Mild vs intense
Steam under pressure heats up way faster but people sacrifice poorer quality steam for this impatience. The steam generators using high pressure produce very fast steam and it gets very intense but also has the shortest duty cycles where most of the time the steam is off. Some people like these bursts of intense steam followed by no steam and a longer delayed wait time. Others like a more constant milder steam that typically the non-pressurized tanks give. The open tank steam generators still get very hot but only have a few degrees of temperature change until the steam kicks on again so there is always a dense cloud of steam.
Note: if the steam is too hot, the water droplets in the steam that never turned into vapor will still appear like steam since they are small enough not to fall yet since the vapor keeps it in lifted up in motion. There is more heat in the room from the wetter steam but not as much steam vapor.
Those that have been in the steam rooms at the gym who feel the need to pour water on the sensors will probably like a more continuous steam. Many people upsize their kilowatt size one size up if a more intense steam is preferred. I would not upsize a pressure cooker type but only an open tank so the steam stays drier.
Some people will want steam heated up in a pressure cooker type steam generator way past the boiling point. I do not recommend this. The goal is to get as much steam vapor and less humidity and moisture in the water. When the steam being condensed in the room and the steam being made by the generator are in equilibrium, this is when the steam quality is at its highest dryness. This will give the best steam experience for those building their own steam room. If the room is not in equilibrium and the steam doesn’t have enough time to condense before it comes on again, this can cause even the driest steam to become wet.
Remember, pressure cooker types heat up the steam past the saturation point and it releases all of it at once (vaporized and the water not vaporized yet still boiling at the bottom of the tank). The more water that is still boiling that gets released into the steam will bring the quality score from 100 down to whatever it is depending on how much water is not vaporized yet. A steam quality of 100 is when 100% of the steam has 0% un-evaporated water. A generator that makes steam at about 90% steam quality has 10% un-evaporated water. The open tanks at 1 ATA make the driest steam closest to 100%. If it is 100% dry the room will be filled with steam but 100% dry steam is invisible. All visible steam is at 99% dry or lower.
You can learn more bout steam fluence on my Steam Fluence page
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So what kind of Steam Generator does a person need for detoxification?
Most important variable is what’s known as the Dryness Fraction. This lets you know how dry or wet your steam is that’s being produced. I talk about this in greater detail by the way on my Steam Types educational page. That particular specification is what I payed a steam analysis research firm $10,000 to analyze for me on all brands of steam generator.
To open the pores up most efficiently and raise the body’s core temperature fastest the latent heat potential of the steam needs to be high which requires dryer steam. Also, the generator must ideally produce vapor with smaller cluster size water which basically means that as the steam lands on your open pores the structure of the molecular bonds is ideally suited for rapid hydration.
Hydration is actually one of the major factors in assisting all detoxification pathways. Increasing circulation requires at the same time steam that is very hot. The problem with some generators that produce very hot steam is that it can be very hard to breath as it burns the nasal passages due to the water particle size being way to large or in other words the steam being too wet. If you have any respiratory health issues including allergies this can be especially important to pay attention to.
Keeping the steam room at a max temperature but without overloading the space with cycles of too much steam (pulse mode) the most comfortable setup is using a generator that has dual tanks so that the steam can be continuous. The problem with one tank steam generators that turn on and off in cycles is that they are not as efficient at stimulating the body in a shorter period of time because the space cools down when they are turned off and they again are uncomfortable to breathe when they are emptying their whole tank all at once after they turn back on.
How to Detox properly through Steam Therapy
Nowadays so many people reach out to me because they want to “Detox”. It’s a pretty popular term and a quick search on Google with the term pulls up 78 million results. A variety of folks know that as the body sits in hot steam the pores open up and the body starts to sweat and increase in circulation occurs. Under most circumstances with shorter steam sessions (40min or less) the body mainly releases 99% water and salt/electrolytes out of the cells and body tissues. The goal of detoxing is to release more than this however.
We live in very different environments today than the Native American Indians lived in a 200+ years ago. Even just 60 years ago the environmental pollutants that most people faced was a fraction of what it is today. These accumulations also build up through generations in the family so that offspring are born with much of the toxins that the mother accumulated in her lifetime. The cord blood of the fetus for example has heavy metal levels in the blood that are 500-1000% higher than 50 years ago.
To be perfectly straight forward traditional in Indian sweat lodge tradition the proper way to really cleanse and detoxify the body usually incorporated fasting then going into many hours off and on of sweat lodge for a whole day. There is much preparation for the body to be ready to release on the physical level. In the tradition it is not just the physical poisons that are sweat out but the belief is that at the same time emotional and mental poisons are released.
So for the average person nowadays who is considering some version of sweat therapy in their own home some of these detox benefits can be achieved but require a little bit of preparation. I’ll share with everyone some of the tips and guidance that I provide to some of my clients. If anyone has any further questions about the guidelines simply reach out to me by phone or email after you complete the Quiz on my site and we can go over the right steam generator and other techniques and additional equipment that can work synergistically to reach your health goals.
Warning: One last thing what is vitally important to do if the goal is to cleanse and detox is to minimize toxins getting into the body first. So this means get a shower filter and also an inline water filter that runs to the steam generator. Tap water is loaded with contaminants and breathing and showering in the water pulls in gallons of water through your body…Yes that’s right in one 10 minute session in a shower for example you absorb 10 times all the water you could possibly drink in 1 week! Steam into the lungs and through the pores goes straight into your blood stream. It’s almost silly to spend money on drinking pure water if you are bathing daily in unfiltered water by comparison.
1. Consider incorporating Hydrotherapy principles of alternating Hot and Cold. What is interesting is that in different cultures around the world even going back a couple thousand years on record, general healing practices had the basic knowledge and understanding that we can move the fluids of the body around by utilizing heat and cold. So what is better than just sitting in the shower and turning on the steamer then getting out? Using the steamer then standing under the shower head with it on cold for 2-5 minutes. Then sitting in the steam for another 10 minutes. Alternations of at least 3 cycles is ideal. Hydrotherapy has incorporated these principles for a long time to treat and almost any condition. Being able to act on the lymphatic system and circulatory is what makes it so effective.
2. Raise the body’s core temperature before doing the steam therapy. Try exercising beforehand until you feel like you might break a sweat. Ideally the best way to raise core temperature is through Infrared therapy. The Infrared will stimulate the tissues directly including the fat cells (where most major fat soluble toxins are held) along with effect the cells and mitochondria directly getting them ready to release. Read up on Infrared therapy to see the many benefits. Once the body is saturated by the infrared for at least 20 minutes then do steam therapy. Even if you wait several hours until you do the steam therapy it can still be effective as much of what the infrared stimulated will still be in the body ready to be released through the pores in the steam room. If you plan on steaming several hours later after the infrared therapy then consider doing a longer infrared session. I find using a Biomat most convenient (most affordable option for folks) and an Infrared sauna second in terms of time or logistical efficiency. I have spent the last 10 years reviewing infrared therapy products if anyone needs any advice on this type of equipment.
3.The least effective way to get steam therapy benefits is to just go in after sitting to sit some more then sit or sleep afterwards. In fact this type of routine could be more problematic than helpful (I put together the quiz on my website to identify potential health issues so please take that before I consult with you). The best way to prepare the body is by stimulating the lymphatic system (which is only able to function properly through movement of the body) by doing some sort of exercise or movement.
The very best and most convenient routine is to use a Rebounder for 15 minutes then do Dry Skin Brushing afterwards for 2 minutes (or as long as it takes to brush the whole body) then use the steamer. I even take it a step further and prepare a caffeine free herbal tea with ¼ tsp of organic cayenne pepper and drink that before the rebounding or at least 30 minutes before doing a steam session. If you are on any sort of blood thinning or blood pressure medication just be careful with the cayenne and it would be better to avoid it. Also talk to your doctor about doing steam therapy if you are on these medications…you might be a better candidate for Infrared therapy.
Rebounding is so effective because it forces the lymph valves to open and close due to creating 3-5 times the forces of gravity on the cells. NASA originally studied it for the astronauts to help them with keeping up bone density in space. They found in their studies a few decades ago that it was also 2-4 times more efficient in terms of its health benefits than running!
Extra Tips After your Routine
So at the end of this routine your digestive organs like liver and kidneys and colon are going to have a lot of work to do to process all the toxin rich lymph fluid. The blood will be more greatly cleansed as well and you want to be sure that all that junk gets out of your system and isn't reabsorbed. Be sure to take something that will absorb and bind to those toxins and be released in the colon permanently. I recommend Activated Charcoal or Sacred Clay. Also taking a supplement that supports the Liver is especially helpful and I have a couple favorites I rotate through.
Also it is the good bacterial flora in the gut that handles much of the cleansing and processing work so taking a robust Probiotic is a supplement that helps bolster the flora. It is essential.
Custom building your Steam Shower Spa for maximizing health benefits
Because I had my whole shower setup custom built by my Uncle who is a carpenter, I was able to incorporate a couple powerful healing enhancers related to Infrared. I had him install Jade tiles to the walls and floor. Jade releases Infrared when it heats up and it’s also pretty cheap and easy to purchase. I didn’t just stop there, I also had some Nano Carbon 360 Infrared emitting panels installed behind the walls ( I know a couple companies that sell these components). This is actually how these panels are used overseas to heat floors. This is the same technology those Korean Day Spas across the country use to heat their thousands of square feet jade flooring and walls. So as I am leaning up against the wall I get infrared therapy at the same time!
I also do cold showers intermittently during my sessions and have a custom shower filter. I also of course have an inline water filter that runs to the steamer so that all the steam I’m breathing is also purified of tap water contaminants (most city water supplies contain 100+ pharmaceutical drug residues, chloramines and chloramides).
Also read my Salt steam room page to learn more about why I hang Himalayan salt rocks in my steam shower.
Mixing Thermoclines: best practices
This is for people who may have bought the wrong generator or oversized it or have room dimensions that make it hard to keep the entire steam room at the 110 to 114 sweet spot temperature range.
If trying to get full body vasodilation, it is best to have a generator that has a slow burn. The single tank pressurized generators are the hardest to manage. These create steam traps and high fluctuations in temperature, way beyond the most continuous (6 degree variance). The dual tank models (with 1 large and one tiny boiler) are somewhere in the middle. The open tank (non pressurized) atmospheric tank steam generators are the easiest to control the temperature as they come out in a steady slow burn and are very predictable. It is also easier to bring the steam trap down when the steam doesn’t rise to the ceiling nearly all once. If the steam is rising at 28 grams per minute but the fan is blowing down only 18 grams per minute, the room will in equilibrium.
My goal is to bring that super heated steam trap down to floor so the ceiling doesn’t ever get a chance to trap it. If the steam is blown down to fast it is not comfortable. Another reason why the fast burn generators are not what I recommend. If too many grams of steam are blown down at once it creates too high of a heat co-efficient. In the gyms, when the steam room has a wet type steam generator, people have told me to turn the fan off and say if I don’t they will get the manager. This never happens when I bring my fan in spas that have atmospheric generators. It just doesn’t sting or burn anyone.
Know before buying a steam generator
Know before buying a steam generator
Know before buying a steam generator
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