22.03.2013
The Russian soul is simply created for a bath. Despite the introduction of saunas and water parks into our lives, the bathhouse does not lose its significance. Here you can relax your soul and body, shed the burden of the past day, meet friends and just dream! When choosing a bathhouse for regular visits (there are different types of bathhouses), it is important to know how the bathhouse affects your health and, in this case, yours specifically.
Despite its size, a Russian bathhouse must be made of wood - this is its distinctive feature.
People who suffer from any diseases should treat the bathhouse with special caution, because an irrational approach even to such a beautiful and useful room as a bathhouse can provoke a worsening of the symptoms of chronic diseases.
The effect of the bath on the body and blood vessels
During your stay in the bath, blood vessels dilate, toxins and wastes come out
Studies have proven that under the influence of steam, blood vessels dilate, and natural training of the heart muscle and circulatory system occurs. Combined with high humidity, the temperatures present in the sauna cleanse the body. During the procedure, toxins and waste products, which accumulate a lot throughout life, come out through the pores with sweat.
Bath procedures help relax muscles, strengthen the immune system, and stabilize the functions of the respiratory organs. To do this, it is important to visit the bathhouse regularly, once a week, but even one visit helps you feel a surge of strength and give a moderate shake to your blood vessels, strengthening them a little.
Thanks to the cleansing of toxins, the kidneys begin to work better. This stimulates the process of water-salt metabolism, which is an excellent help in cleaning blood vessels. During your stay in the bath, a lot of water is released from the body, which needs to be replenished. This has a positive effect on protein metabolism, so proteins, fats, minerals and carbohydrates are better absorbed. This effect causes the burning of cholesterol.
Active blood circulation is due to a specific mechanism that occurs in the vessels in the bathhouse.
- Blood pressure increases at the beginning of the bath procedure.
- Blood pressure decreases due to dilation of blood vessels.
- The functions of the cardiovascular system increase.
- Blood temperature increases.
- The heart muscle is stimulated.
- The amount of blood that flows through the heart increases on average by one and a half times.
- The heart rate increases.
- The pulse gradually increases.
If you increase the temperature load in time and take breaks, the body becomes stronger, the blood vessels improve, as they undergo active bath training from time to time.
This reduces the risk of developing dangerous complications of atherosclerosis of the lower extremities and unpleasant symptoms in the form of numbness in the legs, non-healing trophic changes, pain, etc. However, with atherosclerosis, the bath does not always have a positive effect. It is important to know the indications and contraindications.
Basic Rules
Visiting the bathhouse requires habit. A person entering a steam room for the first time may feel discomfort and deterioration in health.
A few simple rules will help you get the maximum benefit:
- In case of atherosclerotic vascular damage, during the first visits to the steam room, the temperature and stay time are increased gradually. The first procedure is 2-5 minutes, then rest for 10-15 minutes. There should be no shock doses of steam or sudden temperature changes. The total time of procedures, including rest, should not exceed 2 hours.
- Lower limbs affected by atherosclerosis should not be steamed with a broom. It is useful to make foot baths with warm water, adding a nettle decoction.
- You should not visit the steam room on an empty stomach or after a heavy meal. It is best to have a light snack of vegetables and fruits. It is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol before and immediately after the bath.
- Before the steam room, you should not wash or wet your hair, just rinse a little with warm water.
- If high temperatures are poorly tolerated, a special cap is placed on the head in front of the steam room, which is periodically moistened with cold water.
- After a bath it is useful to drink mineral water, decoctions of medicinal herbs, and natural juices. You can eat fresh fruits, vegetables, dried fruits.
- If nausea, dizziness, or weakness appear, you should leave the hot room immediately. Trying to endure the unpleasant sensations can trigger heatstroke.
- If you have cerebral atherosclerosis, it is better to start visiting the steam room with a sauna. Dry air is easier to tolerate, provides gentle exercise for the arteries, and puts less stress on the body along with an excellent healing effect.
Atherosclerosis and sauna are compatible concepts, but only for stage I of the disease. High temperature and steam are a serious strain on the heart and blood vessels, but on the other hand, it is a good workout that slows down their aging and improves the functioning of the entire cardiovascular system.
Indications for atherosclerosis of the lower extremities
Before visiting the sauna, consult your doctor
Most often, the initial stage of atherosclerosis of the lower extremities manifests itself without obvious symptoms. A person experiences health problems if the lumen is about 40% of the width of the duct. At this stage, effective treatments in the form of medications and surgeries are important.
However, the bath helps to identify atherosclerosis of the lower extremities in a person earlier, arouse suspicion in him, which will prompt him to go to the hospital and be examined. When a person has everything in order with his blood vessels, under the influence of high temperature they expand, the body turns red, including the legs. But vessels damaged by atherosclerosis behave differently. In places where blood vessels are blocked, the skin changes color: light spots appear, which should be taken as a signal of the presence of a disease.
You can visit the bathhouse if you have early stage atherosclerosis. In this case, bath procedures have a healing effect and a beneficial effect on the affected vessels. But it is important to perform the procedures correctly.
If, along with the early stage of atherosclerosis, hypertension is detected at the initial stage, the procedures are allowed, but the steam must be dry. In this case, you need to control your blood pressure level. If after them it does not stabilize, this indicates that the vessels have lost their softness.
Each case is considered individually. The doctor will prohibit visiting the bathhouse, and even thermal procedures for the lower extremities. This is due to concomitant pathologies and other factors, listen to the opinion of a specialist.
The main element of the bath
One of the main, if not the main thing in a bathhouse is a broom. After all, it is he who has one or another therapeutic effect on the body. Therefore, his choice must be approached with the maximum level of seriousness and very thoroughly.
The broom is undoubtedly an integral part of the bathhouse.
The most common brooms are those made from birch. The main advantage of such a broom is that it is porous and, due to this, absorbs sweat. And thereby removes harmful substances from the body’s skin. In turn, hypertensive patients, for example, are recommended to use an oak broom. It’s just that oak leaves have the ability to reduce blood pressure. If you want to create a certain aromatic atmosphere in the bathhouse, then you can use currant brooms. They have a pleasant aroma that will give such a water procedure a special piquancy. Will make it more enjoyable. If a person is sick with rheumatism, then doctors recommend that such bath equipment be made from fir; in this regard, it has enormous medicinal properties.
It’s hard to imagine a bathhouse without a broom.
Conclusion!
This article clearly shows how a bathhouse affects health. It turns out that a bath is not just a water procedure for removing dirt from the surface of the body. This is already a whole lifestyle, which is aimed at improving the health of the body, harmonizing the relationship between man and nature. In the bathhouse, a person not only washes, he relaxes and is distracted from problems. He also rests his soul, and this is also important, especially in our time, when it is not so easy to get rid of accumulated stress. Visit the bathhouse, in this way you will not only honor ancient traditions, but also become healthier and happier!
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Contraindications
The bath is contraindicated for hypertension and inflammatory processes
Atherosclerosis of the lower extremities and various bath procedures are compatible concepts until the condition of the vessels becomes critical. As soon as atherosclerosis begins to develop, thermal procedures are contraindicated. The second, third and fourth degrees of atherosclerosis are contraindications for bath procedures. To understand this, you need to understand how the disease manifests itself at each stage of development.
- At the first stage, there are plaques in the vessels of the legs, but they are small. A person sometimes experiences short-term cramps and fatigue in the legs due to a lack of oxygen in the tissues.
- In the second stage, after a person walks two hundred meters, he experiences fatigue and pain in the lower extremities, but he can walk further, although the discomfort in some cases remains.
- At the third stage, painful sensations in the limbs are present even at rest, and the vessels change color.
- At the fourth stage, the vascular lumen is completely closed by a plaque, tissue necrosis is irreversible. Treatment consists of amputation.
At the first stage, the disease almost does not interfere with normal life. Bath procedures do not eliminate atherosclerosis, but at the first stage they do not enhance or worsen the patient’s condition. If the factors due to which the disease progresses are not eliminated from the patient’s life, and the second and other stages of atherosclerosis appear, bath procedures are contraindicated.
This is explained by the condition of the blood vessels. If at the beginning of the development of the disease they have not lost their elasticity and strength, then they subsequently become brittle and brittle. They are not able to withstand sudden temperature changes, due to which the vessels first expand and then narrow. If you continue to visit the bathhouse, the consequences can be life-threatening, which is associated with a stroke or heart attack.
Of course, we must not forget that progressive atherosclerosis is not the only contraindication for bath procedures. They should be abandoned in case of malignant tumors, mental illness, hypertension and inflammatory processes. It is important to get examined if the condition worsens after a bath or during procedures. This is how the body gives danger signals. Listening to them can prevent serious complications and possibly save lives.
Who should not visit the steam room?
All statements described above are true for absolutely healthy people. Persons with organic and functional lesions of the circulatory system, acute and chronic diseases of internal organs should consult a specialist before visiting the steam room. Only a doctor can allow or prohibit a person with a specific pathology from visiting the sauna. Standard instructions prohibit bath procedures when:
- acute infectious diseases accompanied by increased body temperature;
- specific infectious diseases - tuberculosis, syphilis, leprosy, etc.;
- open windows and diseases accompanied by a violation of the integrity of the skin;
- neuroses and psychoses, hysteria;
- epilepsy, convulsive syndrome;
- oncological diseases;
- hypo- or hyperfunction of the thyroid gland;
- various disorders of the blood coagulation system;
- diabetes mellitus;
- bronchial asthma;
- pronounced atherosclerosis.
Important! Patients who have had a heart attack or stroke should not visit the bathhouse for at least 6 months from the date of the acute vascular accident.
Most experts do not recommend visiting the bathhouse for pregnant women
Preventive actions
Bath procedures do not relieve atherosclerosis and do not worsen the patient’s condition
Is it possible to go to the bathhouse? You need to ask a doctor. It takes into account the patient’s condition, the degree of atherosclerosis and other factors. If he allows you to enjoy bath procedures, it is important to follow the rules for visiting the bath.
- Before visiting the bathhouse, measure your blood pressure. If it is high, it is better to abandon your plans and stay at home, taking medications prescribed for hypertension.
- In a steam room, the procedure should not last long, a few minutes, after which it is advised to rest for ten minutes. Get used to the steam room gradually, increasing the time you stay.
- It is better to visit a dry bath, because high humidity can cause a surge in pressure.
- It is good if oxygen is supplied to the steam room along with hot air. At the very least, it should have good ventilation, which is especially important for hypertensive patients.
- During a bath, a person loses a lot of fluid, so after it it is advised to drink several glasses of tea without sugar or water.
- Do not visit the bathhouse if there are no other people at home, because in case of complications there is no one to help.
- Do not visit the sauna on a full or empty stomach, or if you are very tired or feel unwell.
Atherosclerosis of the blood vessels of the legs and bath procedures are combined only at the first stage of the disease and are not a fight against it, but a prevention of its development.
How to steam properly
Warming sessions for varicose veins should be short in duration. Prolonged exposure to elevated temperatures and high humidity provokes the development of inflammatory reactions.
Attention! In the early stages of pathological progress, the maximum stay in the steam room is no more than 10 minutes. It is not recommended to visit the bathhouse, more than once every 10 days.
To achieve good results in treatment, you need to follow simple rules:
- enter the steam room only on an empty stomach;
- refuse to visit the bathhouse during periods of exacerbation of chronic diseases;
- before entering you need to take a contrast shower;
- You can go outside after your body temperature has stabilized.
To remove toxins, you should consume 1 teaspoon of fresh garlic juice. Linden decoction will help speed up the process of removing toxins from the body. It can only be taken by patients who do not have an allergic reaction to the active ingredient.
After the thermal procedure, you can perform a therapeutic massage. The doctor should familiarize the patient with the technique. Failure to follow the rules for performing the procedure can worsen your health, so acting on your own is not recommended.
