There is a lot of flaky stuff on the web about infrared sauna, like the often-quoted study that found infrared saunas make you sweat five times as much toxins as regular saunas. Although I have found at least a dozen references to this study (mostly on websites promoting infrared saunas), I have been unable to Read more…
Infrared Sauna for Cancer
CoolSculpting vs. Cryoskin
The average adult loses 50 to 70 billion cells every day. Our cells are programmed to die, and there’s no need to be alarmed by this, because it is natural. In fact, when cells don’t die, it usually means they are cancerous. Normal, healthy cells die when they are supposed to (a process called “apoptosis”), Read more…
Sensory Isolation Floating for Depression
What is the promise of sensory isolation floating for depression? If there’s something there, it would mean a lot. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 7.6% of adults suffer from depression, and 10.4% of physician office visits result in a notation of depression on the medical record. That’s a lot more Read more…
Flotation REST for Migraines
A migraine is more than your garden-variety headache. According to Healthline, it is an intense headache that can be accompanied by nausea, vomiting, sensitivity to sounds, sensitivity to smells, sensitivity to light, even changes in vision. Where do migraines come from? There are four hypotheses on this: 1) an underlying disorder of the central nervous Read more…
Cryotherapy for Arthritis: A Management Strategy
According to Arthritis By The Numbers (PDF), published by the Arthritis Foundation, about 54.4 million adults officially have arthritis. I say “officially,” because they have been diagnosed by doctors. When you add in people who report the symptoms of arthritis but haven’t been diagnosed, however, the total comes to 91 million. Furthermore, the incidence of Read more…
Infrared Sauna for Your Heart
There is evidence that sauna can improve your heart health. A 2015 study of 2,315 middle-aged Finnish men found that increased sauna use reduced the risk of sudden cardiac death, coronary heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease, and all-cause mortality. The study had an impressive followup of more than 20 years, so you can take those Read more…
Photobiomodulation for Weight Loss
A recent Google search on the phrase “photobiomodulation for weight loss” returned 64,000 hits. If it had come back with a million, we could probably say there’s a trend, but 64,000? Heck, I got 34,500 hits on a search for “photobiomodulation for cats.” Nevertheless, if you begin clicking on those hits from the weight loss Read more…
Infrared Sauna for Back Pain
Back pain comes in many varieties, but the most pervasive one is probably low back pain. The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke publishes a Low Back Pain Fact Sheet that makes for rather bleak reading: “About 80 percent of adults experience low back pain at some point in their lifetimes. It is the Read more…
Celluma for Pain Management
A 2015 study of low back pain published in Arthritis Research and Therapy evaluated 221 randomized controlled trials in which photobiomodulation (PBM) was compared to placebo for sufferers of low back pain. The study found seven trials — comprising 394 patients altogether — that met their criteria for inclusion in the analysis. Five of those Read more…
Photobiomodulation for Arthritis
“Arthritis” means inflammation of a joint. It can cause pain or stiffness. There are at least 100 kinds of arthritis, but the most common forms are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. Osteoarthritis is wear and tear, so it tends to affect whatever joints get the most use. Rheumatoid arthritis, which is an autoimmune response, tends to Read more…