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Body Detox and Cleansing Using Body Heat

Hyperthermia, also known as heat therapy, fever therapy or sweat therapy, helps your body both cleanse and heal itself. A great healer once said, “Give me the power to create a fever and I can cure any disease”. In the past, healers observed that people suffering from diverse ailments were cured following a high fever. By creating an artificial fever, these healers would help the patient quite literally sweat the disease out of their system. Nowadays, fever is thought of as an undesirable symptom because it increases our discomfort – therefore it is artificially reduced using drugs such as aspirin. Imagine that our body is trying to heal itself and instead of helping it, we hinder it by taking drugs to undo the healing process.

What are the benefits of hyperthermia?
Heat draws out toxins, helps clean clogged pores, kills harmful bacteria and viruses, increases circulation and enhances the immune system. Hyperthermia stimulates cellular activity and increases metabolism. Circulation, tissue rebuilding and healing are also increased. Injuries heal faster with heat. Have you ever used a heating pad to help heal muscle aches and pains? In short, hyperthermia stimulates all body functions.

Although we do not think of our skin as an organ, it can be thought of as one of the biggest elimination organs in our bodies. It has the ability to eliminate toxins and waste through its pores. The basic goal of hyperthermia or heat therapy is to increase the body’s temperature over a short duration to cause your body to sweat profusely, thus cleansing toxins out of your pores. Additionally, the increased body temperature will help your body heal itself from many ailments.

What precautions do I need to take with hyperthermia therapy?
Whatever treatment method you choose, make sure to properly hydrate yourself before any hyperthermia treatment and drink 1-2 glasses of cool water immediately after treatment. Remember the objective is to release toxins through sweating, so you will dehydrate much faster than with other cleansing therapies.

With the exception of a steam bath or sauna where it is physically impossible to do so, never immerse or cover your head as part of a hyperthermia treatment. Why not cover your head? Well the obvious reason is that you need to be able to breathe. However, the other reason is that the brain does not take too well to being overheated. Your head is one of your primary cooling mechanisms and keeping your head out of the hot water will help your body keep the hyperthermia to safe levels. Since you do not have the option to keep your head cool in a sauna or steam bath, you should limit your time in them to 10-15 minutes, versus other methods which can take up to 30 minutes.

If you feel nauseous or sick during the course of a hyperthermia treatment, discontinue the treatment immediately. Nausea could be a sign that your body is overheating.

How can I administer hyperthermia?
There are a number of simple ways to administer hyperthermia – depending on the tools you have available. You can induce an artificial fever by soaking in a tub of hot water, sitting in a sauna or steam bath, or wrapping yourself in blankets with a hot water bottle.

The simplest and easiest method of increasing your body temperature is to immerse yourself in hot water for approximately 20 - 30 minutes. Have you ever taken a hot bath or gotten into a hot tub? Remember how good it felt even after you got out – how relaxed you were….how energized you felt after you cooled down? Well – you experienced the benefits of hyperthermia or heat therapy.

If you want to use your bathtub, fill it with hot water – as hot as you can stand. To be effective, you should be able to cover all the parts of your body – except your head. Even though you are covered with water, you will sweat. Contained in this sweat will be toxins that your body wants to eliminate. Use hydrogen peroxide therapy to further enhance the benefit of hyperthermia.

Although using a bathtub is a convenient method of administering hyperthermia, I find that my bathtub is actually not long enough and it becomes uncomfortable because I have to fold my legs. I therefore prefer using a hot tub or spa. If you are fortunate enough to have access to a private spa, make sure the temperature is set to at least 104 degrees F. As in the bathtub, submerge all parts of your body, except your head, and stay submerged for 20 – 30 minutes. This will ensure that your body temperature rises sufficiently.

Most people do not have access to a private hot tub… so is using a public one may be the next best option? The biggest concerns with using a public hot tub or spa are contaminants in the water from other users and the chlorine or bromine used to sanitize the hot tubs. Neither chemical is good for you, and since the pores in your skin can also absorb things, at the same time they are releasing your toxins, you risk negating the detox effects. Instead, see if you can find a hot tub that uses ozone to clean the water. This newer type of cleansing not only kills bacteria in the water, but also better neutralizes the toxins that may have been expelled by previous users. In fact, hot tubs that use ozone generators to clean the water also give you the added benefits of oxygen therapy at the same time as hyperthermia or heat therapy.

If your bathtub is too uncomfortable and you cannot find a hot tub that uses ozone cleaning, then you can do a sunbath. You will need a large plastic sheet at least 8 feet by 4 feet and 6 millimeters thick. Lay the plastic out in your backyard or anywhere else where it is sunny. Lie on half of the sheet and fold the other half over your body. Tuck in the edges along your side and at your feet. Place a rolled up towel or outdoor pillow under your head and neck. Lie in this position for 10 – 15 minutes and then turn over on your stomach for another 10-15 minutes. As always, do not wrap or cover your head with the plastic. If you have fair or sensitive skin, then start out slowly and gradually increase the time you spend – working your way up to the full 30 minutes.

Yet another option is to make a portable steam bath. Place two buckets of boiling water – one in front of a lawn chair and one directly under the seat. Sit on the lawn chair with your feet submerged in the water in the bucket in front of the chair. Use the plastic sheet to cover your body, leaving your head uncovered. The goal is to trap the steam from the buckets of water under the plastic. The temperature under the plastic should rise – just like in a steam bath.