Feeling Worse Than Before After Your Sauna? There’s A Good Reason Why.
This has to be one of the most common questions for first-time uses of an infrared sauna. Why do I feel worse after an infrared sauna?
Once you understand why you feel like you do it will make sense, having said that, there’s a lot more to it than what you think and that’s what we are going to tackle today.
We all hear of the health benefits of infrared therapy, what we don’t hear is what has to happen to our body to get us to that point of feeling great and healthy. For anyone new to infrared saunas, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
What I think is important is to understand the process, then when these things happen we won’t be surprised and we can deal with them a little better. And feeling crap after a sauna session or two is all part of the wonderful process. Although it doesn’t feel like it at the time.
I want to cover a few points regarding why we feel like we do when you have an infrared sauna session. After reading the article you’ll get a much better understanding of the processes involved, and it will all make sense.
On a side note. Regardless of the type of infrared therapy you have, it could be an infrared sauna, an infrared blanket or a type of portable infrared sauna. The process is the same, so please keep that in mind.
You’re Not Used To An Infrared Sauna Yet.
Well, at least your body isn’t used to it yet. You need to give your body time to get used to the shock of the infrared sauna. It will take some time.
To be fair, it’s the same with anything you do the first time that takes some effort. Go and run 10ks for the first time in your life and tell me how your body is the next day. It won’t like you for it.
I can tell you from experience, while it’s a great achievement and you feel great, if it’s your first time, far out you’re going to cop it the next day. There will be sore bits you never thought you had before. It does take time to recover and adjust.
It’s all about reprogramming your body. I know from experience, that’s actually a good thing.
It’s all about working your way into it, just like running, take shorter sessions. And adjust the heat settings as you go. Once you get through the feeling shit period, take it from me you’ll feel great and be able to push yourself a little more.
Why Do I Feel Sick After My Sauna Session?
There might be a small chance you feel sick after using the sauna. And if that’s the case that is ok, this is your body adjusting to the shock of the new experience.
As I explained above, your body is simply not used to it. Your body is in a state of shock and trying to adjust. It’s experiencing things your body probably has never experienced before, and It’s reacting the only way it knows how.
What you’re experiencing in the sauna is very similar to a 30-minute jog or light workout, your body will react in the same way. If you understand this and the process involved you’ll be prepared for when it happens and you won’t be surprised. Therefore you will be able to manage it the best you can.
Side Note. It’s recommended to relax and rest after your sauna if you can, I’m sure this comes as no surprise to you and your thinking. Don’t worry I will be. Once you’re into a routine and your body has adjusted, you won’t need to rest as much.
You might hear that some people are active after a sauna session. While that might be the case for some, especially if you’re a regular sauna user, for a lot of us, especially if you’re new, that’s not ideal. You need to give your body time to recover and recharge.
I think we can get confused or surprised by what a sauna session does to our bodies. And I think it comes down to the fact we are just sitting there doing nothing as opposed to exercising where we are doing the exact opposite. But are we really doing nothing? We might be but our body isn’t. It’s working in overdrive. Hence why we don’t feel our best at first.
Your Body Thinks It Has A Fever
A Fever, what do I mean? It’s because your body is being exposed to an unnatural heat, so your body thinks it has a fever, a bit odd isn’t it. And doing its best to fight it off. That’s why you sweat. Your boy is trying to cool itself down.
Site Note. Did you know a fever is actually your body doing its best to fight off potential illness? Interesting isn’t it? and pretty cool how the body works.
Whenever you’re sick, an infection, cold, flu or whatever it is, you’ll usually get a fever, your body’s natural reaction is to fight it off and this is how it does it.
Your body creates this fever to stimulate your immune system, another way to explain it is your body is giving itself a good kick up the ass. Come on, let’s fight off this attack, get to work. Ok enough of the humour.
So when you have a fever your body is pretty clever at creating extra protection so to speak. They create extra antibodies and blood cells to get ready for the fight ahead and fever is the sign to the body to get ready. It goes into protection mode.
And when you think about it this is the same process using an infrared sauna does to the body, it’s a false signal and this is another reason why you feel like crap after your first few sauna sessions.
So The Infrared Sauna Is Actually Good?
Yes, it is without question, but I think you know that already, that’s not the confusion here. If you’re using an infrared sauna of any sort you obviously know the long term health benefits, or maybe you’re looking into the potential of investing in one, either way, it’s the process that’s the unclear part of it all, which I hope I’m clearing up for you.
What’s really going on is the infrared sauna is building up your immune system and protection zone. And the fact you feel sick is telling you your immune system is very weak.
By building up your immune system you lessen the chances of virus attack. I could go in all sorts of directions on this topic of building your immune system to help fight off disease as It’s a fascinating topic.
At the end of the day, this is exactly what the infrared sauna is designed for. If you look at all the health benefits on an infrared sauna offers and know the process of what it does you can now see the real benefits it offers.
If you’re like me you can start to get a little excited about the possibilities of infrared therapy.
Prepare Yourself.
While writing the last section I thought of something that might be worth adding into this article, you never know it might help.
Not sure if you want to go this far, but if you’re going to experience an infrared sauna for the first time, maybe it might be worth doing it on your days off work. There’s a very good chance you’ll feel crap and we all react differently to these types of things.
Have you ever done a detox? If you have you’ll know you feel crap afterwards. Again this is a similar process.
The thing is you’re basically doing the first stages of a detox, and from my experience, you’re not the best after one of these for at least the first few days.
Once you get through the first few sauna sessions it will start to be a real pleasure and it will make you feel amazing and full of energy ready to take on life. We just have to get through the initial stages first.
Infrared Sauna Suggestions And Tips
Now that you know the main reasons why you feel worse after an infrared sauna session. I thought it might be worth it to add a few other tips to help you through the process.
They might sound simple and not worth notice but you never know. You don’t know what you don’t know.
Staying In The Sauna Too Long.
This could be another reason why you feel worse after an infrared sauna, you’re staying in too long. And this is probably only because you’re new to the experience. Give it time you’ll be able to handle longer times but for now, it’s best to ease yourself into it.
The recommended time is around 30 minutes for an infrared sauna session, but you don’t need to stick to that exactly. Start at 15 minutes and test the waters and work your way up from there.
It’s a bit like the jogging analogy. You don’t need to run 10ks at the start. Start small and build from there.
There’s no need to push yourself.
Your Possibly Dehydrated
If you don’t prepare yourself this could be the case, there might be a good chance you’re a little dehydrated. It’s always recommended to drink plenty of water before your sauna session.
Don’t worry though this is a very common mistake. We as humans can struggle to get the required amount of daily water intake anyway.
Being dehydrated makes you feel very crap and it’s more than likely will give you a headache. Not a great experience.
So at the end of the day just make sure you have prepared yourself before and after your sauna session with a good amount of water.
Dehydration can also be caused by longer than needed sauna sessions so please keep that in mind.
Your Sauna Might Be Too Hot
All the modern infrared saunas come with adjustable temperature levels, even the infrared sauna blankets and portable infrared saunas have them too.
And it can be very easy to have the sauna temperature too hot. So it’s a good idea again just like the time factor to adjust the temperature according to your experience levels. And again work your way up from there.
Always read the instructions as they will give you the optimum temperature level. Then once you are comfortable with the temps and you can handle it, work your way up from there.
Remember there’s no need to push yourself at the start.
Our Conclusion.
Well, we have come to the end and if you’re down here reading this you must have read the whole article, thanks for that if that’s the case.
I hope this all makes sense now as to why you feel worse after an infrared sauna. Remember it’s all about awareness of the possibilities and preparation to prevent things from being worse than they need to be.
Remember to rest up after as your body will need to recover. It’s had a big day and is a little exhausted. Haha.
If you have already bought your home infrared sauna, well done to you for investing in your health. Or if you’re considering buying an infrared sauna for your home hopefully this, any many articles on my site can help with the process. All the best.
