All About A Sauna: When, How Often, And What To Be Careful About

 

 

 

 

 

You can take a sauna in any season of the year. The ideal frequency is 1–3 times a week. Make sure you stay hydrated. Do not take a sauna when you are hungry or have just eaten. Never do exercises after a sauna session; just drink a lot of water and relax.

 

When and how often should you take a sauna?

You can take a sauna all year round, but most customers take it in autumn, winter, and spring when the weather is cold and warming up in a sauna is pleasing. However, taking a sauna in summer also has some positives – you can adapt to hot outdoor temperatures and sweating easier and handle entering or leaving air-conditioned spaces better.

 

You should take a sauna at least once a week to fully enjoy the positive effects of a sauna on your health. The maximum frequency is not set; some experts believe that healthy and strong individuals can take a sauna every day. We recommend taking a sauna 3 times a week as the optimum frequency because salt and minerals evaporate from your body during a sauna session, which could exhaust your body in case of daily sauna sessions.

 

A sauna session comprises 3–4 cycles of warming up in the cubicle and cooling down in a shower, pool or tub.
If you take a sauna every day, just do 1–2 cycles.

Preparing for a sauna.

Ideally, you should go to a Finnish sauna two hours after your last (bigger) meal; you should be neither stuffed nor hungry. Drink enough water before taking a sauna, and if you feel thirsty, drink also between the individual sauna cycles. Avoid drinking alcohol.

 

Before entering the sauna, take off all clothes and jewellery in particular, since they would heat up in the hot air and would burn your skin. Take off your underwear or swimwear, too, because bacteria would grow under it in the sauna. Preferably, you should only have a sheet or a towel, onto which you can lie or sit. Remember to take a shower and use soap before you enter a sauna.

How long should you stay in the sauna?

With a Finnish sauna, stay inside for about 15 minutes. Then, take a shower and cool down in the tub or bath with cold water. It is important to take a shower first because you leave the sauna in a sweat, which would quickly pollute the water in the tub. Repeat this process of heating up and cooling down 3–4 times.

 

With steam saunas, the process is quite similar. However, you do not need to cool down in a pool or tub since the air in steam saunas is not so hot. Just take a shower, rest for a while and go back to the sauna. With infrared saunas, do not repeat the cycle. One sauna session takes 30–40 minutes; then, leave the sauna and relax.

What should you do in the sauna?

A sauna session should entail relaxation and comfort above all. This being said, you should not take work to a sauna or be noisy (this applies to public saunas in particular). The best thing you can do is lie down on the bench, close your eyes, and concentrate on your breathing. We recommend breathing through your nose in the sauna.

 

Since a cycle in an infrared sauna takes more than half an hour, you can read a book there, for instance. You can equip your home sauna with a sound system to make your sauna sessions more entertaining.

What should you do after a sauna session?

When you are finished with the sauna, take a shower, put on a warm bathrobe, and drink a lot to stay hydrated. You do not need to drink water; supplement Vitamin C and other minerals, for example. Fruit or vegetable juice is also good. Avoid drinking alcohol and coffee.

 

If you do not drink enough after taking a sauna, you can have a headache. A headache can also appear if you were sitting in the sauna – your body had to compensate for large temperature differences between your head and legs. Therefore, you should lie down or sit with your legs stretched on the bench you are sitting on.

 

After the sauna, you should take a rest; just sit or lie. Definitely do not do sports or work out.


If you go to a public sauna, ideally, do not drive immediately after a sauna session because your reflexes are slowed down. Preferably, take a rest for at least an hour before you drive. Of course, this can be solved by purchasing a home sauna.

When you should not take a sauna?

Having a sauna is not suitable for people who have high blood pressure or problems with their heart, liver or kidneys. You should also avoid a sauna if you suffer from skin conditions (such as eczema or psoriasis) or have the flu, cold, fever or any inflammation. The high temperature could worsen your condition.

 

People with sensitive skin can come out in spots after taking a sauna. The spots are actually  "bruises" caused by blood spilt into the area beneath the skin from capillaries that burst due to the high temperature in the sauna. These spots disappear spontaneously within a few days or weeks. But if such spots tend to appear on your skin, you should preferably choose an infrared sauna over a Finnish sauna.

 

People often ask at which age one should not take a sauna. It is said that in Finland, even 14-day-old babies take a sauna. Still, we recommend not to start before the age of one; preferably, wait until the child reaches the age of 3. There is no upper limit; however, mind that elder people could have a heart condition or high blood pressure.

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