Weird Sauna Side Effect (low Back Pain)

[Miltron]

I have access to a small dry heat sauna. The last six months I must have used it about 10 times. I do 15 min sauna, followed by a warm shower and another 10-15 min in the sauna.

I stop when I feel the heat stress, I sweat rivers, sauna temp around 95 Celsius (203 F). I fell good afterwards.

Every time, the next day my lower back feels weird, heavy, immobile and fragile. It takes 2-3 day with foam rolling to get back to normal.

I am 40 yo, in decent shape but I do have some lower back issues and low flexibility. Nothing major but I am always taking care to avoid certain things.

I did an extensive google search but I haven't found anything similar. I would like to up my use of cold and heat but it seems my body disagrees with that.

Any ideas?

Thanks.

 

[Inaut]

Kidneys working harder/detoxing maybe?

 

[Miltron]

Kidneys working harder/detoxing maybe?

Are kidneys related to lower back pain? It feels like a genuine back problem since I can't bent or rotate pain free. Once I tried 2 sauna sessions during the same week and symptoms got worse.

Never had anything kidney related cone up in bloodwork.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[RisingSun]

Getting dehydrated is putting strain on your kidneys

 

[nwo2012]

Perhaps water loss from the spinal discs is exposing underlying pathology.

 

[Miltron]

Getting dehydrated is putting strain on your kidneys

I see kidneys come up again. I do drink 2-3 glasses of extra water butI will try this next time, I will hydrate with one liter water before and one after sauna, plus extra electrolytes. See what happens. Thanks for the suggestion.

 

[Miltron]

Perhaps water loss from the spinal discs is exposing underlying pathology.

Interesting thought, are spinal discs so prone to dehydration?
Sauna is generally recommended for back pain, if disc fluid is so easily reduced then sauna would have had a big warning for people with back problems.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[Miltron]

I did a google search on kidneys & low back pain, my symptoms point to back problems.

Kidneys irradiate pain higher, many times one side only and also in the abdomen, and movement does not get the problem worse. This is not what happens to my case.

 

[nwo2012]

Interesting thought, are spinal discs so prone to dehydration?
Sauna is generally recommended for back pain, if disc fluid is so easily reduced then sauna would have had a big warning for people with back problems.

Thanks for the reply.

Perhaps not easily prone to it but if you already have some herniated discs or mild nerve impingement then even a minute loss in vertebral disc height could cause issues. Also your lumbar muscles may become more tight if dehydrated. You said you have poor flexibility so already tight muscles with poor ROM in joints. Are you drinking plenty of liquids following the sauna sessions?

 

[Miltron]

Perhaps not easily prone to it but if you already have some herniated discs or mild nerve impingement then even a minute loss in vertebral disc height could cause issues. Also your lumbar muscles may become more tight if dehydrated. You said you have poor flexibility so already tight muscles with poor ROM in joints. Are you drinking plenty of liquids following the sauna sessions?

I have an xray of my back but no MRI. No hernias or obvious pathology. The same believes my chiropractor. I drink a total of 3-4 glasses of water around sauna time. I will double that and report back. Thanks for the suggestion.