Detoxing doesn’t have to mean juice cleanses or strict diets. At its core, detoxification is the body’s natural way of getting rid of waste, and sometimes it needs a little help.
One of the most effective but often overlooked ways is through your skin. The skin is the largest organ in your body and plays a vital role in eliminating toxins through sweat.
Sauna therapy raises your core temperature and triggers deep sweat. A sauna session helps flush out impurities while supporting circulation and improving your skin’s appearance.
To see real results, it’s not enough to sit in just any sauna. The environment, duration, and frequency all matter. You also need expert guidance.
At ARA Integrative and Functional Medicine in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, sauna therapy is part of a personalized detox plan tailored to your body’s needs.
Dr. Rina Kapoor, a board-certified internal and integrative medicine specialist, and her team combine medical expertise with holistic care to create plans that work for your whole system.
In this blog, we explain how sauna therapy works, how it benefits your skin, and what the research says.
Sauna therapy involves sitting in a heated room, typically 120°F-160°F, for a set time to stimulate sweating. The types of saunas include traditional dry saunas and infrared saunas, which use light to warm the body directly.
When you sit in a sauna, your body temperature rises, your blood vessels dilate, and you sweat. This increase in circulation and sweat production is believed to help move toxins out through your pores, boost metabolism, and ease inflammation.
It also gives your skin a deep cleanse that unclogs pores and increases oxygen and nutrient delivery to your skin cells.
The idea that you can sweat out toxins has met with skepticism, but research suggests some heavy metals and environmental toxins can be excreted through sweat. For instance, studies have found measurable amounts of arsenic, lead, and mercury in sweat samples.
Of course, detoxification also involves the liver, kidneys, and lymphatic system. By increasing circulation and stimulating the skin to release waste, sauna therapy supports this process, especially as part of a broader detox regimen.
In addition to supporting detox, sauna therapy offers visible benefits for your skin. These may include:
When done consistently under medical guidance, sauna therapy can be an excellent means for improving skin health from the inside out.
A lot of people jump into detoxes without knowing whether they’re doing more harm than good. Overheating, dehydration, or overuse of sauna sessions can lead to dizziness, fatigue, and even skin irritation. That’s why working with Dr. Kapoor makes all the difference.
She designs a detox plan that might include sauna sessions along with dietary guidance, targeted supplements, hydration protocols, and stress management. This kind of care ensures you get the benefits without putting your body through unnecessary stress.
Whether you’re curious about detoxing, struggling with skin issues, or want to feel better in your body, the team at ARA Integrative and Functional Medicine can build a plan that works for you.
Request an appointment online or call our Philadelphia-area office at 610-358-3300 today.
