Visiting a bathhouse if you have cystitis, is it possible to steam and warm yourself?

Cystitis is a disease that affects both women and men of different ages. But most often it occurs in women, which is due to the anatomical characteristics of the female body. Elimination of the inflammatory process occurs using many methods and means, including heat therapy. One way to warm up the body is to visit a sauna, where the heat comes from steam and stones. But there are conflicting opinions about whether it is possible to take a steam bath with cystitis. Like any other physiotherapeutic procedure, heat therapy has its contraindications and indications, which depend on the cause of cystitis, the stage of the disease and the general condition of the patient.

Warming up has its pros and cons

In what cases does a bath only worsen the condition?

Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder, or more precisely, its mucous membrane. The origin of the pathology may be:

• infectious;
• allergic;
• thermal, etc.

Inflammation can also be the body’s reaction to radiation therapy for cancer and accompany gynecological diseases. The latter is quite common, considering that cystitis is considered predominantly a female pathology. The reason is the characteristics of the female genitourinary system. Women have a wide and short ureter, which makes the bladder vulnerable to pathogenic factors. And in men, the urethra is narrow and long, so if they are overtaken by cystitis, in most cases it occurs after untreated urethritis (with the exception of urolithiasis, when the bladder mucosa is constantly irritated).

Doctors distinguish between acute and chronic cystitis, primary and secondary, but regardless of the classification, they categorically do not recommend steaming. Cystitis and a bath are almost always incompatible things, especially when it comes to the disease in the acute stage. It can be recognized by a very frequent urge and painful urination. In more severe cases, the temperature may rise and remain at a subfebrile level (up to 38 ° C), and an admixture of blood and pus is found in the urine. If a person in this condition decides to get rid of the disease in a steam bath, he can get an ascending infection involving the kidneys, and stimulating blood circulation will facilitate and speed up the process of spreading microbes through the lymph and bloodstream.

Sauna and cystitis

It is a mistaken opinion that if a bathhouse and cystitis are mutually exclusive concepts, then the dry heat of a sauna has a relaxing effect on the body, calms the nervous system, increases resistance to stress and resistance to infections. All this is true, but under different circumstances.

A sauna for cystitis can cause the same harm as a bath (during the acute period of the disease), if used to relieve acute symptoms of the disease.

By the way, during the period of remission, a bath is preferable to a sauna. Low air humidity combined with high temperature in the sauna leads to uneven heating of the body, while absolute balance is maintained in the bath, which is very important for diseases of the urinary organs.

When can you steam?

In case of chronic inflammation of the bladder, it is forbidden to visit the sauna during the period of exacerbation, but in the remission stage you can not deny yourself this pleasure, subject to certain conditions:

• you can’t steam;
• your stay in the steam room should not be long;
• After the bath, you should not drink alcohol (if you have cystitis, it’s better to forget about it);
• Before going out, you need to dress properly to keep your whole body warm.

And no extreme sports, diving into snowdrifts or into a cold pool. Otherwise, bath heat is not contraindicated, because in this way, painful cramps and abdominal pain are relieved with cystitis. But this treatment is only symptomatic; it will temporarily alleviate the patient’s condition, but will not eliminate the problem completely.

If we talk about self-medication, then not only a steam bath for cystitis is not recommended, but also long-term use of strong antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription. Such treatment will lead to the fact that the pathogens of the disease may become resistant (resistant) to drug therapy, and this leads to the transition of the pathology to a chronic form.

Features of heat exposure in illness

Heat and water treatments have a relaxing and analgesic effect on the human body. Therefore, a patient with an acute form of the disease feels temporary relief - pain and discomfort disappear, spasms characteristic of the disease go away without taking medications. The muscles in the lower abdomen also relax and the constant urge to urinate stops. However, this positive effect does not last long and the symptoms of cystitis return over time.

When the disease goes into remission, warming up in a bathhouse is possible and even necessary. However, heating acts only as an additional measure to combat cystitis and in no case should replace the treatment recommended by a urologist.

In order not to steam, you need to not freeze

The vast majority of cases of cystitis are the result of hypothermia. It is especially dangerous to walk in the cold with wet feet. Women are also at risk of getting sick if they wear short clothes and thin underwear during the cold season. If a person is hypothermic, then the answer to the question “is it possible to warm up in a bathhouse” is yes! But do this as quickly as possible, and not after 1-2 days, when you feel the first symptoms of cystitis. If pain occurs when urinating and you constantly want to go to the toilet for minor needs, you need to postpone the bath and save yourself with dry heat:

• heating pad on the lower abdomen;
• a bag of warm sand between the legs;
• For water procedures, leave hot foot baths; it is recommended to add mustard there.

If the pain is very severe, you can take a hot shower for a while, this will relieve pain and cramps. But standing under hot water for a long time, much less lying in a bath, is not recommended: this dilates the blood vessels, and the infection can spread to other parts of the body. After a person has steamed his feet, he needs to put on warm woolen socks and go to bed. Warm feet is one of the main conditions for successful treatment of cystitis, as well as its prevention.

Is it possible to go to the sauna

Dry heat for cystitis is more effective and safe than wet steam. When visiting the sauna, you must follow the following rules:

• maintain the room temperature up to +70°C;
• warm up for no more than 15 minutes;
• use essential oils recommended for cystitis: eucalyptus, tea tree, lavender, chamomile;
• do not douse yourself with cold water or dive into the pool;
• After warming up, put on warm socks and clothes that protect from the wind.

When visiting the sauna, it is not recommended to dive into the pool.

Additional preventive measures

The first symptoms of the disease are a strict taboo on saunas and the like. In a bathhouse for cystitis, the risk of complications of the disease and general deterioration of the condition is very high. But if conditions allow you to take a steam bath immediately after hypothermia, this will help prevent the development of the disease. After a bath, it is very useful to drink herbal teas, which include:

• Birch buds;
• calamus root;
• bearberry;
• yarrow;
• chamomile flowers;
• hop cones.

You can purchase a kidney mixture at a herbal pharmacy and brew it before the bath. Corn silk helps very well with cystitis, as well as with other nephro-urological diseases. If herbal teas are not to your taste, you can crush blueberries or strawberries and pour boiling water over them. Cherry and cherry twigs are considered effective folk remedies: pour boiling water over them and drink the infusion warm, adding a little honey.

Herbal medicines will help not only strengthen the body’s defenses, but also relieve pain and ease the sensation when urinating. In addition, you need to drink more water, still and non-mineral. This will “wash” the bladder and soothe the inflamed mucous membrane.

To prevent cystitis and other diseases, a healthy person can go to the bathhouse without fear, but not more than once a week: after all, this is an intense load on the heart. If you have diseases of the cardiovascular system, it is better not to visit the steam room and not to stay in the bathhouse for too long.

Bath procedures as a means of prevention

As urologists advise, it is best to visit a bathhouse to prevent cystitis - exposure to heat and wood oils helps prevent inflammation in the bladder. The Russian bath accelerates metabolic processes, which help strengthen the immune system and other defenses of the body.

In this regard, the bathhouse is considered much preferable to the Finnish sauna. In the latter, high temperature is combined with low air humidity. Together, these factors lead to the fact that the human body warms up unevenly, and the skin and upper respiratory tract become dry. The traditional Russian bath maintains a complete balance between warming the body, cooling it and resting, which is very important for inflammation of the urinary system. The main condition is that you cannot overdo it in any of the cycles.

For men who like to attend bathing events along with beer or other strong drinks, doctors strongly recommend that they take with them not these, but healthy drinks that replenish fluid reserves in the body - infusions and decoctions of medicinal herbs.

If you have a weak bladder, you can also warm yourself up with warm foot baths. In addition, personal hygiene rules, diet and optimal drinking regimen play an important role.

Whether or not to take a steam bath during cystitis is up to each person. It should be remembered that the disease is considered a serious and insidious ailment, however, its course can and should be controlled. To do this, you just need to follow all the doctor’s prescriptions and recommendations. If friends and acquaintances advise you to go to the bathhouse and take a good steam there in the steam room, citing the fact that heat will cure inflammation, then you should not do this. Heat is dangerous for acute cystitis, and the consequences of going to the bathhouse can be serious and sad. If there are no contraindications for visiting the bathhouse, then you can safely go to this establishment, beloved by many, where you can not only wash, but also get rid of stress and get a long-awaited recovery.

Methods of warming up.

Since hot baths and saunas are prohibited for cystitis, you need to look for other methods of warming up, which the attending physicians not only allow, but also strongly recommend.

Method No. 1

It is considered the easiest and most effective; you only need a bottle of hot water. If necessary, you can wrap the vessel in a towel or piece of cloth, and then warm the lower abdomen. A heating pad for cystitis, which can be electric or water, will have an equally good effect. Despite the simplicity of the procedure, you need to remember some rules and carefully follow them:

• the temperature of the heating pad should not exceed 40 degrees, as you can get burned;
• the procedure should not last longer than 20-25 minutes, since after this time the heat will begin to act not for good, but for harm;
• If after 20 minutes of warming up it does not help, you can apply the heating pad for cystitis again, but at least half an hour must pass.

Method No. 2

Take regular sand or salt, pour it into a frying pan and heat it thoroughly, and then pour it into a bag, cloth or even a regular clean sock. It is necessary to ensure that the temperature of the improvised heating pad does not exceed the permissible norm. Then apply the hot bag to the lower abdomen. Warming up with cystitis in this way, as in the previous one, is permissible for no longer than 20 minutes.

Method No. 3

This method has long been used in folk medicine and has proven itself to be very effective for cystitis in women. To implement it, you need to take a potato, boil it, crush it and put the resulting heated mass in a cloth or bag, and then apply it to the suprapubic area.

How does cystitis manifest?

Characteristic signs of cystitis are the following:

• lower abdominal pain;
• the appearance of a burning sensation;
• development of spasms during urination;
• frequent urge to go to the toilet;
• in acute forms of cystitis, the temperature often rises;
• the patient complains of the development of malaise;
• There may be blood in the urine.

It is believed that cystitis appears due to hypothermia. In this regard, traditional medicine experts recommend a course of warming up. There is an opinion that bath procedures are most effective for cystitis. However, doctors believe that the possibility of warming up in a bath depends on the stage of the disease. In some cases this is completely contraindicated.

Self-medication of cystitis is strictly not recommended.

Therefore, before starting procedures, you should undergo an examination and find out the causes of the disease.

Warm foot baths for cystitis

Instead of such a global procedure as visiting a steam room, you can organize a local steam room - we are, of course, talking about a foot bath. You can steam your legs if you have chronic cystitis rather than acute one. If you decide that a modest bath will not be something terrible during an exacerbation, then, again, you risk “pushing” the infection upward.

Remember: floating the lower limbs during an exacerbation is dangerous - the infection can go up, getting into the ureters and even the kidneys. But with a chronic illness, during a calm period, soaring your legs is not only allowed, but also necessary.

Foot baths - how to take them:

• Fill the basin with water 45-50 degrees;
• Dip your limbs into this water, add hot water if the main composition cools down;
• You can add your favorite essential oils or herbs to the water;
• After a foot bath, it is very important to wipe your feet dry and put on woolen socks;
• After the procedure, it is recommended to immediately go to bed, so it is better to carry out it in the evening.

Cystitis and solarium

It is not necessary to be particularly literate in technology to understand that the thermal infrared waves that underlie the operation of a solarium have a more effective effect on the body than a bathhouse or sauna. As for warming up, the effect of the latter is less aggressive. Warming up with a solarium is possible to a body depth of up to 4 cm and can reach 60 degrees in a short time.

A legitimate question arises: can this be useful for everyone, because deep heating can certainly affect various organs. Like any most banal device, from the simplest to the most sophisticated and popular, a solarium can be useful, but also cause irreparable harm.

You shouldn’t blindly follow newfangled trends and experiment on yourself. Like any procedure, solarium has its contraindications. He has more than 20 positions and a solarium for cystitis, in any of its manifestations, including.

Benefits and contraindications

It is recommended to stay in the steam room with this diagnosis when the acute phase is left behind. In case of chronic cystitis, steam will be beneficial in your case. But only one condition must be met - remission must begin on the days of visits.

In a situation where the disease is just developing or has reached its peak, it will be accompanied by fever, pain in the head, and weakness. It is definitely impossible to be in a hot room in such a state.

Cystitis with blood is also a reason why visiting the sauna is prohibited. An increase in temperature will dilate the blood vessels, which often causes severe bleeding. In such cases, consultation with a specialist is recommended.

You should not visit the sauna if cystitis with bleeding occurs during menstruation.

Effect of steam in acute inflammation

Staying in establishments such as bathhouses and saunas is allowed in case of acute forms, subject to one condition - entry to the steam room is closed. It is recommended to simply relax in the waiting room, drink tea with a decoction of medicinal herbs. It is allowed to take a not very hot shower and carry out cosmetic procedures related to caring for the skin of the body and face.

If the chronic form of cystitis is not currently active, going to the bathhouse is allowed. It is only forbidden to go out into extreme cold and douse yourself with ice water. In a word, you should not allow hypothermia. By observing all the simple requirements, you can enjoy and even benefit from the steam room.

Preventive measures and treatment

In order not to deprive yourself of the pleasure of visiting a bathhouse, you should take care of the prevention of cystitis: maintain intimate hygiene, do not have unprotected sex with strangers, do not get too cold, treat all infectious diseases (even those not related to the genitourinary system) in a timely manner, visit at least twice a year doctor

Treatment of the disease should only be carried out by a qualified healthcare professional. Based on tests and individual characteristics of the body, he will prescribe medications. The disease is usually treated with antibiotics. During this period, you need to take care of yourself and exclude any possibility of exacerbation of cystitis. You should not self-medicate.

Treatment of cystitis in steam rooms

Such an institution and the disease are considered mutually related concepts, but at the same time, the bathhouse is not able to fully replace medicinal drugs that can cure cystitis forever.

It is important to drink plenty of fluid to flush out the bladder. And when warming is added to such a treatment course, the process only speeds up recovery.

To increase the effectiveness of such visits, it is necessary to take special decoctions and drinks that can restore fluid supply.

It is recommended to take two shares of simple yarrow, add the same amount of bearberry, birch buds and calamus root.

A spoonful of this mixture is brewed in a glass of boiling water and kept in a water bath for about twenty minutes. The drink prepared according to this recipe should be drunk in four doses in the bathhouse.

Using the same principle, a decoction is prepared from corn stigmas, birch leaves, bearberry, and creeping leek roots.

For the next decoction, take bergenia roots, bear ears, blueberries, shepherd's purse, mint, strawberries, and birch buds. An excellent remedy can be obtained from St. John's wort, chamomile, hop cones, fireweed, taken in equal proportions.

To treat cystitis in a bathhouse, medicinal formulations are prepared. The requirements for their components are not as strict, and they do not have the same power as decoctions. But such a drink is quite suitable as a therapeutic agent. They are advised to drink directly in the steam room, replacing tea with such drinks.

Tea brewed from fresh or dried cherry cuttings is considered the most effective remedy. The drink can be sweetened with honey, but in small quantities.

An excellent remedy is a drink made from dill seeds. It must be ground in a coffee grinder, brewed with boiling water, and left for one to one and a half hours. They drink this infusion directly with the sediment, warm, in a bathhouse. This remedy is a good help not only for cystitis, but also for prostatitis. You can learn about the treatment of cystitis with dill from our material.

The drink is even prepared with parsley. Pour 100 grams of the plant into a liter of boiled water and leave for a couple of hours. The infusion should be drunk in the amount of one glass, twice.

Effect of heat on the body

Warming up is a procedure that has certain contraindications. It is known that heat has a positive effect on the patient’s organs, and when he visits the bathhouse, the painful syndromes and spasms inherent in cystitis disappear.

But all this is temporary, the pain will return again, and with much greater force. This is because high temperatures in the steam room help the development of microorganisms that carry infectious diseases. Exacerbation of inflammation can dilate blood vessels.

From all this it is concluded that staying in a steam room with such a disease is not recommended, the problem will disappear only for a while. However, there are cases when, in case of cystitis, a urology specialist himself advises taking a steam bath, at the same time following one recommendation - taking antimicrobial medications.

Is it dangerous to heat cystitis?

Since at the slightest pain a person begins to instinctively warm the stomach with his hands, the question of whether heating is effective for cystitis sounds very reasonable.

Heat helps relieve pain and spasms in the urethra and bladder, and also increases blood circulation, which helps the body fight inflammation.

Thus, the answer to the question of whether it is possible to heat cystitis is in most cases positive, but it is important to remember that every rule has its exceptions, which in no case should be neglected. Another very important nuance - the heat should be extremely dry, it is advisable to use an electric heating pad, it is better to use a water heating pad in very extreme cases.

In what cases should heating not be used?

Despite the fact that heat will help relieve spastic pain and improve well-being, sometimes heating the bladder with cystitis is strictly prohibited:

• if the patient has a fever;
• if the patient feels severe weakness and malaise;
• if there is hematuria, in which the urine contains a small amount of blood, which can sometimes be seen with the naked eye;
• if the patient is expecting a child, since during pregnancy, heat in this area can increase uterine tone and even lead to miscarriage;
• if a woman is menstruating;
• if the infection has already begun to rise up to the kidneys, then heat will only worsen the inflammation.

If none of these contraindications are observed, you can warm the stomach with cystitis to get rid of pain and reduce the inflammatory process.

Why is a bath recommended for patients suffering from cystitis?

• helps eliminate accumulated toxins, and a cleansed body is known to be less susceptible to inflammatory processes;
• the process is accompanied by contrasting procedures, and during hardening, as is known, the body’s protective potential increases;
• helps to relax, relieve stress, but it is stressful situations that are often the causes of body malfunctions;
• with the active removal of fluid, the work of the kidneys and urinary tract is activated; a “trained” bladder copes more effectively with inflammatory agents.

Thus, regular visits to a bathhouse or sauna in order to strengthen the body’s protective resources will be the best prevention of cystitis and other inflammatory processes.

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Contraindications

Absolute contraindications to visiting the bathhouse are:

• Infectious cystitis in the acute stage;
• Hematuria (presence of blood in the urine);
• Pyuria (presence of pus in the urine);
• Other diseases included in the list of contraindications to visiting the bathhouse.

There are also a number of relative contraindications. For example, age under 18 years, menstruation period, pregnancy and a number of somatic pathologies. In all cases, the advisability of visiting a bathhouse should be discussed with a doctor.

A detailed list of absolute and relative contraindications to visiting the bathhouse can be found here.

Features of visiting the steam room

To safely carry out bath procedures, you need to follow a number of rules that will help protect the body:

• visit the bathhouse with friends who can help with possible deterioration of the condition;
• stay in the steam room for no more than 5 minutes at a time;
• When the disease develops, it is strictly forbidden to drink alcohol;
• Do not douse with cold water, visit the pool after a steam room, or plunge into a cold river.

When the bath procedures are completed, you need to let your body cool down in the dressing room, dress warmly, and go outside.