Saunas are sanctuaries for well-being across the globe, honoring ancient traditions and embracing innovation. From a sauna built in a ski gondola high above the Finnish mountains to an Andean sauna made of eucalyptus leaves and an Indian sweat lodge carved into the rock, these hot rooms are as stunning as they are soothing—and many offer a wealth of health benefits, from pain relief to improved sleep and more. See here

The deep heat of a sauna causes your skin to perspire, which in turn raises your core temperature and heart rate. But medical research shows that when you cool down in the sauna, your blood vessels relax and dilate and your heart rate sinks back to normal. Over time, this can lower your risk of a heart attack and improve your heart health. And for people who have vascular disease, regular sauna bathing can reduce symptoms and improve exercise tolerance.

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A sauna can also relieve musculoskeletal pain by relaxing tight muscles. A study of rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis found that sauna use led to less pain, stiffness, and fatigue over four weeks. An older study found that patients with chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis experienced greater improvement in their condition after using a sauna than controls did.

While most sauna studies have used traditional Finnish saunas, there is growing interest in infrared saunas, which use light instead of steam to increase body temperature. Some early studies have shown that these saunas can lead to similar cardiovascular and musculoskeletal benefits as traditional ones, but we need more data before we know if they are as effective in treating other conditions.

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