Every nation has a tradition that is happily supported in other countries. This happened with the hammam, which came to us from the East and almost immediately gained popularity. What is the difference between a Turkish hammam and a traditional Russian bath? And what should you know when going to a Turkish bath?
Warmth emanating from all sides, natural stone, often mosaics in a traditional oriental style - an environment ideal for relaxation. Due to the comfortable warmth and soft steam, breathing in the hammam is extremely easy; the pleasant microclimate of the Turkish bath is ideal for those who do not enjoy the heat.
A little history
The structure of a traditional hammam
Although exact information about the origin of the hammam has not been preserved, it is believed that such procedures first appeared in the Byzantine Empire. The peoples of the East who communicated with the Byzantines adopted this tradition. However, the use of hot steam in combination with dousing with cold water came a little later. It was believed that visiting the hammam affects the body and mind, female attractiveness and male strength.
The specific architectural style of the hammam was formed by the 12th-13th centuries. Like the Roman baths once upon a time, the hammam became the center of public life. Today there are hammams in almost every town in Turkey; in Europe, Turkish baths began to appear in the 19th century.
What is special about hamam?
There are neither the usual brooms nor a stove, without which not a single Russian-style bathhouse is complete. The steam generated in a special boiler is evenly distributed throughout the room; the high dome-shaped ceiling does not accumulate condensate; it flows down the rounded walls directly into the drainage system. How do the conditions in a hammam differ from the saunas we know or, for example, a Finnish bath? So.
- Temperature . On average, the air warms up to 30-50°C, this temperature regime is more comfortable for a person, moreover, the procedure in such conditions becomes possible for people who either do not tolerate heat well or are undesirable for health reasons. For example, heating in a sauna can reach 100°C or higher; staying at this temperature is contraindicated for patients with various diseases.
- Humidity – reaching 90-100%, it is the highest among those practiced in various types of baths and saunas. At the same time, the body does not experience stress, and there is no risk of drying out the skin and hair. Unlike a Turkish bath, the humidity in a Finnish bath reaches 10-20%.
Warm and maximally humidified air is the secret of a Turkish bath; thanks to the ideal combination of temperature and humidity, a special microclimate is created that has a beneficial effect on health.
Harm from visiting a Turkish bath
So, what in the hammam can have a negative effect on the body? It's all about the air temperature, 45°C, which is not low, and the highest air humidity - 100%. These two factors have their own pros and cons for your health.
Hot air is bad because it can lead to overheating of the human body. Moreover, heat coming from outside is less useful than internal heat:
The bad thing in itself is that the limbs get quite hot at a temperature of 45°C. But the most unsafe thing for any person is a fever in the head. That is why, at the slightest non-compliance with all the rules of steaming in baths, after the procedures many people begin to have a severe headache.
You can learn more about why you get a headache after a bath in the article
And that’s why in the Russian steam room it is customary to wear hats, and in the Eastern ones - a turban made of a towel, which many today neglect for the sake of a “beautiful appearance.”
The second point is excessively humid air. It is bad for the body because it further contributes to overheating. So, if a person has at least some problems with the cardiovascular system, a dangerous exacerbation will occur even at 85% air humidity.
But in fact, everything is dangerous only for an unhealthy body, with a weak heart and other problems. That is why there is such a thing as a contraindication.
Lose weight with pleasure!
The pace of life, snacks on the go, often not the best quality food, lack of time for sports - and now extra pounds have appeared. Heading to the gym? But intense physical activity, as a rule, does not evoke enthusiasm after a hard day at work. Try the hammam!
It turns out that you can lose a couple of kilograms in one session. During the procedure, metabolism accelerates and fat deposits are broken down. Temperature contrast, intensive soaping and massage also have an anti-cellulite effect.
How to go to the hammam correctly to get rid of extra pounds? Of course, to get the maximum effect, visiting the Turkish bath should be regular and combined with other methods, for example, with the same balanced diet or walking. Otherwise, the lost kilograms will return again.
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By the way, a good mood after the procedure is not an accident, since staying in the hammam increases the level of hormones responsible for the psycho-emotional state. In addition, the endorphins produced have an antidepressant effect. Agree, such weight loss for a person who is not a sports fan is much more attractive than intense training in the gym.
How much does an oriental fairy tale cost?
It is difficult to say how much it costs to build a hammam. The cost of construction depends on many factors: the cubic capacity of the premises, the materials and equipment used, construction and installation work. You should start by choosing a place for a Turkish hammam, consult with specialists, look at the prices on the websites of various companies that produce building materials and equipment for Turkish baths, and then decide on the amount.
A visit to the Turkish bath is a real holiday for body and soul. Washing, massage and conversations over tea in the hammam help to take a break from everyday routine affairs, restore physical strength and mental balance. A hammam built in your own home and with your own hands will become a favorite corner for the whole family and a pleasant surprise for guests.
Benefit for health
It turns out that hammam is an affordable way to improve your health. Under the influence of hot steam, the heart rate increases, blood vessels dilate, blood circulation increases, which more intensively delivers much-needed oxygen to tissues, including to the periphery.
When immersed in a pool or Jacuzzi with cooler water at the final stage, due to the temperature contrast, a kind of training of thermal adaptation mechanisms in the body occurs, and blood pressure normalizes. Regular visits to the hammam improve the ability to adapt to any weather conditions; in the future, the human body can easily cope with overheating or hypothermia.
In addition, when skin receptors are irritated, the nervous system is stimulated. A visit to the hammam is ideal for relaxation, apathy and irritability disappear, the quality of sleep improves, headaches and feelings of fatigue go away.
What to do if colds have become the norm in your life? A sharp change in temperature triggers the body's defenses, and a person is able to resist colds. Moreover, under the influence of temperature and humidity, the blood supply to the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract increases, a bronchodilator effect is noted, sputum discharge and gas exchange improve. The breathing rate may increase, which affects the volume of the lungs, and their ventilation improves.
Is it possible to go to the hammam if you have a cold, because one of the contraindications to the procedure is the acute form of any disease. Discomfort and sore throat become less pronounced, hot and humid air reduces swelling of the mucous membrane. However, if the temperature rises and the condition worsens, it is better to postpone visiting the bathhouse.
Improved appearance is another plus of the procedure
Photo of the Red Lake Detox Clinic
Warmth, humidity, and temperature contrast improve the trophism of the skin, affect microcirculation, and stimulate its protective, metabolic, and regenerative functions. Under the influence of heat, the pores on the skin expand; during procedures (cleansing and peeling), the skin is cleansed, moisturized and tightened, the functioning of the sebaceous glands is normalized, and acne disappears. Improving metabolic processes promotes rejuvenation, the skin becomes soft and elastic.
By the way, unlike other types of baths, in the hammam the hair is not at risk of drying out, which is important if it is brittle and dry. Moreover, soft steam normalizes blood circulation in the scalp, stimulating hair growth and improving its appearance.
What are the benefits of hammam for sports lovers?
People who are actively involved in sports have often experienced discomfort after training associated with excessive stress. To alleviate the condition, you can go to a Turkish bath. In combination with a massage, you can warm up and stretch your muscles, relieving pain. In addition, overstrained muscle tissue interferes with normal blood circulation, which leads to insufficient oxygen supply. Under the influence of heat, all processes are activated, tissues become more elastic, painful sensations recede.
In addition, you can go to the hammam with diseases of the musculoskeletal system; the microclimate has a beneficial effect on tissue trophism, activating restoration processes in bone and muscle tissue, and the condition of spasms and contractures improves.
Hygiene procedure? Relaxation? Pleasure!
And although hammams have not survived to this day in their original form, there are Turkish baths created taking into account ancient traditions. But in order to get maximum pleasure and benefit, you should follow a clear sequence of actions when visiting. Staying in the hammam is a whole ritual, consisting of five procedures in a certain sequence: warming up the body, massage, peeling, soaping and pouring, relaxation.
- To prepare for the procedures, there is a special room - jamekian - where the visitor leaves his clothes and shoes, dressed in a sarong or a sheet.
- Pestemal is a room where a person takes a warm shower for 15 minutes (approximately), which is necessary to cleanse the skin and prepare for further procedures.
- Chebek – here the body is prepared; for this purpose there is a special bed made of natural marble, on which the visitor sits.
- Hararet is a spacious marble room with a round shape, designed for deep cleansing of the skin. First, a steaming procedure is carried out, during which the pores of the skin open, followed by intensive soaping and rubbing using a goat hair washcloth - at this time, high-quality peeling of the skin occurs. When rinsing, warm and cool water are used alternately. The final stage is a soap massage.
- To recuperate after exposure to high temperatures, the visitor moves to the next room, where the temperature is lower than in other rooms. There are showers here, where you can lie down and enjoy aromatic tea.
- Finally, you should visit the steam room again, where an oriental master will give you a massage.
- After the session, you can swim in pools with water of different temperatures; in the classic version of the bath there are three pools: with a temperature of 45°C, similar to body temperature, room temperature.
After passing through all the rooms, the body, according to legend, is cleansed. Unfortunately, traditional baths are being built less and less often, since it is not always possible to find a place of suitable size. Therefore, in modern hammams there are often only three rooms intended for preparing, steaming and cooling the body.
Soap massage technique
Performing a soap massage involves using different types of soap:
Sometimes the procedure is performed using two types of soap at once. Black is used at the initial stage of the massage, and the main part of the procedure is performed with olive.
For a session, an experienced massage therapist uses two bars of soap: one is placed in a basin, and the second is grated to obtain a foamy solution. Then the basin is filled with hot water and the foam is whipped using a cotton bag.
The entire soap massage procedure takes no more than 20 minutes and includes three stages:
Preparatory stage
Before the massage, be sure to warm up and steam the body in the steam room. It has a special comfortable microclimate that tunes muscles and joints to relax.
The stone table on which the patient lies retains heat for a long time, lying on it is pleasant and comfortable. All pores on the skin open and the activation of metabolic processes accelerates, and toxins come out.
Main stage
A soap solution is applied to the client's heated skin and circular massaging movements are performed starting from the shoulders and ending with the limbs. The following techniques are used during the massage: stroking, vibration and kneading.
Soapy relaxing massage can be applied to the whole body or to a specific part of it. To prevent the head and heart area from overheating, the specialist pours water on them during the procedure. During the session, a special glove is used - when it comes into contact with the body, maximum exfoliation of dead skin particles is achieved.
Important! In Thailand, a similar procedure is carried out using brooms or hard sponges.
Recovery stage
At the recovery stage, active movements are replaced by relaxing and stroking movements. Then the client washes off the foam and enjoys a cup of tea or hookah while listening to soothing music. Cosmetologists recommend applying nourishing creams, essential oils or masks to the body. Pleasure from the procedure is guaranteed.
How to go to the hammam
There are several rules that must be followed when visiting a Turkish bath.
- Before the procedure, avoid alcohol, fatty and fried foods; This way you can avoid unnecessary stress on the body.
- A sarong or a sheet made of natural fabrics is intended for the procedures
- Before you lie down on the massage bench, you need to lay a towel.
- There are separate rooms or hours for ablutions for men and women.
What should you take with you when going to the hammam? All you need are bath shoes, two towels - for the body and to cover the bench, and a sarong. However, all this can be obtained in the bathhouse.
How often can you go to the hammam? And if every day, won’t the load on the body be unnecessary? A person should be guided by his feelings and state of health. To maintain tone, visits can be weekly. For colds, frequent stressful situations, insomnia, etc. the procedure can be performed more often. If you play sports, then it is right to go to the hammam after training in a fitness club or gym. In this case, you should wait until your pulse, breathing and blood pressure return to normal.
And if you go to the hammam often, how much time can you spend there without harming your health? If staying in a room with high temperature and humidity does not cause discomfort, then bath procedures should be given at least one and a half hours. However, visiting a hammam in the East has always been considered a source of pleasure, going beyond the scope of a hygienic procedure. For example, eastern women could spend the whole day there, and most of the time was devoted to communication and tea drinking.
Contraindications
As with any healing method, there are a number of contraindications for visiting a bathhouse that must be taken into account when choosing a healing method. Hama is contraindicated if there is:
- increased temperature, high or low blood pressure;
- exacerbation of a chronic disease;
- presence of cancer;
- mental disorders, epilepsy;
- infectious and fungal diseases;
- severe diseases of the cardiovascular, respiratory, urinary systems;
- bleeding and open wounds.
The session is also contraindicated on an empty stomach or immediately after eating. As for pregnancy, you can go to the hammam starting from the second trimester. However, at any time it is better to refuse to stay in the steam room. In addition, women often have a question: is it possible to go to the hammam during menstruation? In this case, you should postpone visiting the bathhouse, since staying in the steam room can provoke increased bleeding, and pressure changes are also possible.
When are they contraindicated?
Women on their period, pregnant women in the first and last trimesters, people with serious heart and vascular diseases should refrain from visiting any bathhouse. But the sauna has a more intense effect on the body, and therefore has more contraindications. It should be abandoned in the following cases:
- Exacerbation of diseases and heat intolerance.
- ARVI with high fever.
- Weeping and purulent skin diseases.
- Malignant tumors.
- Convulsive seizures and various forms of epilepsy.
- After head injuries and surgeries.
- Rheumatism with dysproteinemia, active corticosteroid therapy.
- Tumors and sclerosis of the kidneys with dysfunction, chronic glomerulonephritis.
- Inflammation of the peritoneum, diarrhea, subacute diseases, colitis, chronic hepatitis.
The effect of hammam is more gentle, so there are fewer contraindications. These are diseases:
- Respiratory system (severe).
- Thyroid and varicose veins.
- Oncological.
- Inflammations on the skin.
Where can I find a hammam?
Today you don’t have to go to Turkey to go to the hammam; fitness clubs, spas, health centers, and sanatoriums offer this service. Of course, the choice of materials and approach to the construction of premises is much simplified, although the interior decoration is still done in an oriental style. However, the fullness of sensations, as a rule, remains high.
Moreover, today a small-sized Turkish bath can be equipped in a house or even an apartment; it is enough to purchase a steam box equipped with a steam generator, which is controlled by an electronic control system. Despite the simplified design, steam, as a rule, is produced of high quality, while energy costs are well within the limits of household electrical wiring.
However, for connoisseurs of Turkish baths, the hammam is not just a place for hygiene procedures. This is a wonderful opportunity to relax, relax and meet friends. Therefore, when going to the hammam, choose a time that you can fully devote to pleasure without compromising unfinished business. It is impossible to get the maximum benefit for the body or pleasure if your stay in the hammam is accompanied by a rush. In the end, you can just wash yourself at home, but that’s not the main thing for us!
Oksana Matiash, general practitioner
Design stages
From an engineering point of view, building a hammam is quite difficult and it is not cheap. Therefore, the project must be thought out to the smallest detail.
To avoid errors and mistakes, the design process is divided into two stages:
- Modeling a steam room in 3D format and coordinating the layout of the hammam with the customer.
- Drawing up and concluding a construction contract, and creating a Turkish steam room project.
The development of a Turkish bath project begins with the choice of the place in which it will be located. Then they think about how to arrange the heating system, since the heat in the hammam should come not only from the steam generator, but also from all surfaces in the room. Then the sewer and water supply systems are thought through. It is necessary to decide whether they will be centralized or autonomous. After this, the ceiling and space of the hammam room are planned. When planning the space, they work on the organization of the shower area and the arrangement of furniture. The final design step is the selection of building materials.
In the process of designing a hammam, a large area of work is devoted to drawing up drawings and other documents.
All necessary documentation for the project includes:
- technical description of the project;
- a note with explanations;
- measurement plan of the premises;
- general plan of the structure;
- ceiling plan;
- equipment layout;
- layout of surfaces for sitting and lying;
- electrical diagrams, including a plan for the location of lamps, sockets and switches;
- drawings with water supply, sewerage and heating systems;
- layout of the ventilation system ducts;
- finishing sheet;
- description of materials that will be used for finishing;
- visual model of the designed hammam;
- construction cost estimate;
- instructions with recommendations for use.
