Cardiac-Drift---Steam-Rooms

Cardiact Drift - Steam rooms

Controlling cardiac drift in a steam bathing session can mean you want to get out of the steam room in 20 minutes or your heart rate doesn't beat fast enough and your vasodilation in your body is so slow that you can stay in the steam room for an hour without getting out for a cool down.

Notice: cardiac drift is different than getting shortness of breath due to high condensate in the air. If you get shortness of breath when a steam room puts out 2 1/2 gallons of water when you would of been happier with a brand that only puts out 1 gallon of steam (minimal water), you may find it easier to bring.

The worst is when there is high condensate which makes it hard to breath and people start coughing in the steam room and it gets hot too quick. If the steam surrounding your upper body is over 114 degrees and the steam has high condensate you will probably not enjoy going in your steam room daily.

If you get a single tank pressurized steam generator and it brings your seating area to 120 degrees (usually for a short window till the duty cycle cuts off) it is likely you will suffer until it gets back down to 110 to 114 which is the comfort zone. I prefer a slow burn steam that doesn't have these high fluctuations.

Most people find that the perfect temperature for a steam room is when the heart rate increases about 30%. Many people set it at (120 degrees) and the heart rate increases around 40 to 50%. I find it better to stay at closer to 110 degrees (the lower end of the 110 114 window) when I use a fan to bring the steam down so I can be in full body steam therapy (full body vasodilation). That extra 4 degrees I feel overtaxes my heart and I prefer a slow burn rather than a fast burn.

When I go with people to the steam room, I bring my pulse oximeter and let them do a full body steam session at 114 degrees one day and the next day at 110 degrees. I see how long they prefer the session time with each temperature range and what their heart rate is. You can see what percentage your heart rate stays at and if your go into cardiac drift over the 30% safety level for most people.

Once you know the temperature you need to stay at and how long you want to be in the steam room for at that temperature it makes it easy to know what to set the temperature at on the controller and what fan speed you need to bring the steam down from the ceiling steam trap to maintain that temperature and humidity level. See my page on hygrometers. This is the most helpful tool I use when trying to tweak a steam room environment for someone.

When there are huge fluctuations in temperature from steam generators with short steam bursts and long duty cycles, it can let the heart rate go up and down as the steam gets cooler during the off cycle. It is much easier to control the heart rate when the steam is continuous and steady. The atmospheric steam generators have the slowest burn and are the most constant and have the least steam temperature variance. The dual tank pressurized steam generators can also be a good choice. As long as you get one that doesn't have a lot of condensate you should be fine.

Remember, temperatures over 114 and high condensate are the quickest way to make it hard to breath in there and quickest way to get your heart rate racing too fast (for many people).