After getting data from Dr. K and Dr. C on the huge benefits of infrared detox.
A local friend with Lyme has a wood sided one built into her house and loves it.
Having one of my LL practitioners recommend it to me, and not having anything really working to improve my scene, I finally started it.
I got a portable broad-spectrum infra-red sauna that is like a tent and can fold up and be put into a flat box.
It has a remote control and hand/arm slits so one can sit up and read, etc., while in it. The head is out, so it is actually pretty comfortable.
My first week at this. I started with 30 minutes at 100 degrees and experienced greater mental clarity with the first session!
Also, my temperature went to 98.6 briefly for the first time in about years. (I got Lyme in 1998, but was not diagnosed until 2005)
Now, I'm doing them daily, and the improvement is still there, and gradually increasing. No herxing, which is JUST FINE with me!!
Posted by Robin123 (Member # 9197) on :
I've been doing the same for quite some time. Usually break a sweat within a half hour, then shower off warm and cool, then take some Takesumi activated charcoal to help with internal detoxing. No herxing either!
After 6 months of initially sweating out on a borrowed biomat, I suddenly was not sensitive to chemicals, so this really works, in terms of releasing toxins!
Posted by keikko (Member # 34991) on :
Sounds like a need to get a tent! Which one did you buy?
Posted by Cass A (Member # 11134) on :
I got the Therasage one, which is broad spectrum.
Dr. Mercola, in talking online about infrared saunas says that he uses a different brand. You could look that up on his website, which has an archive of his articles.
The Mercola article was in the last month or so. Mercola has some reservations regarding EMFs on other brands than the one he recommends.
He didn't mention Therasage one way or the other, but Therasage claims no EMF. I haven't tested mine for EMF--don't have the gear.
I'm till getting more mental clarity. I test my temp while in the sauna, and have gotten it up to 98.6.
My temp has been generally higher since I started using the sauna about 3-5 times a week.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Robin .. your chemical sensitivity got better with the biomat?
Sounds awesome!
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
I made my own using the same Philips bulbs and the same overall scheme as the $3000 commercial units.
There really isn't a great deal to them, despite the proprietors trying to blind us with science. ie - its a canvas tent a stool and the lamps,
I used 5 lamps so I could ensure my legs also got the same exposure
I also added some switches so I could have 2, 3, 4 or 5 lamps dependent on need.
my total cost was in the region of £100 plus about a weekends work
I used it around 3 times a week for around 2 months but couldn't really say if I had any significant benefits - but I was doing other things at that time.
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
the near-infrared types seem to be the most well supported by the scientific literature. There is a surprising amount of credible science. It seems NASA did a lot of the original research on specific frequencies and cellular effects.
Mercola has recently done 2-3 articles and interviews about infrared saunas. The most recent conclusion from these is that the NEAR infrared is the most beneficial, best from an incandescent bulb--a heat lamp (or more than one) works fine in an enclosed space that can get to about 100 degrees.
You can find them at his website using the search feature there.
His major concern was EMFs, and most units don't really address this fully.
Check this out for yourself.
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
Hi Cass. if you do independent research you will find that EMF's emitted from incandescent filament bulbs such as light bulbs and heat lamps is actually rather minimal in the first instance as there are no rapid fluctuating currents in the MHz or GHz frequency range.
These rapid changes of switching of current on and off are the source of most EMF's that health implications are concerned with. (Think radio transmitter sources like mobile phones, radio Masts, wifi devices, switching power supplies etc - these will all measure substantially higher EMF's than a filament bulb - as a result, they have to be tested and marked with their compliance to certain international EMI standards that you will not find on filament light bulbs) Other sources in the home are electric motors in your household appliances, computer and laptop power supplies, microwave ovens etc.
In practice, your washing machine or microwave will likely induce more EMF emissions through the ring main of your house than sitting in front of a filament lamp.
Therefore I think the EMF issue is best interpreted as a marketing myth created by the purveyors of sauna equipment to try to differentiate their rather expensive offerings from one another. Once this fear is in the public domain manufacturers will feel the need to speak to it - even if in reality it doesn't apply in any significant way to their particular type of product.
if it is still a concern if you look at designs that have been tested for EMI with filament bulbs, all that is needed to go from a very low reading to an undetectable reading is a simple grounded wire mesh around the bulbs.
In my case, I wanted to guard the bulbs from accidental contact anyway, as they would be hot, so made a simple mesh around the bulbs and grounded that to serve both purposes.
Posted by Cass A (Member # 11134) on :
Hi Garz,
Thanks for the info here!
Being married to an electronics engineer who likes to build things for me will definitely help!!
Until that happens, I'll enjoy the benefits I'm getting from the "overpriced" one I purchased!
In my loooooonnnnnggggg history of Lyme treatment, there are very few things that have shown themselves beneficial quickly---this sauna is one.
Posted by Garz (Member # 52095) on :
long may it continue!
Am sure he would find building it a piece of cake.
For info - the bulb the $3000 ones use is: Philips BR125 IR 250W E27 230-250V Red