widening the blood vessels.
The benefits of the Steamy Wonder Portable Steam Sauna help all kinds of chronic pain management issues.
Temperature elevation produces an increase in blood flow and dilation directly in capillaries, arterioles, and veins. Thus, widening the blood vessels.
The benefits of the Steamy Wonder Portable Steam Sauna help all kinds of chronic pain management issues.
Boosting the Immune System With Steam Therapy
Traditionally, the benefits of steaming include increased energy, decreased incidence of infections, and fewer colds and flu. Many regular steam or sauna bathers have experienced that a good long sweat bath at the early onset of a cold or flu can help ward off the disease before it manifests as actual symptoms.
How Does Steam Work?
The heat from a Steamy Wonder Spa™ treatment raises your core body temperature, inducing an artificial fever. During a fever, the production of white blood cells is increased, as is the rate of their release into the bloodstream. White blood cells are the primary agents of the immune system. As the generation of antibodies speeds up, so does the production of interferon, an anti-viral protein. In this manner, your body's immune system is strengthened as it works to combat the fever.
At the same time, sweating helps eliminate toxins and waste products from the body, and overall health and resistance to diseases are increased. After detoxification, your immune system has less "house cleaning" to do and can focus on protecting your body from more serious health threats. By sweating, overall health and resistance to diseases are increased.
At the same time, sweating helps eliminate toxins and waste products from the body, and overall health and resistance to diseases are increased. After detoxification, your immune system has less "house cleaning" to do and can focus on protecting your body from more serious health threats. By sweating, overall health and resistance to diseases are increased.
Scientific Research
Mayo Clinic researcher Dr. Wakim cites findings that the number of white blood cells increased by an average of 58% during an artificially induced fever.