Are you looking for a natural way to get your joints moving in the morning? Close the medicine cabinet and try an age-old remedy that has stood the test of time: heat.  Two popular forms of heat therapy are hot tubs and saunas. Hot tubs and saunas can both soothe aching muscles and provide welcome warmth, but hot tubs might offer greater health benefits. Recently the topic was reviewed by researchers at the University of Oregon. The research team compared the physiological effects of soaking in a hot tub to sitting in a traditional dry heat sauna or a more modern far-infrared sauna.

Hot tubs temperature

Hot tubs, which are also known as spas or jacuzzis, use heated water (typically between 100-104°F) combined with jets to create a therapeutic environment. The combination of warm water immersion and massaging jets helps relax your muscles and joints. It is believed that by raising core body temperatures, soaking in hot water can help lower blood pressure, stimulate the immune system and, over time, improve the body’s response to heat stress. Moreover, those effects can last beyond the minutes spent directly in heat treatment.

The study looked at 10 men and 10 women who exercised regularly and ranged in age from 20 to 28 years old. The goal was to isolate the physiological responses to each heating method in a young, healthy population.

They saw that hot water immersion was the most impactful in increasing core body temperature. Increasing body temperature causes an increase in blood flow, and just the force of blood moving across your vessels is beneficial for your vascular health.

Hot water immersion gives you the most robust changes in core temperature because you can’t effectively dissipate heat as you can if you have contact with the air and you’re sweating to cool the body. When you’re submerged in water, the sweat mechanisms aren’t efficient.

Heat Therapy

Researchers state that theirs is no doubt that if people are willing to do some heat therapy, it’s going to align with improved health, as long as it’s done in moderation. If you repeat these stresses over time, our lab and many others have shown that they are consistent with improved health.

Regular exercise can provide benefits similar to and even better in some respects than those from heat therapy, but individuals who are unable or unwilling to exercise may find that heat therapy provides an attractive option.

Sauna Benefits

Sitting in the dry heat may help reduce stress, improve heart health and relieve pain. It’s important to follow the guidelines of the sauna that you’re in. That’s going to depend on how hot it is, what type of sauna and the environment. But it’s important that those guidelines are followed so your body doesn’t overheat.

It can be a very peaceful, sometimes religious, sometimes cultural and sometimes social experience. And those aspects contribute to the health benefits and are critically important.

“We want people to be smart and safe about it,” he added. “We need to make sure that they are cleared by their physicians or others for heat therapy or for exercise, whether it’s mild to moderate walking or jogging or strength training. Then they’ll be fine to do heat therapy.”

As a runner herself, Atencio knows people who like to combine heat therapy with exercise.

“We always say that exercise is the primary nonpharmacological treatment that people should be doing to promote health, but some people can’t or just won’t exercise,” she said. “Heat therapy is good supplementation.”