Steam Inhalation: daily doses of rejuvenation gone unnoticed and without credit.
We receive far more out of our showering and bathing experiences than we are aware of, or even conscious that we actively seek and find everyday. That the average person’s lavatory mirror will be long fogged over by the steam produced by a sustained showering session allows some insight into the nature of our bathing habits and benefits as human beings. It can be acknowledged that showering to cleanse ones self of germs, bacteria, and odor may be achieved in a minimal amount of time, two to three minutes tops; which mean the now blurry mirror is testament to another aspect or aspects sought and attained by the person using the lavatory- relaxation, solitude, hydrotherapy in all its forms and facets, or perhaps sonic therapy is achieved in the hypnotizing incessant dripping and dropping of the water from the shower head, and furthermore charting the waters progress perhaps there is therapeutic intimacy experienced in the essential elements’ gentle contact with the human skin. The point is hygiene is not what we generally seek in a shower.
Among the many things we relish inside our personal hygiene and health time is the steam, that it is airborne water, that we may see, taste, breath, exhale and feel it’s nourishing effects is in itself calming as an act, an idea, a process viewed, tasted and felt- the only lacking sense being aroma, but we’ll get to that when we learn about aroma therapy. The combination of all these human experiential mechanisms melding with modern technology results in netting a beautiful health oriented experience.
We may institute the inhalation of steam to placate certain side effects of whatever ails us, or if in possession of steam producing technology we may actually take a preventative approach to our health and the health of our families or whoever may share our shower areas. Steam, upon being inhaled, immediately permeates our porous skin, revitalizing as it soothes away the soreness which was being caused by dry, taught, irritated skin. Every piece of the body requires moisture of some sort. During times of illness it may seem as though one cannot drink enough water to remedy the scratchy feeling in the back of your throat. Cold/flu throat sprays certainly have their place and purpose but for the most part the effects you desire may be achieved by the regular inhalation of steam.
Here’s how it works: steam, essentially heat charged airborne water, engulfs and infiltrates our bodies and influences our chemistry on a cellular level. The water- all important, no more need be said on that subject- is aided in many ways by the heat- which allows the element access to areas that would otherwise be restricted. Heat, a soothing presence all its own, relaxes, elongates and expands muscular, pulmonary, and skin cells to allow for a faster uptake of water; in causing the expansion it is really reversing what was irritating in the first place, inserting water and leaving us temporarily healed.
On the musculoskeletal level, heat and steam while applicable in many forms including area specific- hot compresses which target specific, normally already afflicted sore and sensitive areas– to the general- Sitz baths, baths, steam showers, and saunas – which “generally” encompass the body as a whole instead of treating it as the sum of it’s parts- the same could be said of the relationships between illnesses and symptoms and injuries and preventative medicine. When it comes to Environmental Steam Inundation your entire musculoskeletal system is manipulated by the vaporized water surrounding every inch of your body. When muscles confront heat they immediately relax and expand (you may only be aware of the opposite effect sought by applying a cold compress to a wounded or sore area which tightens tissue and thereby shrinks whatever area or areas are targeted resulting in stopping inflammation.) ***We’re going to rewrite the books on handling that one as well when we learn about FIR technology (Infrared Saunas.) but, for the moment, let’s use this (cold compress use) as a reference to contrast exactly what we’re talking about with Environmental Steam Inundation.
ESI causes the expansion of muscles, opening of pores, and dilation of blood vessels. As a result, blood is given an open invitation to the sore muscle tissue, delivering oxygen and nutrients to the effected area, and upon it’s exit, collecting and removing toxins such as lactic acid- the byproduct, or waste of our muscles’ fuel source –which is most often the cause of the knots encountered by athletes and sedentary people alike after physical exertion.
By dilating the blood vessels and forcing the waste to make a hasty retreat out of our systems, we are encouraging the healing process; after which, once prodded, and prodded again begins to take initiative and speed it’s own recovery, and seek the sources of comfort on it’s own forcing you to subconsciously seek out a hot bath after doing anything that would cause sore muscles. Hence the presence of Steam Showers, Saunas and Hot Tubs in the locker rooms of most professional and amateur athletes alike. They’re not there for the looks. They’re not there for the luxury. They are strictly there for therapeutic use. As you begin to become more health conscious and more mindful of the environmental factors in your life that produce or reduce stress and well being, these things will come into sharper focus. It is not likely that any of us have thought anything other than “those indulgent athlete’s,” upon seeing them doff their uniforms and bathe themselves in a luxury hot tub, or soak it out in a sauna.
Your mind and body have a vested interest in one another’s health; they act as a sort of anonymous neighborhood association pulling strings to achieve a balance which allows both of them to function optimally. I should say briefly that, in large part, western medicine has yet to embrace such ideas. And many a doctor may decry me a fool or someone talking out of turn, but we must remember that when you’re utilizing steam inhalation you’re not using a product that was manufactured or tested in a lab, you are utilizing a time honored, borderline folk-wisdom curative remedy which is just pure common sense.
Steam Inhalation, or in the case of the present subject, ESI for musculoskeletal soreness did not wait on western medicine’s fledgling doctors to experiment and decide it’d be healthy to be surrounded by steam- which detoxifies what it touches, that it permeates through to sub dermal levels, and that it envelops and collectively warms the body eliminating temperature sensitive organisms which invade our bodies and make us sick. That is something that mom can tell you. That is something that I can tell you after my research.
The outermost part of our bodies, the most readily noticeable and effected areas during such treatments as immersion baths, hot compresses and environmental steam inundation, our skin is the most easily describable. I’ve saved it for last because I first needed to arm you with the knowledge of what exactly steam and heat were achieving upon bodily contact. Our skin, as has already been acknowledged is porous- a benefit and detriment all at the same time.
It is a detriment in the fact that anything may waltz it’s way into our system; we are as a road side motel offering a bright blinking neon sign advertising “vacancy.” The benefit we essentially force upon this “weakness” is that toxins may leave the exact same way they came in, if given the proper motivation. Allow knowledge to motivate! The same expanding capabilities we utilize from heat when we are were treating that scratchy throat and trying to use moisture to soothe away some of our ailments may now be used to open our pores. The pores now open, the heat now penetrating the skin, we experience the elimination of heat sensitive toxins that made their homes inside our skin; they are drawn to the very surface level of skin (like a warm water soaked splinter) and whisked away by the moisture as it dries. As you continually cleanse and cleanse your skin you will experience a revitalization that may accurately be described as age defying. You may, wisely using (exploiting) steam maintain that healthy looking skin that cover models get paid millions of dollars to wear makeup to show its effects and endorse products which claim to have the same effect.