When you say the word sauna, think of it more like a shorthand for a whole world of bathhouses with their own nuances and differences with histories that go back centuries. But today, there are three key types and kinds of saunas that the modern person has easy access to. Depending on why you’re looking to use a sauna, there are actually concrete and proven reasons why one type of bathhouse may be better suited to your needs rather than another. It is a big benefit to understand what makes one type of sauna different from another, especially if you are thinking about joining a new public club with sauna facilities or if you are looking to install a new sauna in your home or on your property. In that case, let’s look into the different types of saunas one by one and weigh each of their unique benefits.
Table of Contents
An Overview of Each Type of Sauna
Before even starting the journey looking into the benefits of each of the different types of saunas, let’s first lay down the key information about each of those sauna styles. Knowing these key distinctions ought to be your first step when it comes to learning about the nuances of sauna styles.
Characteristics of Traditional Wood-Burning Sauna
The traditional wood-burning sauna is what most people think of when they hear the word ‘sauna’. Finnish in origin but now found all over the world, these are the little wooden huts with a wood stove and smokestack that have made saunas look so cozy and peaceful. Of course, wood-burning saunas don’t have to look like fairy tale wood cabins anymore. Today’s wood-burning saunas can be made out of wood, brick, or masonry. Further, those looking into making classically-inspired saunas like this ought to think twice about using untreated or unfinished wood, as this is the least resilient material for making your sauna. The resiliency of a sauna was less of a problem for Finland back in 7000 B.C.E. which is when it is believed some of the earliest saunas were built.
Wood-burning saunas are generally made of two connected chambers. One is the room that the wood-stove pumps heat into and the other is the room where you can load wood into the stove. The hot room will generally have multiple benches at different heights in the room. The higher the bench you choose, the more intensely you’ll feel the heat. Another key unique part of the traditional wood-burning sauna is that every sauna that follows the Finnish tradition will have a bucket filled with water in the same room as the sauna-goers. While a notice may think that water is used for cooling down, especially hot bathers, it would be a big mistake to drink or wash off with that water. The water in the bucket is strictly for spreading over the top of the wood stove in the sauna. There is traditionally a large stack of hearty rocks on top of the wood stove. By splashing those rocks which have been heating to the same intensity as the stove itself, most of the water will instantly turn into steam and slightly cool down the entire sauna.
Characteristics of a Steam Room
Steam rooms heat up thanks to very large water boilers that are generally stored reasonably far away from the steam room itself. Water boilers today are generally electric today but very old school water heaters actually sometimes used wood-stoves similar to wood-burning saunas. So, while a traditional sauna will use steam only to cool down the air occasionally, steam rooms use that same steam to actually heat the room as a whole. The result is that the air in a steam room is humid and holds in heat easier. In the same way that humid climates generally feel hotter than dryer climates, the same can be true for steam rooms. Even though wood-burning saunas consistently run hotter than steam rooms, it’s not uncommon to hear people say that they believe steam rooms are actually the hotter of the two.
Characteristics of an Infrared Sauna
Our last and most recently created class of sauna is the infrared sauna. While the two previous styles of sauna have been around for several centuries in one form or another, the first functional infrared sauna was shown to the public in 1893 at the Chicago World Fair by inventor John H. Kellogg. Even though this type of sauna is relatively young, that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have the same popularity as the other types! Infrared saunas became common in gyms and sports clubs in Europe and North America during the 1970s and 1980s but have actually become very practical for home installation because of their compact form factor.
Infrared saunas are often composed of two key elements: a seat for the sauna user and a combination of several powerful light bulbs with the ability to give off heat. Those lights, when used in combination, radiate heat from their cathodes directly onto the body which actually emulates the dry heat of a traditional wood-burning sauna.
The Unique Benefits of Each Type of Sauna
Now that we have the basics out of the way, we are more than ready to take on the task of sorting out each unique benefit for the different types of saunas.
Unique Benefits of Wood-Burning Saunas
There is quite a bit to talk about when it comes to the benefits of wood-burning saunas, as the most research has gone into this style of sauna.
Wood-Burning Saunas are Good for Cardiovascular Health
It is well-documented that traditional wood-burning saunas are actually uniquely able to engage the heart and promote good heart health just by spending time in one habitually. The key reason that spending time in the sauna is good for your heart is that the human body reacts to the dry heat of a wood-burning sauna in a unique way.
The moment your body steps into a hot sauna, your nervous system immediately sends an alert to the brain telling it exactly that. Once the brain thinks that the body has a chance of overheating, several key actions happen in the body. We’ll get into each of those key actions later in this section, as several have specific health benefits of their own. But the fuel that makes all of these quick changes in the body possible is a change in heart rate that happens at the same time. The brain gives the heart and the circulatory system the green light to increase the pump rate of the heart in a healthy way that will help aid quicker acclimation to the temperature change.
While this change in heart rate isn’t as serious as the changes you would see in something like sustained aerobic exercise, it is still serious enough to make a real change in your heart health if regularly taken on.
Wood-Burning Saunas are Good for Immune Health
As explained above, the brain gives the starting whistle for the body to start making adjustments to the heat of the sauna. One of the big changes in the body that happens in the sauna is that the endocrine system begins to produce a type of protein called a heat shock protein. Heat shock proteins aren’t actually created with the first intention of aiding the immune system but rather with keeping the body cool, as the name would imply! Heat shock proteins have a unique chemical makeup that helps them cool down the parts of the body that they rest near. So, when the body thinks there is a chance it could overheat (like when you spend time in the sauna), it begins to produce these proteins.
Especially when the body starts to get sweaty, the production of heat shock proteins really kicks up. But just as well, by the time that the body is sweaty, this is likely the marker that your sauna session is maybe half over if not more. When you eventually leave the sauna, the body will still have several unspent heat shock proteins that can’t serve their primary function now that the temperature outside the body has returned to normal. There, however, aren’t many things in the world more efficient than the human body and this remains true in the way that it deals with unspent heat shock proteins! After the body is at normal temperature, heat shock proteins are naturally attracted to the body’s immune system and actually reinforce its strength.
While the effect of heat shock proteins on the immune system will likely be minimal at first, it is more than possible to make a real difference in your immune health if you make sauna use a genuine habit. And even better, every time you engage your body enough to make the proteins, your body becomes more efficient in producing them in the future.
Wood-Burning Saunas are Good for Mental Health
The massive undertaking the body kicks off in the sauna doesn’t go uncelebrated after you leave the sauna. Once your body has returned to normal resting heart rate and the outside temperature isn’t engaging the nervous system, the nervous system and the brain agree to release a small amount of dopamine into the bloodstream. This dopamine biologically speaking is a reminder to the body that it performed well. By releasing it, the body will perform the same process even more efficiently in the future. But a pleasant side effect of dopamine release is general mood improvement! While the release of dopamine that comes about after a sauna visit isn’t extraordinarily large, it is actually quite similar to the release that happens after a good workout!
Wood-Burning Saunas are Good Paired with Exercise
Going into a wood-burning sauna directly after a good workout has two key benefits that will both extend the value of the workout just passed and get the body ready for the next one. Let’s first get into why wood-burning saunas are the best choice of locale for post-workout relaxation.
In the moments just after a sustained cardiovascular workout, the body is indeed still running a heart rate above resting for quite some time. All of that time spent above a resting rate is incredibly good for your cardiovascular system and the longer a heart rate stays up within reason, the better. So instead of cooling down on a bench in the ordinary air, consider instead testing out a sauna. For reasons we’ve explained above, saunas are more than capable of raising the heart rate above its resting level. This means that if you pair a hearty workout with a good trip to the sauna, you will be giving your body a meaningful final push to your health that could make a key difference in your output if your sauna habits stay consistent.
And on top of all of that, spending time in the sauna can actually help your body hold off muscle soreness as well! It’s true. Simply by spending time in the sauna, you can help your body naturally restore your muscles and hold off soreness. This process happens because once the body’s heart rate has increased in the sauna, your blood flow increases in turn. As more and more oxygenated blood passes over muscles that have recently been worked out, those muscles are actually repairing the microscopic tears on their surface which is normal in exercise. While all types of saunas are good after exercise, wood-burning saunas bring the greatest effect.
Unique Benefits of Steam Rooms
While it may look like other types of saunas have all the benefits one could ever look for in a bathhouse, there are still several good reasons to seek out a steam room.
Steam Rooms are Good for Skin Health
Regarding skin health, some sauna experts may be surprised to see skin health being tied to steam rooms rather than old school saunas. There is a good amount of research that shows old school saunas are rather good for skin health but every reason that they benefit skin health is actually even more true in steam rooms! Any sauna that can get you sweaty is good for skin health because the body releases natural oils and compounds while you sweat which are very helpful for restoring the natural shine and health of your skin.
But a key benefit that steam rooms hold which can make a big difference in your skin health is the humidity in the air. Humidity is actually very helpful for keeping our skin elastic and away from a state of being too dry. By making regular trips to a steam room, you can conceivably boost your skin health two-fold. Especially if you live in an especially dry or cold climate, the humidity of a steam room could easily make a big difference in your skin health.
Steam Rooms are Good for Sinus Health
Because of the humidity in a steam room, these bathhouses are uniquely good for clearing out and restoring the sinuses, which is unique compared to the other types of saunas. By spending time in a steam room, you are functionally giving your sinuses access to the same environment as a room with a humidifier. Each deep breath into your nose or mouth will begin to hydrate the build-ups in your sinuses and nasal cavity and make it easier to dislodge them later.
One thing worth noting about steam rooms and sinus health is that if you are dealing with a serious illness, you should ask a medical professional before taking on steam room therapy to clear out your sinuses. The heat and intensity of a steam room can easily overwhelm a sick person.
Unique Benefits of an Infrared Sauna
Being that the heat of an infrared sauna is functionally similar to that of a traditional wood-burning sauna, several of the key benefits between the two are actually the same. But, at the same time, there are some unexpected other benefits that you should take to heart when thinking about infrared saunas.
Infrared Saunas are Good for Solo Bathers
While steam rooms and traditional wood-burning saunas are both built with many bathers in mind, using an infrared sauna is a great choice for those looking to spend time in the sauna alone. Many people use the sauna environment for reflection and relaxation. And while there is also an equally large number of people who use saunas for community building, it can be nearly impossible to do both at the same time.
If you are perhaps getting over an illness or just want to spend some time with yourself and the heat of a sauna, it’s unquestionable that you’ll find the most luck in an infrared sauna.
Infrared Saunas are Good for Deep Tissue Stimulation
Because infrared saunas heat up the body a bit differently than the other types of saunas, it’s fair to expect that the body will take in that heat a little bit differently too. Specifically, the heat from infrared saunas is actually able to bypass the skin significantly more than any other kind of sauna. So while the heat is indeed still dry like a wood-burning sauna, more of your deep tissue is actually able to benefit from the heat of the sauna when you use infrared.
Why would you want to stimulate your deep tissue? By engaging your deep tissue, you are actually easing blood flow and improving your overall tissue and muscle health. This is why deep tissue massages have become so popular in recent years. While an infrared sauna won’t massage your deep tissue, by spending time under the radiation lamps, you are actually encouraging the same kind of blood flow that people are looking for in a massage.
Infrared Saunas are Good for Small Spaces
Once again, compared to the other two main types of saunas, infrared saunas have a major unique benefit: they are comparably quite small. This is probably the best type of sauna for home use. While the two other classes of sauna require an entire enclosed room to get their heat going, infrared saunas can be installed in a home gym or just about anywhere in a normal sized house with ease.
Conclusions on the Unique Benefits of the Types of Saunas
While some of the different types of saunas are better at bringing out certain benefits compared to others, it is worth noting that all three types of sauna are incredibly good for your health all the same. So, while it’s true that someone with sinus trouble may find better relief in a steam room or someone looking to hold off muscle soreness may find their relief in a wood-burning sauna, that doesn’t mean that using one type over another puts you at a disadvantage! The most important part of your sauna journey is finding the type of sauna that makes you feel the most content and likely to return.