With first warm sunny days, we intuitively want to spend much time outside and get a suntan. It’s no accident. From ancient times people used solar energy as therapeutic and preventive purposes, as the method climatotherapy. The name of the therapy of sun rays is heliotherapy. So, we will talk about what does heliotherapy mean and how to use it. As we know, sun rays have visible infrared and ultraviolet components. And each of them has its effect on the human body.
Our body needs sun rays for many reasons, one of them is production vitamin D, which is responsible for the absorption of calcium… The normal level of vitamin D is a health pledge, we were talking about its importance in the post about the connection of with vitamin and lack of sunlight during winter.
Another important function, which sun rays do to a human body, is promoting the expansion of blood vessels, so the body receives more oxygen, the work of the heart muscle normalizes, the pressure returns to normal.
Also, recently, UK scientists found out that under the influence of the sun, the pineal gland of the midbrain (epiphysis) produces a hormone melatonin that protects blood vessels from brittleness and prevents the appearance of atherosclerotic plaques.That’s why in summer time the number of deaths from heart attacks is significantly reduced.
Together with that, solar energy noticeably improves brain activity and stimulate the immune system. As scientific say – ultraviolet rays slow the growth of cancer cells. And people, who spend time in the sun very rarely, have a higher risk of getting cancer.
Under the influence of the sun, the muscles become more elastic, the metabolism in the body boosts, the food is processed more efficiently. Also, only under the gentle sun rays in the human body are produced endorphins – so-called hormones of happiness.
Indications and contraindications for using heliotherapy
For prevention many health problems, heliotherapy effects indicated to all healthy people, and especially to the inhabitants of the northern regions. Together with that, indications for the use of heliotherapy as a treatment are very wide, because sun rays are useful for a variety of diseases:
– many skin diseases (pyoderma, individual forms of psoriasis, etc.);
– chronic bronchial and lung diseases;
– hypovitaminosis D and rickets;
– chronic diseases of the gastrointestinal tract;
– tuberculosis of bones and lungs (without exacerbation);
– diseases of female genital organs;
– poorly healing fractures, wounds, and ulcers.
But if we already understand, what does heliotherapy mean, it is important to know the list of contra-indications to heliotherapy. As staying under the direct sun rays and sunbathing is prohibited at:
– organic diseases of the central nervous system;
– angina pectoris;
– acute inflammatory diseases;
– most of the endocrine diseases;
– hypertensive disease II and III stage;
– severe atherosclerosis;
– progressive forms of tuberculosis;
– blood diseases;
– systemic lupus erythematosus, and a number of other autoimmune diseases.
Rules to use sun rays with health benefits
– sun rays charge a person with positive energy, but sunbathing should be completed in the morning no later than 11 a.m. From this moment and up to 4 p.m., the appearance of the sun is undesirable. A favorable period for sunbathing is the time from 4 till 7 p.m.;
– apply sunscreen to the skin for half an hour before sunbathing, and every 2 hours and after bathing;
– be sure to cover your head and eyes when you are under the scorching rays of the sun;
– sunbathing is unacceptable on an empty stomach or immediately after a meal;
– during sunbathing, do not quench your thirst with cold drinks or alcohol;
– the period of swimming should be included in the total time spent in the sun, because under the water at a depth of half a meter the skin absorbs 60% of the radiation;
– do not try to get an excessive tanning: prolonged exposure to the sun, in addition to possible damage to health, accelerates the aging of the skin;
– being on the beach, it is more useful to move – to swim, do gymnastics, play ball. The movement promotes blood circulation and metabolism in the skin. Thanks to this, the tan on the skin will appear faster and more evenly.
And, in addition, I would recommend you to use the test of determining the sufficiency of a sunbath and make heliotherapy effects only good. When staying on the beach, you should periodically press your fingers on any part of the naked body irradiated with the sun, and if the skin has a white stain after pressing, you should leave the beach.