A bathhouse at the dacha means every weekend, or even more often, to heat it up and steam. But steaming correctly is a whole science. How not to harm your health, they tell cardiologist, candidate of medical sciences Vasily PETROV And Physiotherapist Mikhail BORISOV.
The heroine of the famous film did not understand why her fiancé went with his friends to the bathhouse when he had a bathroom at home. Actually, this is where the whole breakdown in their relationship began. Well, how can one not understand this?! It’s not for nothing that so many poems and songs have been written about the bathhouse! The surroundings alone are worth it: brooms, ladles, hot stones, bunches of aromatic herbs, hanging on the walls of the steam room, and, of course, intimate conversations in the dressing room with a mug of herbal tea or kvass.
How is a sauna different from a bathhouse?
There are not as many differences as it might seem. Russian baths and Finnish saunas were traditionally used not only for relaxation, but replaced bathrooms where it was impossible to install them. In tsarist Russia, public baths were preserved later, much less luxurious than Sandunovsky, but allowing city residents to keep themselves relatively clean. And in Finland, until the 1940s, many children were born in the sauna - it was often the cleanest place in the area, and it also allowed for a “shameful” procedure to be carried out away from the eyes of men, as was then considered necessary.
Now saunas and baths can consist of only two rooms: a locker room and the steam room itself, but nearby there must be, if not a separate room for washing, then at least a shower. The main thing in both the bathhouse and the sauna is the warming up process itself, which is achieved in slightly different ways. In a Finnish sauna, although the temperature is high (about 80 degrees, but can reach 160 degrees), it allows you to stay in the steam room for a relatively long time and generally provides a relaxed pastime. In a bathhouse, the air is usually hotter (100 degrees or higher) and the humidity is higher, so you need to sit in it only until the situation begins to cause discomfort (even if this happens after a few minutes). By the way, funny felt hats in the bathhouse help prevent heat stroke, so there is no need to neglect them.
Temperature and humidity are the main differences between saunas in different cultures, so it is wiser to focus not on their name, but on the combination of these characteristics. If high humidity doesn’t bother you, you can try the hammam: the heat there is relative, 30–50 degrees, but the humidity reaches 100%. It will be drier and hotter in a conventional Finnish one (the preferences of our Scandinavian neighbors are not very different from the Finns’ own ideas about an ideal sauna), but it will be very hot and, excuse me, humid - in a Russian bathhouse. Infrared saunas stand apart: they heat not the air, but the body, and more deeply, so this is an ideal find for those who cannot tolerate high temperatures. There is talk about the ability of infrared saunas to normalize blood pressure, lower cholesterol levels and relieve chronic fatigue syndrome, but there is no clear evidence of this yet.
Bathhouse, night and two wives. The watchman's story.
Yes friends. What doesn’t happen in our lives. Things just don't happen. A strange thing happened to me just recently. I didn’t want to tell anyone about him, but oh well, whatever. And the wife will still tell her friends. I'd rather be first.
A public bath is a special place. A watchman in a bathhouse is a special person, especially if he has been working there for a long time. I got a job as a watchman at a bathhouse quite recently. I'm retired. To be honest, my wife started drinking. Don't go there, don't go here. Bring this, bring that. Don't look there. Well, I think at least I’ll take a break from it at night in the bathhouse. Otherwise I won’t last long like this. Either a heart attack or stroke will happen.
That evening everything was as usual. I came for night duty. I waited until the last clients left, and the cleaners finished cleaning the floors and also left. I walked around the bathhouse, examined the windows, checked that everything was in order, entered the building and locked the door. I turned on my tablet, the first channel, and began to enjoy my solitude, chewing sandwiches. The city was already asleep. I had a snack, turned down the volume on the tablet and also began to doze off. A well-fed and warm person always tends to fall asleep.
The mobile phone crackled.
“Who can’t sleep,” I said angrily, raising the phone to my ear, “Hello?”
“Darling, can you hear me?” the wife’s voice sounded, “Hello?”
“This is an infection,” I thought, “and there is no peace from it here,” And I myself say, “Yes, my love.”
- Honey, that's what I thought.
“That’s why you can’t sleep,” I interrupted her, “It’s the first hour of the night.”
- It's boring without you. It’s somehow unusual to be alone,” he says.
“Yeah,” I drawled, “it’s really boring without me.” There is no one to get on your nerves.
- Darling, don’t start, that’s what I thought
- Well, tell me
- Maybe you and I can wash in the bathhouse at night. Look how profitable it is. Firstly, it’s free, and secondly, people don’t flash before their eyes.
- Why are you old, you’ve gone completely crazy. Will the authorities come to check?
- What happens?
- Of course it happens. I'm at work and not at a resort.
Someone knocked on the window by the front door.
- Wait, someone is knocking on the window. Nakarkala. The authorities have probably arrived. And you say wash yourself. Don't turn off the phone, I'll take a look.
I went to the window and leaned my forehead against the glass to see better.
Standing outside the window... was my wife. I shuddered and recoiled from the window.
“Hello, do you know who’s standing there?” I ask quietly.
“Who the hell is it?” the wife laughed.
“It’s worse,” I whisper, “You’re standing there.”
- Darling, did you happen to have a drink there? You can't.
- Of course not. But there you stand. There you are, waving your hand at me.
Outside the window, my wife waved to me. She came closer to the window and began pointing to the door for me to open.
- Listen, he asks me to open the door.
- Don’t open it. “Drive her away,” a man’s voice came from the phone.
“What are you doing, wife, who do you have there?” the hair on my head began to move.
Wild laughter was heard from the receiver. A person can't laugh like that. The laughter was already so wild that if I had listened for another minute I would have definitely gone crazy.
I threw the phone on the floor in horror. She fell and the battery flew out of her. The laughter on the phone stopped.
“Van, what’s wrong with you Van,” I heard my wife’s dull voice behind the glass, “Why don’t you recognize it or something?”
I walked over and opened the door.
“Why are you looking at me like the devil,” my wife asks as she comes in.
“Who knows who you are, maybe the devil.”
- Why are you Van, are you drunk again or something? You can't.
- Yes, whatever it is. Why did you come at night?
- I brought food. I see you didn’t take anything to eat.
“I took the sandwiches,” I say, looking sideways at the broken phone.
- What happened then? Why is the phone lying around? He's worth the money.
“Are you real?” I ask, pointing my finger at my wife.
“Oh-oh,” said the wife. It’s not for nothing that you were sent to retire. Not in vain.
Listen to the story. The author is reading.
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Why go there
From the physical side, everything is quite simple: high temperature causes sweating, the pores open and cleanse a little, and the muscles warm up and stop hurting. With brooms it will be even better to accelerate blood flow, massage and exfoliate the skin. Regular visits to baths and saunas train the heart and even reduce mortality, and relaxation after the steam room is such that you can quickly and soundly fall asleep.
The cultural component should not be subtracted from the baths. In Finland, an invitation to a sauna is a sign of friendliness and respect (former President Martti Ahtisaari, for example, held diplomatic negotiations in them), and neglect can greatly offend. Despite the fact that in other countries there is no such reverence, only pleasant and close people are always invited to a bathhouse or sauna, and you should at least be grateful for such a gesture in your direction. Those who are especially shy should remember that there is usually no carnal connotation in such invitations: both baths and saunas are a powerful meditative experience in which nudity simply does not interfere with listening to the body.
Contraindications and safety precautions
For those steaming for the first time, it is better to skip the brooms, and for the rest, take them only on the second or third go. If the air in the steam room is dry, you should bring a bowl of water to dip the brooms - otherwise they will dry out quickly. They start fanning themselves from the legs and gradually rise up to the back, and they don’t whip as hard as they can from the very beginning: the intensity of the blows should be increased gradually. It is more convenient if there are two people in the steam room at this time: one is lying down, and the other is working with a broom - this is also safer; an experienced partner will help recognize the signs of illness. After the last run, you should rest for at least half an hour, then take a shower, and get dressed only when the sweating stops.
How to behave in a bathhouse or sauna
A little captaincy: in any public place you need to behave politely, and baths are no exception. Other sauna visitors also come to relax, so loud conversations will probably bother them. You should not take any gadgets with you: firstly, there is no place for them in a place with high humidity, and secondly, almost every modern device has a camera - even if you select a playlist in Apple Music and do not take a photo of the neighbor across the street, he probably doesn't know about it.
In general, the only extraneous thing you should take into the steam room is a towel: it is not clear who could have sat before you on the same bench, so perching on it with your butt covered or uncovered will be at least unhygienic. In addition, everyone has a different threshold for disgust, and if puddles of sweat on a bench don’t bother you, they may well spoil the mood of other visitors. Well, you shouldn’t use fragrant shower gels and especially perfume, because foreign odors in a closed, hot room are no less distracting than chatter.
A separate conversation concerns the use of cosmetics. Everything that you would like to smear on yourself in the steam room (scrubs, masks, creams) is best used between visits to the steam room, and optimally after the last one, when you rest before taking a shower. It’s not even a matter of etiquette (in a home bath they probably won’t be against a mask on the face), but the fact that cosmetics need to be stored and used at a certain temperature, and there is no guarantee that any component of the cream will behave wrongly. It is unlikely that a mass-market cream, which contains few active substances, will cause much damage, but it is better not to test natural products and cosmeceuticals with heat. In addition, heated skin is softer, that is, it is easier to injure it with a hard scrub. In general, even 10 minutes after visiting the steam room, the pores will still be open and the skin will be receptive, so the effectiveness of cleansers and moisturizers will not go away.
What to wear
You can go to the sauna with or without clothes. Some lovers insist that sauna baths are called baths for a reason - they say they don’t take a bath in underwear. Nevertheless, it is best to focus on your feelings: if you are completely uncomfortable without clothes among strangers, you should tie a towel on yourself, even if the rest of the participants are sitting without anything - in extreme cases, to a perplexed look, you can politely answer that you are not ready today expose yourself, but don’t mind if others do so.
If you are invited to go to a bathhouse or sauna in a group, it is worth checking with the organizers, um, the dress code and who will be visiting the steam room. Some people prefer to steam with their families, some prefer to steam with girlfriends or friends, for others there is nothing embarrassing about the diversity of ages and genders of participants. Depending on the answer, you can figure out whether to take a cape with you or not.
You definitely shouldn’t show up in the steam room in a swimsuit. The fabric of swimsuits is thick, and even if you haven’t swam in the pool before, it’s simply uncomfortable to sweat in it. But a swimsuit soaked in chlorine is even worse, because at high temperatures the chlorine evaporates, and inhaling it is not beneficial even for those who do not have allergies. There is no point in wearing more closed clothing in the steam room (including sportswear), but flip-flops will come in handy in public - hygiene is still paramount.
This is how it happens! New Year is coming, everyone is celebrating... and you... in Leningrad. Steamed... So, to prevent this from happening (at least without your knowledge), in this article we will touch on what can be
,
what should not be done
, and what is strictly
contraindicated
, to do in a sauna-bath if you came to it to maintain and improve your health.
What are the benefits of public baths and where to go in St. Petersburg
— I used to always go to the bathhouse with a friend. On Sundays we had a ritual: we drank Novoterskaya, then ate borscht at the House of Byt. There was a time when I did bath gatherings with a bunch of people. Now I prefer to go alone or with close friends with whom I already have bath experience.
In St. Petersburg I love the Yamskie baths, I go to the public class. There is a wonderful steam room there, the women say that it is prayed for. I love the Round Baths, where there is an outdoor pool and a burning steam room, you could rip your eyes out. I love the public bathhouse in Sestrika because there is a pond there where you can swim in winter.
I don’t like it when in [private] baths everything is a bunch: they float you, and they sing, and there is a tea ceremony, and meditation, and that’s all. Once they hovered me in a downward-facing dog position, then they held me in the font, without letting me out, holding my breath under water, then they rocked me, covered me with rags, smeared me with ice, and put dill on my head. With such an abundant assortment, you will definitely lose something. When you're a nerdy businessman, it's cool for you because the attention is very thin. When you are at peace with yourself, such a volume of nonsense is not needed.
All kinds of contraindications
So, first, the most boring and unpleasant thing - for whom a bathhouse is categorically contraindicated
. Please be patient - I myself know that the classification presented below according to M. Matei is not the most digestible thing for the psyche. But what can you do?
Absolute contraindications:
General contraindications:
- hypertension of any etiology;
- mental or severe neurotic diseases;
chronic inflammatory diseases accompanied by an increase in ESR;
oncological diseases.
Relative contraindications:
- chronic inflammatory diseases with the risk of exacerbation and frequent relapses;
- chronic diseases in the stage of decompensation;
- hypertension with systolic blood pressure over 220 mmHg. Art. and diastolic over 120 mm Hg. Art. without organic changes in the heart;
- urolithiasis and urolithiasis.
Special contraindications:
- failure of the right or left ventricle of the heart;
- hyperthyroidism;
- peptic ulcer of the stomach or duodenum;
- acute myocardial infarction;
stage III hypertension according to WHO classification.
It is better to refrain from going to the bathhouse for those suffering from skin infectious diseases, people with reduced immunity, or those with allergies to odors. The bath is not recommended for pregnant women and children under 3 years of age. Therefore, if you have doubts about the health and stamina of your body, first consult your doctor.
People over 70 years of age should visit the couples department with caution. Elderly people should not “keep up” with young people, as a bath can turn from a pleasant, beneficial and healing procedure into a harmful one.
Who is prohibited from visiting such places?
Of course, we are talking not so much about prohibitions as about contraindications, because not every person can withstand elevated temperatures and humidity.
So, people who have the following diseases should forget about visiting such an institution:
- High blood pressure;
- Heart diseases;
- Central nervous system disorders;
- Infectious diseases and acute respiratory viral infections;
- Tuberculosis;
- Diabetes;
- Epilepsy;
- Blood clotting disorders;
- Diseases of the respiratory system;
- Cancer;
- Pregnancy;
- Any illness that is chronic.
It is also important to remember that you cannot visit the bathhouse if your skin has suffered any diseases or damage. It is not recommended to go to such a place for those who react sharply to odors and are sensitive to allergens. In addition, and no less important, entry into such establishments is prohibited for people under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
There are also basic age restrictions. Thus, children under five years old cannot visit either standard baths or hammam. After turning 80, you should carefully monitor your well-being and, if it worsens, leave the steam room.
What to take with you to the bathhouse?
Well, you read the most unpleasant part of the article and (oh joy!) discovered that everything is in order and you can safely get ready for the steam room. But the question is: what should you take with you?
?
When going to the bathhouse, do not forget:
- Rubber slippers
- Broom
- A hat made of wool, linen or cotton (not synthetics!)
- Canvas or woolen mittens (it is more comfortable to work with a broom in them)
- A sheet or robe (sheets are often provided directly in the sauna)
- Bedding (to prevent the back of the steam room from melting - the benches get very hot)
- Towel
- Soap, shampoo, balm
- washcloth
- Clean, changeable linen
- Comb
If you wish, you can take:
- Shaving accessories
- Pumice for heels
- Nail scissors
- Creams and lotions
What should not be done in the bathhouse!
And now you are there. We will talk in more detail about the intricacies of the bath procedure, but now we will look in general terms at what should not be done
. The bathhouse has its own laws that must be strictly observed. Otherwise, there is no benefit, but harm.
In the bath you should NOT:
- Drink alcoholic beverages. The load on the heart increases many times. The pleasure becomes extreme, often ending in a heart attack.
Steam on an empty stomach or immediately after eating a large amount of food, because in a bathhouse the blood moves from the internal organs to the skin, and to digest food, the opposite is necessary. The heaviness in your stomach will not leave you. Food eaten before the bath (and especially in the bath) should be natural, without preservatives, dyes, flavors, etc. In the bath, under the influence of high temperature and humidity, the course of all processes in the body changes, and all these chemical food additives may harm the body.
It is harmful to drink carbonated drinks in a bathhouse - the gases they contain are active catalysts for harmful processes in the digestive tract.
Drink cold drinks, as they slow down sweating. It is best to prefer warm tea.
Visit the bathhouse if your health leaves much to be desired and if you are very tired. Especially if the malaise is accompanied by elevated body temperature. Neglecting this may result in complications.
Physically overload, especially with sex
. The load on the heart is too high. So relax and have fun.
Overdo it with pouring water on the stones. This causes the air in the steam room to become heavy and scalding. The optimal amount of one serving is 100-200 ml. The water should not be cold
.
Soak the broom in boiling water - most of the leaves will end up on the floor.
Sit on the top bunk with your legs hanging down and your head up towards the ceiling. The temperature difference between head and legs can reach 30 degrees, and the legs require more heat. If possible, take a horizontal position.
Wash with soap before visiting the steam room. Fat-free skin does not tolerate high temperatures well and is more easily susceptible to burns.
Wet your hair - dry hair better protects your head from overheating.
Limit yourself to contrasting procedures only, trying to go to the steam room more often. The duration of rest should be at least twice as long as the time spent in the steam room.
Douse yourself in a bath with warm water instead of cold (not necessarily ice). It is in combination with contrasting procedures that a visit to the bathhouse becomes useful and enjoyable.
Beginners need to gradually accustom themselves to the heat
. And, of course, a beginner should not chase after experienced vapers.
Everything should be in moderation! And the time spent in the steam room too. An acceptable norm for many is 3-4 visits to the steam room for about 10 minutes each. If you spend too much time in the steam room, you can easily overheat and harm yourself. So... beware of overheating!
Here are its main symptoms:
- strong heartbeat (170 beats per minute);
- difficult, rapid breathing;
- dizziness;
- pain in temples;
- nausea;
- “flies” before the eyes;
tinnitus.
If at least one of the symptoms appears, it is better to leave the steam room. Go, relax in a cool room and don’t push your luck.
ENJOY YOUR BATH!!!
life-philosophical
digression It was believed that those born in a bathhouse would live to be a hundred years old, because from the first minutes of life they accepted its power. The location for the bathhouse was chosen closer to a clean source, on an elevated area, but at the same time hidden from prying eyes: in a secluded corner of a peasant estate.
In the sauna, the body should relax as much as possible. The heat in the steam room, a massage with a broom, the coolness of the pool - what does this give? The skin warms up, toxins come out through the opened pores, it becomes more toned and elastic. The bath has a good effect on the respiratory system, calms the nerves, hardens, and increases the overall tone of the body. Of course, to achieve complete comfort and benefit, you need to adhere to some rules:
- do not abuse your stay in the steam room and pool;
increase the temperature contrast between procedures gradually;
drink water, herbal and berry teas and infusions;
do not overeat, do not eat heavy fatty foods, giving preference to vegetables and fruits;
think about what clothes to take to the sauna, taking into account the temperature and humidity.
How a sauna teaches you to accept your body and what you can talk about in a steam room
— A public bath is an observation of women and their communication. For example, you may be asked to vape. And sometimes someone will sit opposite you and say: “Listen, today the moon is in Aquarius - a bathhouse with a broom is shown.” And another will tell how her husband was bitten in the scrotum by a tick, and they spent 2.5 hours pulling him out. On this basis, a dialogue is formed, maybe even a song of some kind is born.
This is communication between generations and visual images that you won’t find or imagine anywhere else. In Yamskiye, for example, I saw a woman with huge breasts. When she was steaming, she held it almost on her shoulders. And he says to his friend: “People, please steam me, my hands are full.”
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Many people are pleased to see young people in the bathhouse; they give compliments. I love going to the Cossack Baths on a social day. Grandmothers say: “Girls, why did you come to look at us old people? If only we’d come on Thursday...” And so we go, and they: “Well, you girls have asses, I hope you have someone to touch.”
Or they come up to me: “What a figure! If I had one like that, I wouldn’t have gotten married twice.” Or in Krasnopresnensky grandmas will steam up and say: “Enjoy your steam, girls, everyone’s lover of gambling!” There is a relaxed ease and support in this, you come out of there feeling filled with a woman.
People who constantly go to the bathhouse are to some extent relaxed and love themselves. They are not worn on the body as an object that must correspond to something. These women are very sexy in every way. They know how to put their leg out beautifully, they are free, calm and confident.
The bath initially gave me acceptance of the body, love and interest in generations, a ritual of communication with myself, calming the mind, a sense of identity, and from there, strength. She gave me friends, a whole layer of intellectual life and a lead in every corner of the world. Now the bathhouse is a format for friendship, a new experience with masters, work on yourself, a gentle body and a cool exhalation during the week.
Men's bath clothes
What to wear to the bathhouse? This question arises more often for women than for men, for whom swimming trunks and a terry towel are enough. However, men's clothes for a bath can be very diverse. Let's talk about it in more detail.
Swimming trunks or swim shorts
They are perfect for swimming in a pool, barrel, font, or taking a shower. When you enter the steam room, you can remain naked, if the situation allows, or wrap yourself in a sheet or towel. Swimming trunks made from synthetic materials can get very hot and be hard on your skin.
Sheet or towel
Products made from natural materials absorb sweat and moisture well, maintaining good air exchange. Firstly, it prevents the body from overheating, and secondly, it will keep you warm when you rest after the procedures.
Bathrobe
A warm, cozy robe does not restrict movement, covering almost the entire body. This is a very useful thing in the sauna. It replaces a towel, and at the same time it looks quite appropriate at the table where you are sitting with friends, even if there are women there.
How the internal culture of the bathhouse is changing and why it ceases to fulfill its function
- Now we have three different ideas about the bathhouse: the ancient bathhouse (log house, ritual, mysticism), the Soviet bathhouse (hygiene, control, constructivism) and the bathhouse of the 90s (convenient form of ownership, vulgarity, departure from tradition) - but there is no modern form . This is due to the fact that the function of the bathhouse changes, but the external form remains the same. The internal culture is completely different.
The bathhouse is a public place, but it performs its function poorly for the younger generation. We always feel like we are part of the Soviet culture of hygiene; in the bathhouse we integrate into someone else’s life, we grow in it, but we are constrained. The idea of interaction in a relaxed format is distorted.
Photo: instagram.com
I have not yet seen public baths at a modern level in Russia. A clear example is Tar, but again this is an old form made from new materials. There is Honey banya, a Zen bathhouse in Okhta Park, and a Banya on Listopadnaya in Sochi. They are wonderful from an architectural point of view, they have good stoves, a place to relax, a pleasant interior, and a cozy atmosphere.
Of the European baths, I really liked Kulttuurisauna in Helsinki. It is cool both from the point of view of architecture and from the point of view of dialogues and rules. Among the unusual places, I was in an ice bath on Lake Baikal - right on the lake itself. I was also in a bathhouse on an island in Karelia: they take you there by boat, you walk barefoot on the moss and swim in the lake.
The “paper” told what the baths of the 18th century were like, how aristocrats were treated in steam rooms for cholera and consumption, and how emperors were steamed
