Would You Bathe in Scorching Sand in the Name of Health? (PHOTOS)

Sufferers of rheumatism, joint pain, interfility and impotence seek treatment by being buried up to their necks in the sand in the Siwa Oasis in Egypt, near Dakrour Mountain, during the hottest time of the day in July and August, the hottest months of the year.

Sand bathers may stay in the hot sand for 8 to 15 minutes, and most complete one session per day for 3 to 5 days. Some continue treatment for up to 21 days. The treatment is often administered in tandem with massage. The bathers enter the sand around midday, when the sun and sand are at their hottest, Amusing Planet reported.

After their hot sand bath, participants enter a sauna-like tent, where they drink warm tea and are welcome to relax for as long as they wish.

Sweating by means of sauna and hot spring has been used as means of relaxation, physical therapy and detoxification for tens of thousands of years, but scientific evidence doesn't always support this. While heat therapy with the likes of heating pads is sometimes perscribed by doctors for the occasional aches and pains, the notion of ridding the body of toxins by sweating has long been debated. Health.com reports that efforts to cleanse the body by inducing sweating is not necessary; the main thing sauna-goers lose when they sweat is water.

However, local doctors and many patients claim that the hot sand treatments can cure many ailments, and in the past, the tradition has attracted many foreign tourists to the area. Hot sand bathing is also a treatment used in Japan, where it is touted to help with infertility, diabetes, anemia, asthma and back pain, according to The Telegraph.