Japanese steam sand bath heat therapy mediates comparable reductions in blood pressure with smaller discomfort and respiratory strains than hot water immersion and sauna
Horiuchi M, Fujii N
European journal of applied physiology · 0 citations
How it was studied
- Design
- Randomized controlled trial (indexed by PubMed)
- Studied in
- People
- Main outcome
- Health markers and function
Who paid for it
- Funding
- Independent funding
- Unclassified
- The Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation
Based on 1 listed funder(s).
Publication
- Published
- 2025-08-29 · Eur J Appl Physiol · vol. 126 · issue 3 · pp. 1391–1403
- Publisher
- Springer Science+Business Media
- Cited
- 0 citations · more than 22% of similar papers · 0.0× the field average
- References
- 52 works
- Access
- Paywalled
- Research areas
- Thermoregulation and physiological responses · Body Contouring and Surgery · Therapeutic Uses of Natural Elements
- Keywords
- Immersion (mathematics), Respiratory system, Human physiology, Medicine, Sports medicine, Anesthesia, Chemistry, Animal science, Biomedical engineering, Internal medicine, Physical therapy, Biology, Mathematics
- MeSH
- humans, steam bath, hyperthermia, induced, immersion, steam, blood pressure, adult, male, hot temperature, young adult, sand, east asian people
2 authors
From JP
- Masahiro HoriuchiNational Institute of Fitness and Sports in Kanoya
- Naoto Fujii · correspondingUniversity of Tsukuba
Abstract
Purpose
Heat therapies such as hot water immersion, Finland saunas, and Waon therapy have been reported to reduce resting arterial blood pressure. However, hyperthermia imposes physiological and perceptual strains. To acquire a habit of heat therapy, it is ideal to develop a modality that offers therapeutic benefits with minimal strain. Here, we hypothesized that the unique Japanese traditional steam sand heat therapy lowers blood pressure with minimum physiological and perceptual strains.
Methods
Fourteen healthy young male adults underwent three heating procedures, each lasting 20 min: (1) steam sand bath (~ 50 °C), (2) hot water bath (~ 41 °C), or (3) sauna (~ 80 °C) in a randomized counter-balanced manner. Cardiorespiratory responses and perceptions were assessed before, during, and after each heating.
Results
Core temperature increased in the following order: hot water bath > sauna > steam sand bath (all p 0.39). Thermal comfort at the end of heating was lower (i.e., more comfortable) in the steam sand bath compared to the other two conditions (both p < 0.001).
Conclusion
We show that the traditional Japanese steam sand bathing may provide blood pressure-lowering benefits with reduced respiratory and perceptual strains compared to hot water bath and sauna.
Abstract via Europe PMC. Copyright remains with the authors or publisher.
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