Contraindications for Far Infrared Therapy
Prescription Drugs
If you are using prescription drugs, check with your physician or pharmacist for possible changes in the drug's effect due to an interaction with infrared energy.

Certain Ailments
According to some authorities, it is considered inadvisable to raise the core temperature of someone with adrenal suppression, systemic lupus erythematosus, or multiple sclerosis.

Joint Problems
If a person has a recent (acute) joint injury, it should not be heated for the first 48 hours or until the hot and swollen symptoms subside. Joints that are chronically hot and swollen may respond poorly to vigorous heating of any kind. Vigorous heating is strictly contraindicated in cases of enclosed infections be they dental, in joints, or in any other tissues.

Pregnancy
In pregnancy or the suspicion of pregnancy, discontinuation of sauna use is recommended. Finnish women use traditional saunas that don't heat the body as deeply as an infrared sauna for only six to twelve minutes and reportedly leave at that time due to perceived discomfort. Their usage of traditional saunas at this low level of intensity is not linked to birth defects. Infrared sauna use may be two to three times more intense due to deep tissue penetration, and comparatively shorter two to six minute sessions hardly seem worth any minimal risk they may present.

Surgical Implants
Metal pins, rods, artificial joints, or any other surgical implants generally reflect infrared rays and are not heated by an infrared heat system. Nevertheless, a person should consult his or her surgeon before receiving such therapy. Certainly infrared therapy must be discontinued if a person experiences pain near any implants.

Silicone
Silicone does absorb infrared energy. Infrared rays may warm implanted silicone or silicone prostheses for nose or ear replacement. Since silicone melts at over 200 degrees Celsius, it should not be adversely affected by an infrared heat system, however. It is still advised that a person checks with his or her surgeon to be certain.

Menstruation
Heating of the low-back area of women during the menstrual period may temporarily increase menstrual flow. Once a woman is aware that this is occurring, she can choose to allow herself to experience this short-term effect without worry, or she may simply avoid using an infrared heat source at that time in her cycle.

Hemorrhage
Hemophiliacs and anyone predisposed to hemorrhage should avoid infrared usage or any type of heating that would induce vasodilatation that can lead to the tendency to bleed.

Worsened Condition
Should any condition worsen with the use of an infrared heat system, the use of the system should be discontinued.

Pain
Pain should not be experienced when using an infrared heat system. If one does, the use of radiant heat is clearly inappropriate for the person at that time.

In it's Wellness Letter, October 1990, the University of California Berkeley reported, "the 1980's was the decade of high-impact aerobics classes and high-mileage training. Yet there was something elitist about the way exercise was prescribed: only strenuous workouts would do, you had to raise your heart rate to between X and Y, and the only way to go was to "go for the burn." Such strictures insured that most 'real' exercisers were relatively young and in good shape to begin with. Many Americans got caught up in the fitness boom, but probably just as many fell by the wayside. As we've reported, recent research shows that you don't have to run marathons to become fit - that burning just 1,000 calories a week...is enough. Anything goes, as long as it burns these calories."

Guyton's Textbook of Medical Physiology reports that producing one gram of sweat requires 0.586 kcal. The JAMA citation above goes on to state "A moderately conditioned person can easily sweat off 500 grams in a sauna, consuming nearly 300 kcal - the equivalent of running two to three miles. A heat-conditioned person can easily sweat off 600 to 800 kcal with no adverse effect. While the weight of water loss can be regained by rehydration, the calories consumed will not be." Since an infrared sauna helps generate two to three times the sweat produced in a conventional hot-air sauna, the implications for increased caloric consumption are quite impressive. Assuming one takes a sauna for 30 minutes, some interesting comparisons can be drawn. Two of the highest calorie output exercises are rowing and running marathons. Peak output on a rowing machine or during a marathon burns about 600 calories in 30 minutes. An infrared sauna may better this up to 250% by burning 900-2400 calories in the same period of time. It might in a single session simulate the consumption of energy equal to that expended in a six- to nine-mile run.

Far Infrared Therapy can, therefore, play a pivotal role in both weight control and cardiovascular conditioning. It is valuable for those who do not or cannot exercise, but who want an effective weight control and fitness maintenance program.

Coronary Artery Disease, Arteriosclerosis, and Hypertension
Finnish researchers, reporting the regular use of conventional saunas, state that "there is abundant evidence to suggest that blood vessels of regular sauna-goers remain elastic and pliable longer due to the regular dilation and contraction" of blood vessels induced by sauna use.

In 1989, German medical researchers reported that a single whole-body session of infrared-induced hyperthermia lasting over one hour had only beneficial effects on subjects with State I and II essential hypertension. Each subject experienced a rise in core body temperature to a maximum level of 35.5 degrees Celsius (100.5 Fahrenheit). All of the subjects in one experiment had significant decreases in arterial, venous, and mean blood pressure that lasted for at least 24 hours and linked, according to researchers, to a persistent peripheral dilation effect. An improvement in plasma viscosity was also noted.

Another group of similar hypertensive patients was also studied under the same conditions of hyperthermia, with an eye toward more carefully evaluating the circulatory system effects induced by this type of whole-body heating. During each infrared session, there was a significant decrease of blood pressure, cardiac ejection resistance, and total peripheral resistance in every subject. There was also a significant increase of the subjects' heart rates, stroke volumes, cardiac outputs, and ejection fractions. The researchers cite these last three effects as evidence that the stimulation of the heart during infrared-induced hyperthermia is well compensated, while the prior list of effects show clear detail of the microcirculatory changes leading to the desired result of a lowering blood pressure.

Environmental Toxin Overload
Each day, we are exposed to numerous chemicals and toxins from the environment, which deposit in our tissues and cells. They come from the air around us, the water we use to drink and bathe, the food we eat, the soil in which our food is grown, and the household products we use. Toxic overload has been implicated in many health conditions, from Fibrocystic Breast Disease (FBD) in women to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) in children. Physical symptoms of overload include: fatigue, headache, joint or muscle pain, frequent colds and flus, allergies, hormonal imbalance, chemical sensitivity, sinus congestion, psoriasis and other skin conditions, loss of dexterity, insomnia, and more. Psychological symptoms include poor concentration, memory loss, mood changes, mental confusion, and changes in behavior.

Heavy metals impair the immune system and neurological function. Organic solvents and pesticides increase our risk of certain cancers. Carbon monoxide pollution is increasing with more vehicles on the road, affecting our nervous, immune, and respiratory systems. Numerous other chemicals have also been shown to injure our bodies, building up in our tissues and causing organ dysfunction. Treating the damage alone cannot stop the process; we must also address the cause, specifically this toxic residue in our tissues.

It is to this end that Far Infrared Therapy is effective. By its direct heating effects on the tissues, Far Infrared Therapy mobilizes toxins from fat cells and increases circulation, thus aiding in elimination of these toxins through perspiration. 30-50% of the population does not adequately or effectively mobilize and eliminate the toxins in their bodies that they are exposed to each day. Normal sweat is 97-99% water; sweat induced by Far Infrared Therapy is only 80-85% water. The rest is composed of environmental toxins that are being mobilized, some heavy metals, urea, cholesterol, and lactic acid. Removal of such toxic residues from the body provides increased and improved cellular function, thus enhancing overall health and well-being.