Most people have heard of a steam room or steam sauna and may have even tried it. On the other hand, infrared saunas aren’t as common, so fewer people know about them.
Essentially, they are quite similar, however understanding the differences can help you decide which one would better suit you.
If you enjoy a traditional steam room or sauna but find it too intense and uncomfortable, infrared saunas could be the perfect solution.
Below is more information on the three types of saunas and their key differences to help you make a decision.
What Are Steam Rooms?
A sauna steam room is airtight and made from non-porous materials such as glass or tiles. A steam generator boils the water to create a high moisture environment. Steam rooms are heated to be as hot as 45°C to 55°C, but they can even reach up to 70°-100°C, where the extreme heat and humidity create a “wet heat” that warms up the body.
Steam rooms stimulate the skin’s temperature to increase up to 42°C. The body’s response to this is heavy and intense sweating and an increased heart rate as the body works overtime to try and keep itself cool.
Steam rooms heat the environment outside of the body so that you get warmed from the outside in.
What Are Traditional Saunas?
A traditional sauna is usually a wooden building that uses a stove for heating. The heater gets the room to 60-100°C.
There are usually rocks on top of the stove that once hot, people can pour water over the top to produce steam.
The humidity level will vary: a traditional steam sauna found in Finland usually uses dry heat with a medium level of humidity of 10-20%, with some even climbing up to 100%. Ultimately, the higher the humidity is, the hotter the room will feel.
What Are Infrared Saunas?
Infrared saunas are generally wooden cabins that are equipped with infrared heaters that are set to 45°C to 60°C to stimulate an oil sweat, while they can also reach temperatures up to 80°C which would stimulate more of a water sweat.
The beauty of an infrared sauna is that you can usually spend more time inside because it is more comfortable, which in turn gets the body hotter than it would in a steam room or steam sauna.
Infrared naturally occurs from sources all around, in fact, we often feel this kind of heat through fire or hot sand on the beach that has been warmed by the sun. Invisible infrared wavelengths come from the sun that make us feel warm, and the sun is the biggest and most obvious source of infrared heat, so it’s safe if used correctly.
A full-spectrum infrared sauna has three different waves with different characteristics and ranges of frequency:
- NIR – near-infrared light,
- MIR – mid-infrared light, and
- FIR – far-infrared light.
Infrared saunas use infrared rays to warm the body similar to the way the sun does. The rays penetrate into the body, warming it naturally and effectively from within.
How A Steam Sauna Works (And The Benefits)
The goal of using a sauna is to sweat, to encourage the impurities and waste products to be released and effectively detoxify the body.
Combining excessive heat and humidity to create sweat isn’t exactly a pleasant experience. As a result, most people can only handle up to 20 minutes in a steam room.
On the plus side, regular use of a steam sauna can open up the lungs, clear blocked sinuses, and penetrate into your skin, opening up pores and detoxifying the skin.
The difference with infrared saunas is that it is a dry sauna that uses infrared waves which can penetrate deeper into the body than steam – up to 4cm through the skin reaching your core. The body’s temperature is thus increased from the inside, so deeper detoxification can be achieved on a cellular level.
Infrared saunas usually operate at a lower temperature than steam saunas, but a large amount of sweat will still be produced. Because the temperature is more tolerable than in a steam room, many people can stay inside for longer. Usually the longer you spend in a sauna, the more beneficial the session will be.
What Are the Health Benefits of Saunas?
Infrared saunas, steam rooms, and traditional saunas have relaxation and health benefits, like reducing stress and detoxification due to sweat.
While a steam room and traditional sauna heat the air around you, an infrared sauna makes use of advanced technology that warms your body directly. As your body absorbs this infrared heat, its thermal energy increases. Numerous health benefits result from this that aren’t afforded by steam saunas.
1. Infrared saunas can better relieve stiffness, and muscle and joint pain, as the heat penetrates up to 40mm, into the inflamed areas. Increased blood circulation means oxygenated blood reaches the muscles quicker and can remove metabolic waste faster, which helps them to recover.
2. Using infrared saunas consistently can encourage weight loss and minimise the appearance of cellulite. Warming the body from within raises its metabolic rate and can boost the metabolism’s effectiveness.
3. The deep intense heat raises the core temperature of the body which tricks it into having an artificial fever. This way, the body can naturally strengthen its immune system.
4. Studies indicate that using infrared saunas can regulate blood pressure and assist in preventing hypertension.
5. Infrared saunas are popular in Japan and Korea for “Waon therapy,” which fights against cardiovascular health conditions like peripheral arterial disease and chronic heart failure.
Key Takeaways
If you don’t have negative responses to humidity and can handle the intense heat, a steam sauna may be your preferred choice. It can open up the sinuses and lungs, open pores, detoxify the skin as a result of sweating, and lead to relaxation.
Infrared sauna therapy’s penetration is more than just skin-deep, so its effects are on a deeper level, too. Detoxification occurs cellularly, and improved blood circulation allows waste products to be removed faster so fresh, oxygen-rich blood can replace them.
Infrared sauna use can relieve muscle and joint pain, increase metabolism, strengthen the immune system, regulate blood pressure, and promote cardiovascular benefits.
In my opinion, infrared saunas are more approachable and easier to progressively increase your heat tolerance alongside other health benefits, so it is a better option for many people.
But at the end of the day, there’s no wrong answer. In fact, there’s also nothing wrong with enjoying a combination of each and experiencing both of their health benefits.
DISCLAIMER
The information in this article is for informational purposes only. No material is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your doctor with any questions you have regarding a medical condition or treatment before undertaking a new health regimen. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have read in this article.
Thumbnail Credit: Feel Good Nation
Michael Nguyen is the Director of Feel Good Nation. He was working in hospitality and nightclubs for over 10 years when he needed a change. His daily smile started to shift towards a smirk after the long nights starting from 11 pm and finishing at 7 am, dealing with drunk people.
One Friday, Nguyen tried his first float, finishing at 5:30 pm on one of the busiest streets in Sydney. Prior to the float, he was full of road rage, blasting music, and just bitter in general. After the float he realised he had nothing on, and drove home, with no music, no road rage, smiling and waving as people tried to cut in front, and had the best sleep of the year. It was at this point he realised he needed a change, and started to look more into floating and health in general.
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