“Why did you go to the bathhouse? Don’t you have a bath at home?” - Ippolit asked the unlucky Lukashin in the film “The Irony of Fate, or Enjoy Your Bath!”
In Soviet times, few knew that the bathhouse was a powerful physiotherapeutic procedure that could both improve human health and harm it. The director of the Institute of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences of NSU says Lesgafta, Doctor of Medical Sciences, Professor Andrey Kalinin .
— The bath procedure activates thermoregulation. When a person enters a steam room, his body temperature rises, blood vessels dilate, skin cleanses, and skin respiration intensifies. Together with sweat, electrolytes, metabolic products and excess fluid leave the body. Staying in a bathhouse enhances inhibitory processes in the central nervous system, causing a sedative (calming) effect. The endocrine system perceives “general inhibition” as stress and activates the function of the endocrine glands, increasing the production of hormones. Therefore, after a bath, a person experiences a feeling of relaxation and vigor at the same time.
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Steam for the “clean” public. How the first bathhouse appeared in Moscow The steam room is an excellent exercise machine for the heart and blood vessels. Studies have shown that bathhouse regulars have a lower risk of developing hypertension than those who bypass it. The sauna also has a beneficial effect on the respiratory system. Under the influence of heat, the bronchi expand, the frequency and depth of breathing increase, which activates heat transfer and compensates for the lack of oxygen in the internal organs.
Dousing yourself with cool water after a steam room deserves a separate discussion.
When immersed in cold water, the vessels first narrow (blood from the periphery rushes to the internal organs), and when the blood flow is directed in the opposite direction, they expand. During short-term douches, water does not have time to take away enough heat, but it has a powerful effect on the nervous system (increasing its tone, which allows you to remain calm in difficult situations) and on the immune system. However, the powerful physiotherapeutic bath effect can only be used if there are no contraindications.
Why is a bathhouse better than a bathtub?
Its main advantage over conventional hygiene procedures is its high temperature. In fact, the bath is physical therapy for the body. Under the influence of heat, skin pores open, sweating increases, and microcirculation improves. Intense heating increases vascular tone, eliminates muscle spasms, and helps free blood and lymph from toxins. The bathhouse is good for relieving nervous tension, which is important in case of severe stress or sleep disturbances.
Steaming regularly is very beneficial. One procedure can replace several healing techniques and trips to the spa. People with respiratory diseases are also often advised to get rid of illness in a steam room or sauna. It is believed that in a couple of sessions you can deal with the most ferocious flu, enter the bathhouse sick and leave healthy.
This opinion is partly correct. Water vapor and heat help reduce intoxication and improve well-being during ARVI. But we must not forget about the high load they place on the body. There are firm rules on how to visit the steam room in order to recover faster.
Bath for a runny nose
It’s easy to catch a runny nose in our climate: your feet get wet, there’s a draft… and then you can’t breathe. If you have such a problem, you need to visit the steam room. A runny nose can be treated perfectly in a bathhouse, especially if you give it the right fragrant medicinal steam. This results in inhalation for every cell of the body, while the nasopharynx warms up perfectly.
It is best to use the following herbs to treat a runny nose in a steam room: eucalyptus, juniper, thyme, chamomile, mint, conifers (pine, spruce, cedar, etc.).
Who can go to the bathhouse and when?
Steaming is recommended if the symptoms of the disease are just beginning to develop:
- body temperature does not exceed +37.5°C;
- my throat is slightly sore, my voice has sunk;
- joints ache a little;
- no severe headache, asthenia, or congestion in the lungs.
Typically, this picture is typical for the first 1–2 days after infection, when the main flu symptoms are ahead. A bath during this period can prevent its rapid course, speed up recovery, or completely destroy the disease in the bud. For people whose cold has lasted for several weeks, severe malaise is behind them, but the cough continues and periodic low-grade fever occurs, bath procedures will also not harm.
The effect of visiting a steam room when you have the flu:
- improving blood circulation, preventing swelling of the mucous membranes;
- active removal of toxins from the body;
- elimination of dull pain, discomfort in muscles and joints;
- clearing the respiratory tract: diluting and removing mucus clots from the sinuses, bronchi and lungs;
- increased immune activity: stimulation of leukocyte production.
Most people who visited the steam room in the initial stages of the disease confirm that they feel much better after the procedure. Steam inhalations free up nasal breathing and have an expectorant effect. Immediately after the sessions, fever, cough disappear or sharply decrease, and discomfort in the body disappears.
People with a sluggish course of ARVI, when the temperature fluctuates for a long time at +37–37.5 ° C, would also do well to go to a traditional steam room or sauna. Warming up the body by 2°C during the washing process will help their immune system produce the necessary interferons. It will not be surprising if after one or several sessions there is no trace of infection left.
What should you remember when going to the bathhouse?
Being in a steam room is always associated with dehydration. A person sweats quite intensively and releases water through breathing, so, naturally, it is necessary to constantly replenish the volume of fluid in the body.
As for the respiratory system, if a person is healthy, then there are no contraindications to visiting the bathhouse. If you have certain chronic diseases, you should definitely talk to your doctor. For example, in patients with bronchial asthma, moist hot air can cause quite serious exacerbations and even attacks.
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Naturally, visiting a steam room should never be combined with drinking alcohol; this is an extremely serious burden even for a healthy person. This “procedure” can cause greater dehydration and puts a greater strain on the cardiovascular system. In addition, a person loses some control over the situation and may simply overheat.
How to increase the benefits of a bath
Procedures according to the rules will help you cope with a cold faster. They should last about half an hour. In order not to overload the body, it is useful to do not one, but several passes:
- for the first time - sit in the steam room for a few minutes and go out to rest;
- again - steam, preferably with a broom, for 10 minutes, then rest again in the dressing room;
- the third time you are allowed to steam for 10 to 15 minutes.
Experienced sauna lovers can stay there longer. For those visiting the steam room for the first time, a more gentle regime is recommended. You should leave it at the slightest disturbance in your well-being; it is undesirable to climb onto the top shelves and let on steam too often.
Inhalations with essential oils of citrus, fir, pine, juniper, eucalyptus or peppermint will help in the fight against the virus. It is recommended to steam with a broom made of coniferous trees or oak branches. These plants have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory effects.
Immediately after the procedures, without leaving the dressing room, it is useful to drink medicinal tea. For influenza, diaphoretic drinks with mucolytic and anti-inflammatory effects are suitable:
- from linden flowers;
- St. John's wort herbs;
- thyme;
- ginger with honey;
- coltsfoot leaves;
- licorice root;
- raspberry leaves and berries.
When using bath procedures during colds and flu, you need to abandon the idea of extreme hardening. When leaving the steam room, you should not douse yourself with cold water, jump into an ice hole, or wipe yourself with snow. This may result in a further increase in fever.
Adviсe
If there are no contraindications, you can go to the bathhouse with a runny nose. Of course, in such a state you want to perform wellness procedures without strangers. We recommend that you visit the Laguna Spa health complex. Experienced staff will create comfortable conditions for your relaxation and also share useful tips. Here are some of them:
- You can do inhalation in the bathhouse. A few drops of essential oil (pine, eucalyptus) are dripped onto the hot stones. Inhalation of vapors prevents the development of pathogenic microflora.
- A light massage with a broom improves blood circulation and helps remove toxins from the body.
- A decoction of medicinal plants, such as chamomile, eucalyptus, St. John's wort, thyme, can be drunk or used for bathing procedures.
What brooms to use in a bathhouse for colds?
Also, to make the treatment procedure in the steam room more effective, you need to use brooms for steaming. Massage with brooms has a beneficial effect on the condition of patients. The process increases blood circulation in the vessels, speeds up metabolism, promotes sweating, and as a result, toxins and waste are washed out of the skin cells. For the procedure, it is better to select a broom with skill.
- Linden brooms are good at stimulating the sebaceous glands on the surface of the skin tissue. Also, after a massage with this broom, you will feel pleasant languor and relaxation. The nervous system will calm down.
- A birch broom is recommended for bronchitis. With the help of massage you can improve the discharge of mucus from the bronchi. If you suffer from pain in your joints and muscles, also use this “tool”.
- Brooms made from various types of needles (fir, juniper, spruce) effectively stimulate sweating and are air purifiers in the bathhouse. Kills all germs.
- If you are plagued by a sore throat, a lingering runny nose, or a dry or wet cough, then take a eucalyptus broom for massage treatments. With its help you can disinfect the air and perform inhalation. To do this, just steam it, bring it to your face, and then breathe in the panacea. A very effective remedy when paired with a bathhouse.
Treatment of colds in the bath: tips
It is very important to follow the rules of procedure. If cold infections occur, you should not engage in hardening procedures. Do not do contrast douches with cold water. For an organism weakened by infection, this is unnecessary stress, which will only worsen the patient’s situation. At the end of steaming in the bath, wash yourself with pleasant warm water. Put on a terry sheet or robe and relax with a cup of tea. The more you drink, the better. The disease will leave your body faster.
Drink not only tea with herbs, you can also drink regular purified water. Add citrus fruits and other healthy fruits to your diet, which contain a lot of vitamin C. It is useful to eat raspberry, currant jam and honey.
After a bath, the skin is also cleansed of all bacteria and rejuvenated. Thanks to the action of high temperatures and a kind of massage with brooms , blood circulation is activated, metabolism in tissue cells improves, pleasant warmth warms up the joints and organs. Therefore, after this procedure, the general condition improves and the immune system is restored.
The patient himself must control his condition while visiting the steam room. To get the most out of the process you will need to warm up thoroughly. But there is no need to overload the body with excessive effort. After all, overheating can only make the situation worse. The immune system, therefore, devotes all its strength to fighting the infection, so there is no need to overload the body with a hot park.
Try to go into a warm bathhouse, and not one already filled with hot steam. Increase the temperature gradually and do not sit directly near the heat source. When you feel that you have had enough, leave the steam room.
It is not at all necessary to fulfill your usual norm of staying in the steam room. It is enough to steam for 15-20 minutes, or maybe less. Much depends on the individuality of the organism. If the process does not improve your condition, but on the contrary, it becomes worse, then leave the steam room.
IMPORTANT : When a person feels unwell, after a bath the pressure may drop sharply. To correct the situation, you must either call an ambulance or drink natural coffee, depending on the patient’s condition.
The benefits of a bath for the flu
From the above information, the following conclusions are drawn :
- Visiting the bathhouse should only be done when the infection has not yet spread in the body.
- You can also go to the steam room after the cold has subsided. When the body temperature is already 36.6, but there is a slight malaise or cough.
- Under no circumstances should you visit the steam room if your body temperature is elevated.
What parts of the body can be washed
Although doctors advise to refrain from bathing, you still need to wash. To do this, use a bath or shower with no drafts.
When eliminating an infection, the body tries to remove toxic substances in all possible ways, for example, through the skin. Therefore, they need to be washed off regularly so that they are not absorbed back, disrupting blood flow, spreading viruses and bacteria.
You need to wash with warm water for a very short period. After completing the procedure, it is recommended to put on a warm robe, drink warm tea with honey, lemon, and then lie down under a blanket to warm up. Then you can start going about your daily activities.
Contraindications for visiting the bathhouse
- High blood pressure or hypertension is a reason to avoid the steam room to avoid a crisis.
- Thyroid gland dysfunction - hyperthyroidism can provoke tachycardia in the bath due to high temperature.
- You should not go to the steam room if you have a stomach ulcer. There is a high risk of internal bleeding.
- If you have oncological pathologies, you should also not go to the bathhouse.
- Skin diseases (eczema, lichen, streptoderma and others) are a reason to stay at home.
- Patients with herpesvirus infection should not visit the steam room.
- Patients with vegetative-vascular dystonia also do not tolerate heat well. They often faint in the bathhouse.
As you can see, before starting treatment in this way, you should consider all the pros and cons. The process of curing a cold in a bathhouse may not always be effective. In some cases, it is better to go to the doctor.
Bath during a cold
If a viral or bacterial infection has just begun, then you need to immediately visit the steam room. There is no need to wait until the cold starts to overcome you. At the first symptoms:
- sore throat
- nasal congestion
- aches in connective tissues
- weaknesses
Take a steam bath. It is advisable to use brooms made of various materials, such as pine needles, eucalyptus, linden. If possible, arrange aromatherapy, and then drink healing tea infused with herbs.
Treatment of colds in the bath
Is a sauna allowed if you have a cold?
A sauna is also a steam room, but you need to understand its specifics. The air temperature in a Russian bath is usually 55-70 degrees, with a maximum of 90. Humidity levels are at the level of 40-70%. In the sauna, the air warms up to 100-130 degrees, and the humidity level is kept at 15%, less often - 20%. Under such conditions, sweating is activated.
Overheating of the body when visiting a sauna puts a strain on the heart and causes vascular spasms. That is why people suffering from cardiovascular diseases or those who are at risk are prohibited from going to Finnish steam rooms. A sauna for ARVI is also contraindicated for those who have problems with the respiratory system: inhalation of dry vapors often leads to exacerbation of diseases.
