Any knows what s the difference between Sauna , and Hamman, impacts on health i mean.
I only know that hammam > chaleur humide while, sauna > chaleur sèche.
Sauna seems helps more for the blood circulation, while Hammam less?
I also see people (women here i mean) wearing masks in Hammam or Sauna, is that recommanded? (guys probably can wear too, its surely not forbidden i think)
I've also seen quite a few women at the spa with facial masks, but they always seem to put them on after they leave the sauna/hammam. The heat opens your pores allowing the mask to work more effectively.
Thanks for asking the question about hammans vs. saunas. It's something that I've also been wondering about. Personal research has shown that the hammam works better than the sauna for respiratory problems. The results of the study for the relief of sore muscles is still pending.
This makes more sense. As I saw some women with masks, with the Hamman heat, their masks just melted into water ... Thats why made me curious, whats the point of putting them on there. And in the Sauna, as it is so dry, I always wonder why women wear a hydrate mask, seems before the skin absorts these "precious indrediants", the 80 degree dry air in the sauna first dried up everything there
I am glad at least one person find this thread useful As there are so many good saying about having Sauna, Hamman... But i haven't found any strong scientific proof of what are the benefits of having them regularly, or how regularly it should be etc. Not like that we talk about doing Yoga, or certain sports, usually there are clear guildlines on the topic. I also checked with WIKI., information are more based on the history of these Fin/Turk bath...
A good dry Finnish sauna for me - not electrical, if possible. Now, it has to be hot, around 100 C is good. You go there and sweat til you can't stand it any more. Then, depending on the season, run outside and roll around in the snow or jump into a pool, pond, lake, river or similar. If none of those are available, I guess a cold shower will have to do. Then go back to sauna. Repeat at least 3 times. While in sauna, you need something called vihta in Finnish, no sauna is complete without it. Then of course there are numeral beauty rituals you can do in sauna, salt body scrubs and honey massages and all kinds of masks. And very important - once you have finished (the whole ritual can take hours), a nice cold beer...mmm
and yes for facial masks, after sauna is the time. However, there are a lot of treatments that can or even should be used while in sauna and also some hair masks work very well in the heat (wrap the hair in a towel).
That's quite hard to explain without sounding a bit strange. Vihta is basically a bunch of fresh birch branches and it's used for hitting yourself (or your friends) in the sauna. I'm not that much into it myself but it is good way to clean your skin and increase circulation.
We don't usually throw liquors or aroma products onto the stones in Finland...
I've observed this practice quite often with Germans at public Saunas. Some eucalyptus oil etc, but I also heard that it can ruin the stones in the long run.