Sauna Lover

A Russian Sauna enthuisiast Vladimir Ladyzhensky and his rival from Finland , Timo Kaukonen both collapsed after suffering severe burns in the final of a Finnish Sauna content. Vladimir died later that day in a hospital from third degree burns to his lungs.

The annual event which is held in Finland requires contestents to withstand a 230F sauna session for as long as possible. After 6 minutes in this boiling hot sauna, the judges noticed that the contestents were becoming disoriented and the chief organiser called off the sauna contest.

All the rules of this event had been followed, but it wasnt enough. Prior to entering the event, all competitors needed to sign a waiver and submit a doctors clean bill of health. Every 30 seconds, a litre of water was added to the sauna stove, and the last person remaining inside the sauna would be declared the winner. There was no prize money, however this contest is a prestigious event for many sauna enthuisiasts so there is a large yearly turnout.

Many people dont understand why anyone would subject themselves to this much heat, outside Finland it is not a common habit. In Finland it is not uncommon to have sauna temperatures up to 200F , and people are contently pushing this boiling hot sauna temperature higher and higher. In fact, many of the competitors train themselves in temperatures much higher than the temp. which this event was based around, however they dont subject themselves for quite as long.

This event which has held over 130 participants from 15 countries has been held every year since 1999, and has event planners now say it will never be held again.

The Ancient Technique comes back to modern times with hyperthermic steam rooms saunas.  This therapy is actually ancient, with Native Americans and Scandinavians both having a long tradition of using steam to heal ailments and improve beauty.  While there technology back then was not anything like the saunas we find today , the concept was the same and a room or enclosure was heated up with the addition of steam.  Saunas, and steam rooms both create an artificial fever in the body, induced by high heat and humidity.  This hypertheric therapy operates when your body temperature rises to above 101 degrees Fahrenheit which then increases your pulse rate and triggers an immune response.

We have some tips for what you should do in preparation to doing any steam or sauna therapy.

-Drink plenty of fluids , as your body can lose up too a full pint of water in just 15-20 minutes during this kind of therapy.

-Be mindful of any pre-exsisting medical conditions , especially heart conditions.

-Shower before you sauna or steam session! This opens your pores and preps your skin for the heat which is going to come soon… This is actually very important, only a minute or two in a hot shower is sufficient.

-If you feel uncomfortable during your sauna session , then get out.  Some conditioning is required for long or very hot sauna sessions and in time your body will be able to handle it.

The people over at Home Spa Saunas in Los Angeles were nice enough to let us try out a few of there saunas before choosing one for addition to our home.  All of the saunas they had in the show room were top quality heated with carbon based infrared heaters.  Before stopping by Home Spa we looked at a few saunas locally at some home and pool stores but they were lacking alot of the features  which we wanted.  We wanted things like chromotherapy lights, backrests and upgraded infrared heaters in our sauna, and just couldnt find these at most stores.

This one was going to go in the bedroom, which has plenty of space but it ended up that a corner unit would just fit best.  The Contour sauna from Home Spa fit in just perfect.  I am really happy with it so far.  Compared to the sauna which we replaced , this one uses much less electricity and heats up alot faster.  It was offered in two woods, either Canadian Hemlock or Red Cedar … Both looked very nice, but the lighter color of hemlock just looks cleaner in our home.

I just wanted to add a post to the blog as thanks for the great service and patience Mike from Home Spa  had with us while we picked out a new home sauna.  We actually tried 4 different saunas in process of picking out one, which was probably not necessary but when making an addition like this to your home, its best to be safe and make sure you are happy with the sauna you pick.

Pictured below , is our new Home Spa Sauna Contour

Believe it or not, high concentrations of salt inside a sauna may provide health benefits.  With a few pioneers actually building full size salt caves in their homes for daily use.  This is not a hot new trend but either way its pretty cool.

A little history on this :

The benefits were first noticed by Roman miners when some miners respiratory symptoms improved after working in the salt mines and declined again when mining for other minerals.

The unrefined rock salt, primarily sodium chloride, also includes varying concentrations of other mineral salts such as calcium and magnesium, manganese and sulfates which have additional therapeutic properties, depending on the source.

In modern times we have both the luxury salt room which is pictured above and halogenerators which add salt air to any home sauna.

Thalasso Spas are the new trendy high end spa with the majority of them being found in France and Italy.  Thalasso is the Greek word for sea.  Thalasso therapy is a combination of warm seawater that is pumped through jets to provide a therapeutic and relaxing water massage.  Thalasso hydrotherapy pools are specifically engineered to be outfitted with jets, waterfalls, water spouts, and special seats all so that water is focused on different areas of the body.

See our Infrared Sauna page

See our Home Sauna page