Dermatologist Debriefs
Join no-nonsense Dermatologist Stefanie Williams as she debunks myths and shares her professional insights - separating facts from fiction in just a few minutes.
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Dermatologist Debriefs
Should I use an infrared sauna if I suffer with rosacea?
Infrared saunas are all the rage right now. But what happens when rosacea-prone skin meets all that warmth? In this episode, dermatologist Dr Stefanie pulls back the curtain on infrared therapy. She explains, in plain language, how invisible infrared energy differs from everyday UV rays, why we register it as heat, and how that temperature rise can set off the flushing cycle common in rosacea.
You’ll learn why far-infrared saunas heat you from the inside out, and how to weigh the promised benefits against the very real risk of a flare. By the end, you’ll have a straightforward framework for judging any heat-based treatment—no advanced physics required.
Have another wellness trend on your mind? Send your questions and let Dr Stefanie separate fact from fad in future episodes.
Dermatologist debriefs. Join no-nonsense dermatologist Dr Stephanie Williams as she debunks myths and shares her professional insights, separating facts from fiction, in just a few minutes.
Speaker 2:Last week I was asked by one of my patients whether it is a good idea for her to use infrared sauna, although she's suffering with rosacea, and she was thinking maybe it's even a good thing because it is said to have anti-inflammatory actions and rosacea is, of course, a micro inflammatory condition. My answer was no and I'm going to talk you through why. I don't think that's a good idea at all if you have rosacea prone skin and it will get a little bit geeky today, I'm afraid. But it is important to talk about the physics of electromagnetic irradiation in this context. So first let's start with what is infrared light and also what is the difference between infrared sauna and infrared LED light. So infrared light is invisible electromagnetic irradiation coming from the sun, just like ultraviolet light, uv light. However, in contrast to UV light, infrared has wavelengths that are longer than visible light, so between 700 nanometer and one millimeter in wavelengths. In contrast to that, uv light consists of wavelengths that are shorter than visible light. So infrared and UV are at opposite ends of visible light coming from the sun. Of course, it's possible also to have artificial infrared and UV light, but just talking about the general principles here, and because infrared light has longer wavelengths compared to UV, it can penetrate the skin much deeper than UV light. Our skin detects infrared irradiation as heat. So in the summer, when you feel the warmth of the sun's rays on your skin, that's infrared light you're feeling, because your skin can't actually feel ultraviolet or visible light. Uv can, of course, burn your skin or damage it in other ways, but you can't feel UV light as such. So I'm a little digressing here, but it's interesting to understand why our skin can feel infrared light as heat, but it can't feel UV light. So the reason for that is that human skin perceives infrared radiation as heat because infrared energy is absorbed by water and proteins in our skin, causing a temperature rise which activates our thermal receptors in the skin. So these are the heat-sensitive proteins, like, for example, trpv1. In contrast, uv light with its shorter wavelengths does not significantly heat the dermis where our thermoreceptors reside. Uv's shorter wavelengths are more absorbed in the epidermis, the outer layers of the skin, and UV light is triggering more photochemical reactions like DNA damage and pigment production, rather than significant thermal changes in the deeper dermis. So now you may be asking but why is sunburn, which is caused by UV light, hot and painful? So sunburn is an inflammatory reaction in our skin that occurs after the skin has been damaged, so the heat and sunburn is basically caused by our immune system that is fighting the damage, whereas the heat we feel from infrared light is caused by an absorption of infrared by water and proteins in our deep dermis.
Speaker 2:Now coming back to infrared saunas, these generate heat via infrared irradiation from artificial sources, and the difference between infrared saunas and infrared LED light is that infrared saunas use so-called far infrared wavelengths. These are wavelengths of between roughly 3000 nanometers and 0.1 millimeter to generate deeply penetrating heat and raise the body's core temperature and induce sweating. In contrast to that, infrared LED light typically uses near-infrared irradiation, so about 700 to 1400 nanometer, which has a less deep penetration and less heat generation. So now let's come back, though, to whether or not it's a good idea to use infrared sauna for rosacea prone skin.
Speaker 2:So the first reason I do not think that is a good idea is that rosacea is very sensitive to heat, and we've just heard that infrared saunas generate heat.
Speaker 2:That's actually their mechanism of action, one of them so they increase the skin's temperature and blood flow, which can definitely lead to worsening of rosacea. The second reason is that infrared light can or does promote vasodilation, which is the widening of blood vessels, which is one of the core mechanisms for redness in rosacea. So both of these reasons the generation of heat and the widening of blood vessels mean that it's not a good idea to use infrared sauna if you're suffering with rosacea. In contrast to that, near-infrared LED light isn't such a big problem in my personal opinion, although I would still avoid it. So I'm actually not a big fan of near-infrared light for the skin in the first place, but that's probably a topic for a different day. So, in summary, the disadvantages of infrared sauna outweigh the potential benefits in rosacea prone skin, so I would advise to avoid it. I hope this makes sense and I will speak to you again soon. Thank you.