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Near Infrared Saunas: A Discussion

divinemrsm
divinemrsm Member Posts: 5,973

I searched to see if there was a topic specifically devoted to this subject ~near infrared saunas~ but didn't see one, so I decided to start one.  There also seems to be a slight debate if this type is better for cancer than a far infrared sauna.

You can see what I've gone thru lately by reading my Dx in the signature line.  In dealing with BC, I'm searching ways to compliment the medical treatement I'm receiving.  One thing that has started to pop up in my research is the use of near infrared saunas to help the healing process.  I would even consider purchasing one if I believe they are effective.

So I'm asking those of you on the forum if you've tried this treatment, and/or purchased a sauna for your home use, what your opinion is about it.

Comments

  • impositive
    impositive Member Posts: 102

    I have a far infrared sauna.  I don't know about the differences in near or far but I've owned it for nearly a month now and I try to use it everyday. I love it.  I went through a sort of detox, my skin broke out in an ugly, itchy rash.  I hope the detox is a sign of healing.  I am just now getting over it and my skin tone is starting to look better.  I am most always cold so I am hoping this helps to increase my core body temperature, as well.  It was a little costly but I would definitely recommend it.

  • SaunaLover
    SaunaLover Member Posts: 1

    Dr. Larry Wilson and a well know cancer nutrition expert named Pamela McDougal both recommend near infrared as more effective for cancer. They have experience and have seen good results. Near infrared is relatively inexpensive and very easy to use and maintain. There is no reason not to add it to your healing program. Also, near infrared has positive cellular effects that far infrared does not. So I think it has more to offer. You can read about it on Dr. Wilson's site, http://www.drlwilson.com and see some good saunas at http:/www.nearinfraredsauna.com. 

    And, yes, I have a near infrared sauna and I use it 5x a week. Be prepared for detox and healing reactions when you use it and start slow. Best wishes! 

  • leggo
    leggo Member Posts: 379

    I love my infrared sauna; I doubt, though, that it does anything to "heal" cancer and it's symptoms.

  • impositive
    impositive Member Posts: 102

    I wish I had known about the differences between 'near' and 'far'.  SaunaLover is right.  I've used it everyday and I it took about 3 weeks to get past the herxheimer reaction I had.

  • lmgr
    lmgr Member Posts: 3

    We have a sauna that has near, mid and far infrared settings. We are blessed because we have a spa/movement therapy center and when I was first diagnosed with b/c my husband and I decided to invest in this multiple device. We had a far infrared sauna already, but I can say that that I did notice a difference using the near.

    I used it in-between 4 lumpectomies and now, 3 1/2 weeks post op mastectomy, just started using it.

     I have an expander implant. The company could not tell me anything about the expander handling heat. So I am keeping it low and short to start since the port is metal. So far I am fine and felt amazing after my first start at Gyrotonic therapeutic exercises followed by near infrared! I surprised myself.

     My hope is to heal and educate at the same time. -With light and grace. lm 

  • Lmimp64
    Lmimp64 Member Posts: 88


    hello,


    I am reading contradictions on the Internet regarding the safety of infrared saunas and silicone implants. The implant manufacturer said they have no studies and to ask for studies from the sauna manufacturers. The manufacturers say that metal and plastic reflect infrared but had no studies to send me. My doctor does not know. Before I make a substantial financial commitment, I would love more data. I'm looking at a full spectrum to get the far for detox and the near for cells. Does anyone have any data or advice they have found?

  • Djordan_123
    Djordan_123 Member Posts: 3

    Hi,

    I was just wondering after a mastectomy about using the far or one of the in fared saunas.

    My oncologist wants to know how hot it gets? Since the skin is so thin over the implant I need

    to know if it could actually burn the skin. anyone know?

  • Djordan_123
    Djordan_123 Member Posts: 3

    Yes, and is it safe with silicone?

  • Katjadvm
    Katjadvm Member Posts: 117

    Hello. I have a near infrared sauna that I purchased a few months ago. Used it after chemo and after my bilateral mastectomy. I did not have expanders. I have enjoyed it tremendously because it is very relaxing and it has lessened any joint discomfort I have. I was using it three times weekly for 40 minutes (had previously built up to the time at a sauna at my gym). I am at the tail end of radiation and stopped during rads, but I dearly miss it. I did not purchase an expensive one. I got one that folds up for storage that I sit in. Love, love, love it. Makes me feel a little spoiled. I have never heard of avoiding sauna just because you have silicone implants.

  • Djordan_123
    Djordan_123 Member Posts: 3

    yes, that's the kind i want to buy- looks like pop corn (jiffy)

    but you started slow and it does not heat up the skin. have you felt your breastss temperature while in there

  • Katjadvm
    Katjadvm Member Posts: 117

    I don't have breasts anymore, just skin. I also misspoke in my earlier post. It is a far infrared sauna. It does not feel hot to me, just like a deep warmth. I live in Maine and definitely appreciate warmth this time of year. I also work up a great sweat, so feel like I am detoxing some of the toxins in my treatments. Definitely relaxing and worth the money.

  • LTberry
    LTberry Member Posts: 1

    Hi Katjadvm,

    I just started radiation and am considering using a far infared sauna during. Why did you stop during RADS?

  • jayysonn
    jayysonn Member Posts: 1

    For cancer specifically, infrared sauna treatments are exceptionally promising because of the selective toxicity they have on cells. In a nutshell, the hyperthermic effects of infrared radiation are only harmful to malignant cells, as was explained to me by Dr. Irvin Sahni in a Truth About Cancer docu-series interview. Dr. Sahni told me that normal healthy cells are essentially immune to infrared radiation, while cancer cells are hyper-thermically challenged:

    "…by exposing your body to that heat, you're selectively killing or eradicating those less viable cells, those cancer cells, without hurting your normal cells. And so a far infrared sauna is useful because it can help you sweat, excrete toxins, and in theory eliminate cancer cells which can't survive the heat as well as the normal cells."

    Another study published in the Journal of Cancer Science and Therapy found that after just 30 days of infrared treatment, tumor-infected mice saw reductions in their cancerous masses of up to 86% − even with low-temperature infrared exposures of as little as 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celcius).

    And if that isn't enough, another study out of Japan found that infrared-induced, whole-body hyperthermia helped strongly inhibit the growth and spread of breast cancer cells in mice, without causing any harmful side effects.

  • sunbum25
    sunbum25 Member Posts: 1

    I have been wanting to buy a sauna but have silicone implants and am worried it will damage the implant over time. Has anyone found any real information that says those with implants should avoid saunas? My doctor said she has not seen any studies saying one way or the other so I should avoid it if I can just to be safe. I hoping to eventually find a study saying it’s ok. Anyone get different advice from their doctor regarding either traditional saunas or infrared saunas

  • minustwo
    minustwo Member Posts: 13,044

    sunburn - this thread has not been active since 2018 so you may not get much of a response. I do know Devine is still posting.

    Just reading through this, I find it interesting that I was specifically told to stay away from saunas & hot tubs as heat would trigger or aggravate lymphadema. Hmmmm....

  • wavesofharmony
    wavesofharmony Member Posts: 106

    We purchased an infrared sauna after my diagnosis and I use it as part of my treatment plan. I am using a therapeutic keto nutritional approach with as much physical activity as possible in conjunction with my standard of care treatments. In following a metabolic approach to treating my cancer, I use the nutritional piece to create a chronically stressful environment for the cancer and then pulse the weakened cancer cells with the sauna sessions. This is known in the metabolic cancer world as a press-pulse approach. It has worked very well for reducing my cancer. Our sauna does near, mid and far infrared

  • Esther01
    Esther01 Member Posts: 229

    WavesofHarmony,

    I am so glad that press-pulse is working so well for reducing your cancer! I have been reading the studies and hearing from three doctors who are all experts in biochemistry (Dr. Thomas Seyfried, Dr. Paul Anderson and Dr. RIta Ellithorpe) about the importance of the metabolic approach to treating cancer and how cancer cells are fermenting glucose and glutamine to survive. This morning I was wondering, what kind of press-pulse strategy are these doctors using for breast cancer? I am learning that when we adopt a keto diet and keep our body in ketosis it will create the "press" that puts stress on cancer cells to make them vulnerable, but was confused about what creates the acute pulse that will cause the cells to die. And then I learned from Dr. Seyfried today that if a cancer patient is in ketosis (the press) at time of the treatment, hyperbaric oxygen therapy is an acute pulse that will kill the now-vulnerable cancer cells. But I hadn't heard of the infrared sauna being used as a pulse! I'm so glad you mentioned it. My IMD bought one recently and she loves it. Now I may have to get one :)

    I love that you mentioned physical exercise too- that's bringing oxygen to all of your cells. I'm trying to do the same and build muscle. With so many preeminent scientists, researchers and biochemists teaching and practicing in the field of the metabolic management of cancer, I'm astonished how little metabolic science has trickled into "standard of care" oncology.

    Thanks again for posting this. You've inspired me to start posting more often in this forum. It would be great for more to benefit from knowing what doctors are doing to treat our cancers and what's working so well for you.

    Blessings,

    Esther


  • wavesofharmony
    wavesofharmony Member Posts: 106

    Esther01,

    Currently there seems to be limited research using the press-pulse approach to treating breast cancer. What I see is that it is discussed more in the realm of brain cancers. I am not sure if that is because conventional medicine thinks they have breast cancer covered with treatments (surgery, chemo, radiation, etc.). And researchers gravitate toward the more “difficult” cancers. However, for many of us the life expectancy and quality of life offered from those treatments alone are not acceptable. I am passionate about bringing a voice (to using the metabolic approach for breast cancer) to a wider audience.

    One of the things I have learned from working with the clinical trial researchers is that metabolically breast cancer reacts more like diabetes, so all of the metabolic levers that improve diabetes can work well for breast cancer. I will try to post a link to their research.

  • heidihill
    heidihill Member Posts: 1,856

    Exercise raises the temperature of your muscles which in turn raises your core body temperature. Add hot flashes and this could be quite significant physiologically. Add a warm environment and your internal temperature may go through the roof. I had all these elements in my workouts at some point early on but it is not for everyone. (Ask your doctor,) I ran the hot water in the tub to heat up the bathroom and did high intensity interval training to work up a real sweat. If I had access to a sauna I did some gentle yoga in it. I would keep aiming cold water at my arm to cool it down to maybe prevent lymphedema. The bathroom was more convenient. Yes, I believe in heat to knock out cancer cells.

    As for ketosis, I'm not sure I was ever in that state. But I probably am a good fat burner, in other words, I'm metabolically flexible, because through the years of intermittent fasting, I'm somewhat trained to last long without food. Maybe I'm in ketosis during sleep.

  • marciam
    marciam Member Posts: 83

    Hi Divine mrs M

    So I want to recommend the use of the biomat

    It’s an infrared device . It’s got crystals that heat up to a high temperature which tends to kill cabdrr cells - the research is out there in a book called the Forth Treatment for medical refugees . by an oriental dr Nobuhiro Yoshizu. Md . I bought a biomat from my chiropractor who loaned me the book . The Japanese dr using hot stone crystal threrapy in Japan is an oncologist from the Nakachci clinic .

    I believe it maybe on amazon . I use the biomat daily for mainly arthritis relief but when I had a brain tumor from bc I laid my head right in it . They had thought they saw something suspicious and I used that instead for a month . I returned to find the whatever it was gone . The biomat is inexpensive compared to a sauna . It uses far infrared red rays which seem to destroy cancer cells on a high heat . I recommend this as it coveres the whole body and maybe more helpful than the infrared device ! I have a pdf copy of the book of research studies done if you email me I’ll share it .
    blessings of Health

    MarciaM