Iyashi Dome
Infrared Sauna in Dubai

Relaxation, sleep and jet lag

The most common reason our patients book Iyashi Dome is to switch off. Lying still under dry, even heat for 30 minutes with your head in cool air lowers muscle tension in the same way a hot bath does, and the effect outlasts the session. The 2018 systematic review by Hussain and Cohen, covering 40 clinical studies, lists reduced stress and better subjective sleep among the reported effects of regular sauna use. The evidence is stronger for regular use than for a single session, which is why we recommend a course rather than one visit when sleep is the goal.

For jet lag the mechanism is simpler: an evening session raises core temperature and the drop afterwards is one of the signals your body uses to start sleep. Book the session two to three hours before the bedtime you want to keep.

Muscle recovery after training

Heat increases blood flow to skin and muscle; the pulse rate climbs by 30% or more and the heart pumps close to twice its resting volume per minute. That is the same reason a warm-up loosens muscles. Athletes in the review studies used sauna for recovery between sessions, with limited but favourable evidence for plasma volume and reduced stiffness. Iyashi Dome is a useful add-on the day after a hard session or a long run; it is not a substitute for a deep tissue or sports massage when a specific muscle is the problem.

Skin

Regular sauna users in the review showed a better skin moisture barrier, and sweating clears pores of the day's sebum and sunscreen. What you will notice is a flushed, soft, slightly plumped skin for a few hours after each session. Iyashi Dome does not tighten skin or reduce wrinkles; for that we use Infrared Body Skin Tightening on the body and NIR Infrared Facial Skin Tightening on the face, which deliver near-infrared at far higher energy into the dermis.

Water, puffiness and the scale

A 30-minute session can produce up to 1 200 ml of sweat, so you can weigh up to a kilogram less immediately afterwards and look less puffy in the ankles and face. The loss is water and salt and it returns with your next two glasses of water. If the puffiness is fluid retention rather than fat, Endospheres, pressotherapy or manual lymphatic drainage massage move that fluid mechanically and last longer.

Fat loss, detox and the claims we do not make

The manufacturer's figures are up to 600 kcal and a sweat volume comparable with a 20-kilometre run. Even taken at face value, 600 kcal per session over a ten-session course is under one kilogram of fat, and the clinical review found no evidence that sauna reduces body fat. We say this before you book, and our guide Does an infrared sauna reduce body fat? explains the numbers.

"Detox" is in the treatment's name because that is what the device is called in every clinic that uses it. Sweat contains trace amounts of metals such as lead and cadmium, but the amounts are far below what your liver and kidneys clear every day, and the Cleveland Clinic describes the research on sweating out toxins as still in its infancy. What the session does verifiably do is raise your temperature, your heart rate and your sweat rate for 30 minutes, and leave you relaxed. Our Iyashi Dome benefits, limits and safety guide sets out each claim against its evidence.

The device

Iyashi Dôme is a French company founded in Paris in 2004 by Shogoro Uemura, who adapted Japanese far-infrared "infratherapy" into a lie-down dome for spas and clinics. The dome emits long-wave (far) infrared, the part of the spectrum your own body radiates, so the energy is absorbed by tissue rather than reflected. The programme is fixed at 30 minutes in two 15-minute phases. Our unit is an original device bought from the official UAE distributor; we are happy to show the paperwork.

Infrared dome versus Finnish sauna

A Finnish sauna heats air to 80 to 100 °C at 10 to 20% humidity and you sit in it for 5 to 20 minutes. An infrared sauna works at 40 to 60 °C for 15 to 30 minutes, and cabin models used in US clinics run at 43 to 57 °C. Because infrared warms you directly, you sweat as much at the lower temperature but breathe cooler air. The systematic review found no difference in reported benefits between the two types; the difference is comfort and tolerance. People who cannot stand a hot sauna for more than five minutes usually complete the full 30-minute Iyashi Dome programme.

Infrared dome versus steam room

A steam room runs at roughly 40 to 45 °C with humidity near 100%, so sweat cannot evaporate and the skin feels hotter than the thermometer says. It is the setting most likely to make people feel faint. The Iyashi Dome is dry, your head is outside the heated space, and the session is timed. Our guide Infrared sauna or steam room: what differs? goes through temperature, humidity and who suits which.

Iyashi Dome versus our other body treatments

• Endospheres: mechanical micro-vibration rollers for lymphatic drainage and cellulite. Moves fluid; does not heat you. Choose it for swelling and skin texture on the legs and abdomen. - Arosha body wrap with pressotherapy: an active wrap plus compression sleeves. Measurable in centimetres for a few days; again fluid, not fat. - Clatuu fat freezing: cools a pinch of fat to destroy fat cells permanently in one area. This is the treatment for fat, with results at 8 to 12 weeks. - Ulfit and Zionic: focused ultrasound and radiofrequency that heat the dermis to tightening temperatures in a targeted area. Iyashi Dome warms the whole body by a degree or two; these heat a small volume to 60 °C and more. - LDM cellulite treatment: high-frequency ultrasound for skin quality and cellulite.

Iyashi Dome can be booked on the same visit as any of these, as a warm-up or a wind-down. Its own job is recovery, relaxation and a good sweat; the treatments above do the measuring-tape work.

Where the heat goes

Far infrared penetrates only a few millimetres, so it warms the skin and the blood passing through it; the rest of the body warms as that blood circulates. That is why the session takes 30 minutes rather than 5 and why the effect is systemic, a higher core temperature and heart rate, rather than local.