One of the favorite relaxation options for our compatriots is the steam room. The moist warmth of a traditional Russian bath or the dry heat of a Finnish sauna, and you are thrilled with pleasure. And when you no longer have the strength to endure, you rather want to cool down and throw off this drowsy relaxation. What options?
Wooden bathtubs (round, oval)
Dousing devices for baths
Bath vats
Falling into a pool or ice hole is a beauty! But this is fraught with big problems - instead of a healing effect, you can get the exact opposite result in the form of a heart attack or a hypertensive crisis. How to properly cool down after a bathhouse without ending up in a hospital bed?
Cooling the human body after staying in a steam room
During the cooling of the human body, all physiological processes that can occur during hypothermia begin to work. The most important thing in this matter is to choose the optimal cooling method for yourself. That is why it is extremely important in this case to select the ideal cooling option that could ensure thermal balance under optimal cooling conditions. This means that thanks to an optimal cooling system, the body can return to its normal state without much harm.
It would be worth noting that in most cases, a person who gets sick while cooling down after a bath simply does it incorrectly, either by making errors in temperature or in time.
That is why, when choosing an environment in which a person will cool, you need to be extremely attentive not just to the physiological characteristics of the body, but also to the structure of the person’s body and his personal tolerance.
Therefore, it is not difficult to understand that people with greater weight will cool down more slowly than those who are thin. This means that in people with a large weight, the amount of heat they receive becomes much greater than in those people who have a small weight.
In addition to the fact that a person after a steam room needs to provide himself with an ideal cooling option, it is also necessary to replenish the liquid that was lost during overheating. If this is not done, then all this can affect the condition of the body. You may experience lethargy, dry mouth, and weakness, including in the calf muscles, while walking. This condition usually occurs due to a lack of certain microelements in the body that were lost along with the fluid.
It is believed that in 3-4 visits to the steam room, a person is able to lose approximately 1.5-2 liters of fluid. That is why fluid in the body must be restored. If you do not do this, you can cause harm to yourself, which will be caused by a lack of fluid in it.
The human body reacts very subtly and painfully to even the smallest fluid losses. A deficiency will be considered mild if the water loss is approximately one percent of a person’s body weight. Average losses will be when they are approximately 2%, and dangerous if a person has lost about 3% of fluid from body weight. For example, consider a person with a body weight of 70 kilograms. If he loses about a kilogram of sweat, then the fluid loss in the body will be 1.4%.
Dehydration (dehydration) with heavy sweating can cause large shifts in the mineral composition of the whole body, after reducing the composition of sodium chloride, the amount of which at the very beginning of bath procedures is approximately 5 grams per liter of liquid. By the end of the bath procedures, its amount decreases to one gram per liter.
Scientists have proven that a person’s microclimatic condition will become accustomed to high temperatures only if he visits the bathhouse, and therefore the steam room, regularly. To be more precise, addiction begins after about 3-4 months, provided that the person regularly comes to the steam room on a weekly basis. It is necessary to adhere to this rule if the bathhouse is visited at the direction of doctors for therapeutic and recreational purposes.
To cool down after a steam room, as a rule, in baths, special rooms are installed that are equipped for this purpose. To begin with, it must be equipped with a swimming pool, the depth of which will be at least 130 cm and the size of at least six square meters. The pool is located near the steam room, and water enters it through special holes.
In order to be able to go down into the pool, it will be equipped with special railings and steps. In this case, the water in the pool should not be higher than 10 degrees. In addition, the water in the pool must be “in motion” all the time, that is, circulate. Meanwhile, it is necessary to chlorinate water all the time.
The cooling zone, as a rule, contains benches. After visiting the cooling zone, a person usually goes to a relaxation area, which contains couches and chairs corresponding to the number of people who will visit the bathhouse. In a room intended for relaxation, as a rule, people compensate for the fluid that was lost in the steam room. As a rule, they drink kvass, fruit drinks, mineral water, and other drinks that do not contain alcohol.
Thus, the second phase of being in the steam room is cooling, which is simply necessary for the human body after the unbearable heat that exists in this room. As a rule, a person himself understands at what point he needs to cool down. The ideal cooling zone is the street, or being in the fresh air. This confirms the centuries-old experience of Russian people to cool down outside after a bath.
In Russian baths, in the past, it was customary after the steam room to go into the fresh air and quickly plunge into a river, lake or even a snowdrift. Of course, in the modern world, and even more so in an urban environment, it is simply critically difficult to find the necessary pile of snow, or a lake near a bathhouse, but there is fresh air.
Once outside, you don’t need to greedily grab air, but you need to take several breaths in and out at a slow pace. Very fast breathing can cause respiratory alkalosis. Thus, breathing control is extremely important for the human body. The duration of this procedure will be individual for each person and depends on the state of health.
In addition to the fact that you can cool down while in the fresh air, you should observe the temperature regime, which should not exceed 20 degrees Celsius. It is worth noting that cooling should not be long and after a swimming pool or a contrast shower it would not hurt to just sit for a while. In the summer, a person can slowly walk on the grass while cooling, but in the winter, some people even decide to run in the snow.
If the cooling was long, then it would not hurt to place the legs a third of the shins in water with a temperature of about 35-39 degrees. This should be done in the rest room. It is forbidden to use cold water at such a moment, because spasms of the blood vessels in the leg muscles and changes in reflexes throughout the body may occur. As a rule, cooling is approached with extreme caution, and is based on the health status of the individual.
In a city bathhouse, the best way to cool down may be a cold shower or dousing with a hose. But the pressure should not be strong, because it can harm the blood vessels and the body as a whole. In addition, you can pour yourself from a bucket, or from some other container.
One of the most common and effective methods of cooling in a bathhouse is a pool, barrel or shower. True, there are some concerns about this type of cooling for people who suffer from heart disease. The thing is that this type of cooling has a serious impact on the cardiovascular system, which will be a huge burden. Before diving into the pool, you need to take a shower and wash off all the sweat from your body.
In addition, you should not use soap in the bath, because it can disrupt the natural acidity of the skin, as well as spoil the protective coatings that have antimicrobial effects. Hypertensive patients and heart patients should remember that immersing themselves in cold water sharply increases their blood pressure.
When cooling down, it is recommended to immerse yourself in water only up to your head. You cannot jump into the pool, under any circumstances, but you should gradually lower yourself into it. If it is of sufficient size, then it would not hurt to move slowly in it.
Only people who have excellent health can cool off in an ice hole or in a cold river.
As a rule, cooling can continue until the desire to warm up is no longer felt. It is strictly forbidden to cool down until you feel cold or chills! Cooling usually ends with taking a shower and preparing the body for the next trip to the steam room. If during cooling your feet become very cold, then before the steam room it would not hurt to warm them up in water, the temperature of which should be about 40 degrees.
Staying in the steam room and then cooling can be done about three times per session, but there are fans who can warm up and cool down in a row up to five times.
Some tips for people who are in a bathhouse for the first time:
- When you first come to the steam room, it is best to sit on the bottom shelf.
- You can stay in the steam room for as long as you feel comfortable. If you feel discomfort, you should urgently leave the steam room.
- While cooling, try not to freeze your body. If you feel the first signs of hypothermia, then you urgently need to warm your feet in a warm bath, which is heated to 40 degrees.
- Do not forget about the main rule: cooling should not be too long, and even more so forced.
- Cooling usually ends with a shower and warm foot baths, which allows the blood to flow to the body and cause a very pleasant sensation.
- After the bath procedures have been completed, before leaving the bath, you need to rest for at least half an hour, although this time is deeply individual and can be much longer. During this period of time, the body will be able to rest and, of course, recover for full functioning. If the behavior in the bathhouse was correct, then a feeling of peace and satisfaction should certainly arise. If, after a bath, a person experiences fatigue, a bad mood, dizziness or nausea, then being in it was not correct. In particular, in this case, the rules of conduct in the steam room are not observed.
- Another very important tip is that the bathhouse is not the best place to drink alcoholic beverages and food that is very difficult to digest. That is why, in order to replenish the amount of fluid in the body, it would not hurt to drink juice, mineral water or any other drink that will quench thirst and replenish water in the body.
Drinking alcoholic beverages in the bathhouse is strictly prohibited!!!
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What can you drink in the bathhouse?
When a visitor steams, a lot of water leaves his body. For normal functioning, it is important to compensate for this deficiency. But what exactly can you drink to restore your water balance? Everything here is individual.
It is important to remember that you should absolutely not drink:
- alcohol. It can provoke bad consequences;
- artificial drinks. They are not useful, but they can also cause harm;
- drinks containing additives, fillers.
One thing can be said considering the points listed above. A person decides what he will drink, because it is important to take into account his health and the condition of the body. For some people, fruit juice made from berries is ideal, while others prefer kvass or compote.
Freeze for a long time in the cold
For a long time in Rus', rubbing with snow and dipping into an ice hole after a bath was considered a sign of excellent health. Alternating temperatures hardens the body and trains blood vessels, quickly cooling the body. You need to cool down properly, otherwise you can harm the body by getting a hypertensive crisis or hypothermia. In the sauna, it is recommended to douse yourself with warm water directly in the steam room, then slowly lower yourself into the pool with a temperature of up to 18°. This will help the body cool down evenly, smoothly and quickly. In a wet bath, you can sit briefly in the dressing room, then take a shower, and only then go to the pool, avoiding diving upside down. If there is no pool at the sauna, then you should cool down in the shower, lowering the temperature to 5°C. Older people who are overweight and have cardiovascular diseases are not recommended to run out into the cold, dive into a snowdrift or an ice hole, so as not to experience vasospasm and increased blood pressure.
Eat light, healthy foods
Before the steam room and between breaks, light vegetable salads are best as a snack. They are non-caloric and quickly absorbed.
For the same reason, you can eat fruits, seafood or just vegetables. And for lunch, soup will be perfectly digestible, but only with vegetable broth.
By the way, you don’t have to give up fermented milk products, so don’t limit yourself if you want porridge, eggs, kefir and other goodies.
Cranberry juice
Cranberry juice is what you need when it comes to drinking after a bath. Cranberry juice contains vitamin C, which lowers body temperature. In addition, cranberries contain vitamin PP, which significantly affects immunity. You can also note good removal of toxins, lowering cholesterol levels and a preventive effect on blood vessels - cranberry juice has these qualities.
True, there is also a contraindication - such a drink is not suitable if you have an ulcer, gastritis or other diseases of the digestive system. Otherwise, everything is quite familiar - you can use both fruits and cranberry leaves to prepare the drink (a kind of tea is brewed from them).
You also need to know that to preserve vitamin C in cranberry broth, the berries cannot be boiled. To make the drink, the juice is first squeezed out and then mixed with an infusion brewed from fruit residues and sugar.
Chemical composition of tea
If you study possible drinks, then tea has an advantage - its composition (in chemical terms). If the tea is truly high-quality and natural, then it has many microelements that have a positive effect on humans. That's why they say that after finishing bath procedures it is best to drink tea. This decision will be correct.
Tea has other beneficial properties:
- promotes wound healing;
- restores the body;
- removes inflammation.
This drink has a very good effect on the human body. Thanks to it, the body is saturated with various useful substances, blood vessels become stronger, and the brain begins to function better.
In addition, it is an excellent antioxidant. When tea enters the body, it attaches to harmful substances. As a result, a lot of toxins leave the body. A person can get the maximum effect if he combines a bath and tea.
What is better - hot or iced tea? According to research, these drinks have different effects. In the case of iced tea, the temperature in the oral cavity may decrease slightly. But a hot drink can raise it a little. The effect of drinking tea will last for 20 minutes.
Don't overeat
If overeating cannot be avoided, you should go to the bathhouse no earlier than after 4-5 hours. Under high pressure due to temperature, blood moves away from the internal organs to the skin. But for good digestion, the intestines must be supplied with blood. It turns out that food in the steam room is not digested, but “ferments” in the stomach, causing discomfort and sometimes pain.
