The gym I joined recently has an infrared sauna and I was dying to use it, but hesitated because if my band. I called my Dr. who was unfamiliar with these saunas, so he couldn't recommend I use it. I was determined (just the kinda woman I am!) so I wrote to Inamed for the answer. Here is our correspondence:

<!---->Me:I had an Inamed Lap Band placed on 5/14/07. I need to know if it is safe <!---->to use an infra-red sauna with your lap band. I'm dying to try the sauna and would appreciate an answer to this question. Thanks!

Don Mills:

Feel free to sauna away. There is nothing that I know of in a sauna that could damage your band or port.

Of course it always a good idea to ask your surgeon about questionable activities.

Regards,

Me: Thanks very much for your prompt reply!

I'm sorry to bother you again with this, but I just want to make certain you know it is an infra-red sauna, not the dry heat sort. I have no reason to think it won't be all right, but I did check with my Dr. first and since he wasn't familiar with infra-red saunas he couldn't recommend I use one. That's why I wrote to you. :-) Thanks in advance for your help.

Don:

Well a little longer answer is...

The band is made of silicone which has a very high melting/degradation temperature, much higher that what the body could ever stand. Additionally, the band is well inside the body.

Not to be facetious...

But if the band were ever to be damaged by heat...that would be the very least of you problems.

In other words, you would never tolerate a temperature that would be high enough to damage the band. In fact you never even come close to such a temperature.

-----------

So he was not only helpful, but humorous! Anyway, I thought I'd pass along this info. I'm hoping it will help my arthritis.

Infrared sauna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Good for you for being tenacious! My family makes fun of me all the time because I always write places or call 800 numbers if I have questions. Unless I win the lottery, I'm pretty sure I won't have an opportunity to try an infrared sauna anytime soon but if I DO I'll be ready for it! =)

Thanks for posting! While I didn't think it could hurt anything inside of us, it's always good to hear it from the experts!