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Steam treatments offer universally
acclaimed theraputic effects on health and happiness.
Clients report improved circulation, relief from aches and pain, and
reduced stress and
tension.
Steamy Wonder also makes aroma therapy more pleasant and
effective.
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Magical Mists
The Beauty Enhancing Benefits
of Full Body Steam
Treatments. |
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"One is most beautiful two hours after
the sauna," goes an old Finnish adage. Certainly, as a neither
labor nor material-intensive skin care treatment, steam or sauna bathing
produces unique results. By inducing sweating, it creates an intensive
and comprehensive cleansing effect on the skin and its sweat glands;
by enhancing circulation, it stimulates a surge of blood flowing to
the skin, sweeping away impurities and flooding poorly nourished areas
with nutrients.
The facial steam bath has long been an invaluable part of any esthetician's
treatment regimen. In recent years, with new products being launched
that facilitate whole-body steam treatments, many practitioners have
turned to the beauty-enhancing benefits of full-body steam treatments.
Enthusiasts tout it as an unsurpassed overall beauty tonic and, combined
with massage, as an excellent weapon in the war against cellulite.
Few natural health and beauty treatments have such a venerable history
as sweat-inducing treatments. In Finland and Russia, where these treatments
have been most popular, sauna and steam bathing dates back more than
a thousand years. However, the inhabitants of frigid climates are
not alone in harboring a burning passion for the misty baths. The
ancient Romans had hot rooms in their bath houses and it is the Turks,
the people of Middle Eastern nation that invaded sections of Europe
in the Middle Ages, who are often credited with inspiring the habit
of steam bathing in many parts ofEurope. A dome-shaped central steam
chamber is to this day an integral part of the Muslim Hammam, or bath
house.
In contemporary Finland, sauna-bathing is a way of life. There are
1.4 million saunas in the country, about one for every three people,
and more saunas than there are cars! The typical Finn takes a sauna
bath once or twice a week for cleansing and relaxation; avid sauna
bathers,however,may indulge themselves in the soothing 180 to 210
degrees F of the sauna for up to two hours a day-certainly an acquired
taste! The Finns have greatly contributed to the world-wide popularity
of sweat-inducing baths-Finnish diplomats have built saunas wherever
they go, and Finnish soldiers in U.N. peace-keeping forces are known
to build saunas where they are billeted, be it in cold, mountainous
regions tropical forests, or scorching deserts.
Most people think of the Finnish sauna as a dry heat bath, but in
fact, the Finns throw water on the hot stones that warm the sauna
to create what is known as "loyly"sudden burst of steam
that creates a moist heat in the sauna. In this, the Finnish sauna
is not unlike its Russian counterpart, the "banya," a hot
vapor bath, which is a popular cleansing, relaxing, and beauty-enhancing
treatment. Moscow alone features more than,50 of such large "banyas"
with room for up to 70 people at a time.
Few natural health and beauty treatments are in such widespread use
as sweat-or fomentation--therapy, whether done in the sweltering heat
of the sauna, in the moist, soothing warmth of a steam bath, or in
a heated body wrap beneath a thick layer of warm blankets. At "The
Raj," a natural health and beauty center in Fairfield, Iowa based
on the principles of Maharishi Ayurveda, oil massage is combined with
steam therapy to create a deep-cleaning and revitalizing effect. "Healthy
skin is skin which has been cleared of obstruction," explains
Dr. Chris Clark, Medical Co-director at the Raj. "Steam therapy-or
Swedana, as it is called in Ayurveda--liquefies the impurities hidden
in even the minutest bodily channels. We use an Ayurvedic oil massage
first to loosen the impurities, which are then more easily eliminated
from the body during the swedana treatment. Once the impunties are
gone the skin regains its natural softness and luster.
Vapor baths find similar applications in other health and beauty
therapies. Hydrotherapists trained in European natural health and
beauty treatments employ sweat and fomentation therapy as means to
dissolve and secrete unhealthy material in the body.
Chinese medicine views sweating as one of three methods to rid the
body of "bad chi," the misdirected bodily energy thought
to be responsible for disease.
Dr. John Welbes, Director of the college of Massage Therapy in Omaha,
Nebraska recommends steam baths in the treatment of cellulite, finding
it superior to body wraps in raising tissue temperature. "Body
wraps are very slow," says Dr. Welbes, "it may take an hour
to achieve the same temperature increase that you can get in about
10 minutes in a steam bath." According to Dr. Welbes, the heat
helps loosen the fatty tissue so that it is less solid and can more
easily be broken down.
The skin's more than 2 million eccrine glands respond to rising body
temperatures by excreting sweat to cool the skin and the blood in
the skin's capillary vessels. According to Dr J. Perasalo of the Finnish
Student Health Service in Helsinki, sweat emulsifies the fat of the
sebaceous glands far more effec tively than water and clears them
of sebum and the bacterial flora they usually contain.
Sweating is therapeutic, but so too are other physiological effects
of the sauna. Dramatic effects derive from the circulatory changes
caused by the intense heat exposure. The heart rate increases as much
as 50 to 75 degrees during a 10-20 minute steam bath session. Within
jUst a few minutes there is an increase of cardiac output, increased
blood flow to the skin produced by vasodilation, and decreased biood
flow to the internal organs. At usual room temperatures of about 70
degrees F, the cutaneous blood flow is 5 to 10 percent of cardiac
output at rest. However, during a sauna or steam bath the blood flow
to the skin can go as high as 50 to 70 percent of the cardiac output!
The increased blood flow brings vital nutrients to skin and subcutaneous
tissue, stimulating cellular activity and growth. The parts of the
skin that normally suffer from poor circulation benefit especially
from this treatment.
There are also systemic changes in the blood's neurotransmitter and
peptide concentration during a steam or sauna bath; according to some
researchers, these may account for the long-lasting omfortable peaceful
feeling that many people report after steam or sauna bathing. Many
practitioners add various aroma oils to enhance the soothing and relaxing
effect of the steam bath. Some manufacturers of steam bath equipment
provide booklets along with their product with guidelines for using
steam and aromatherapy in alleviating such problems as cellulite,
insomnia, headaches, general fatigue, etc.
In general, only clients in overall good health should be exposed
to whole-body steam treatments. Clients with heart problems should
not be given steam baths, and people with other health problems should
consult with their doctor first. Many doctors do not recommend sweat
baths for the eiderly, for pregnant women, or for people with high
blood pressure. As a rule of thumb, it is good to have any client
above 45 consult with his or her doctor before exposing the body to
the excessive heat of a sweat bath.
Because of the increased blood flow to the periphery of the body,
sweat bathing should not be done right after a meal. To avoid dehydration,
offer clients a glass of water both before and after the sweat bath.
Whereas sauna and steam bathing are useful for people with normal
skin, individuals with atopic skin disorders may develop itching during
the steam bath. According to some researchers, however, people with
psoriasis find that regular steam or sauna bathing helps to keep their
skin lesions free of thick scales for extended periods if used in
conjunction with petrolatum, emollients, or some topical antipsoriatic
treatment after the bath. Steam baths are better for the skin than
the sometimes dry heat of the sauna. However, you don't have to install
a steam room to offer vapor baths as part of your range of treaunents.
Severai products have been launched on the market in the last few
years that offer an inexpensive means of extending your services to
encompass steam tream7ents. Products that enable people to lie down
during the steam bath are to be preferred, as most people tolerate
sauna and steam treatments better in a supine than in a sitting position.
This has to do with the circulatory changes-because so much of the
blood flow is directed to the cutaneous vessels during the vapor bath,
the pressure difference between the blood flowing out from the heart
and blood going back to the heart is less than usual, causing the
blood to retum to the heart more slowly. The body seeks to regulate
the situation by accelerating the heart rate, however, the situation
is further alleviated when a person lies down during treatment. To
avoid dizziness, give the person a minute or two to adjust to an upright
position after the steam bath.
People build up tolerance to intense heat exposure over a time. One
way to make a whole-body sweat bath more comfortable to newcomers
is to keep a folded cloth, which has been submerged in icecold water,
on the client's forehead. Re submerge the cloth in the ice water every
few minutes to keep its cooling effect. Keeping the clienps head cool
in this way generally enables them to tolerate the heat longer.
As an overall body tonic, a full body sweat is a wonderful
complement to standard beauty treatments. Whereas the localized face
steam bath creates a deep-cleaning of the facial skin, the effects
of a whole body steam bath are systemic, leaving clients with the
delicate peach flush of youth for many hours afterwards.
from Steam Therapy News, Volume 10, Number 2
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