4. Blood Circulation – All of the following may be associated to some degree with poor circulation and, thus, may respond well to the increased peripheral dilation associated with Infrared Application: Bursitis, Sciatica, Backaches, Hemorrhoids, Nervous Tension (stress), Fatigue, Diabetes, Children’s Over-tired Muscles, Varicose Veins, Neuritis, Arthritis, Rheumatism, Strained Muscles, Stretch Marks, Menstrual Cramps, Upset stomachs, Leg and Decubitus Ulcers: failed to heal using conventional approaches, Post – Operative Edema: treatment with infrared has been so successful that hospital stays were reported to have been reduced by 25%.
Peripheral Occlusive Disease: “The goal is to maintain an optimal blood flow rate to the affected part… In general the temperature should be maintained at the highest level which does not increase the circulator discrepancy as shown by cyanosis and pain” – Therapeutic Heat and Cold pp. 456 ~ 457
Coronary Artery Disease, Arteriosclerosis and Hypertension
Finnish researchers, talking about the regular use of conventional saunas state that there are abundant evidences 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. German medical researchers reported in “Dermatol Monatsschr” in 1989 that a single whole-body session of infrared-induced hyperthermia lasting over one hour had only beneficial effects on subjects with stage I-II essential hypertension. Each subject experienced a rise in core body temperature to a maximum level of 38.5 degrees C. All of the subjects in one experiment had significant decrease in arterial, venous and mean blood pressure that lasted for at least 24 hours and was linked, according to the researchers to a persistent peripheral dilation effect. An improvement in plasma viscosity was also noted. Another group of similar hypertension patients was also studied under the same conditions of infrared-induced 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 disease of blood pressure, cardiac ejection resistance, and total peripheral resistance in every subject. There was also a significant increase during each session of the subjects’ heart rates, stroke volumes, cardiac outputs and ejection fractions. The researchers cite these last three effects as evidences that the stimulation of the heart during infrared-induced hyperthermia is well compensated, while the prior list of effects clearly show the microcirculatory changes that lead to the desired result of a lowering of blood pressure.