5 Steam Room Benefits Compared to Traditional Saunas: Which is Best for You?
While saunas and steam rooms are both used for mostly the same reason, there are several key differences between the two types of rooms that are well worth knowing. Even more interestingly, there are several steam room benefits unique to either the traditional sauna or the steam room that may suit you better depending on when or why you’re looking to use the sauna. Let’s explore today the significant differences and unique qualities of the sauna and the steam room. Depending on why you’re looking to soak in the heat, or use a sauna for weight loss, we’ll guide you on making the right choice for your health needs.
Steam Room vs Traditional Sauna: Key Differences You Need to Know
There are several major differences between the traditional sauna benefits and steam room benefits. Those differences will be even more clear after a brief recap of what exactly steam rooms and saunas truly are.
What is a Traditional Sauna?
The word “sauna” is originally a Finnish word that is both a verb (“to sauna”) as well as the name of the place you take a sauna. Saunas have been around in Scandinavia since ancient times and spread throughout the world as cultural mixing became easier and easier in the world. The sauna bathhouse is traditionally built of wood and has two main rooms: one is a room with a wood stove for feeding a fire, and the other is a neighboring room where that heat is piped into.
The hot room is, of course, rather hot and can range from 70 – 95 degrees Celsius.
While this is the most traditional image of the sauna, there are many modern versions of this heating system that are both much more automated and less dangerous. Being that traditional Finnish saunas are built of wood and have a wood-burning fire raging inside; it’s not hard to believe that some poorly built traditional saunas have caught fire in the past.
The heat that goes into the hot room of a traditional sauna has no moisture in it at all. That means that on top of being rather hot, wood-burning saunas are also uniquely dry. Traditional saunas, however, have a classic method of kicking up the humidity when the dryness of the hot room gets a touch too mean. There is usually a bucket of water with a ladle in the hot room and a stack of rocks on top of the part of the stove in the hot room. When someone spreads water on the stones, that water immediately hisses and evaporates. That puts a brief shot of steam into the otherwise dead-dry sauna.
What is a Steam Room?
A steam room can be just about any small contained room piped in with steam making the room powerfully humid. There is actually a fair bit of debate as to where the steam room genuinely originated, but there are two major examples of steam rooms in the ancient world that most resemble the steam rooms we see today. First, consider the Turkish Hammam. Hammam refers to a long bathing process with several steps of scrubbing and massage before and after a good steaming, but the most important step is just that: spending time in a tremendously humid room.
The other example is from Ancient Greece. These steam rooms were much larger than the steam rooms we see today, capable of holding dozens or even hundreds of people at once. The Greek laconia and Turkish Hammam are unique in their own ways. But for the purposes of comparing a sauna to the benefits to a steam room, the Turkish Hammam and Greek laconia can all be treated the same. As a traditional sauna benefits vs steam room benefits are similar.
Health Benefits Unique to Traditional Saunas
There are several major health benefits that tend to show up more in the sauna. For a full view of the benefits of using a sauna, check out our detailed post dedicated to this topic.
The Sauna Promotes Cognitive Health
Saunas have several benefits that tend to show up more often than in steam rooms. The first of these effects is increased cognitive health. There are multiple studies that show regular use of a sauna can help prevent cognitive diseases like Alzheimer later in life. The studies further showed that the more frequently a person uses the sauna, the stronger those cognitive benefits appear in our lives. Similar to overall cognitive health, saunas have also been proven to help even out a person’s overall mood and attitude, according to a multi-decade Finnish study.
The Sauna Promotes Thermoregulatory Health
Because traditional saunas—especially wood-burning ones—tend to operate at higher temperatures than steam rooms, they provide excellent support for thermoregulatory health. Upon stepping into a sauna, the body immediately works to maintain a stable internal temperature. This process of returning to homeostasis is a powerful exercise for thermoregulatory function. Over time, regular sauna use improves the body’s ability to regulate temperature efficiently. Additionally, achieving homeostasis in a hot environment like a sauna can send positive signals to the brain, supporting mental health.
Steam Room Benefits You Can’t Ignore
Because the steam room benefits are so different to the traditional sauna benefits, there are actually several health benefits that are stronger in the steam room.
Steam Rooms Promote Respiratory System Health
Is a steam room good for a cold? This is a common question we hear when comparing the two types of saunas. The water vapour in a steam room is incredibly good for our respiratory system. The steam inside steam rooms naturally loosens the mucus and phlegm in our noses and lungs and, as a result, opens up our breathing pathways naturally. Taking a deep breath in a steam room is also a great way to counter dryness in the nose. There are multiple studies that show regular steam room sessions use can also reduce your risk of getting colds and other small sicknesses that involve the respiratory system.
Steam Rooms Promote Skin Health
It’s well known to anyone who has spent time in one that the skin feels extra refreshed after a visit to a steam room. Because steam rooms are so humid, the air around you aids your sweating in a way utterly different from traditional wood-burning saunas. Steam helps our pores give off more toxins and oils. While a person will still certainly sweat in a traditional wood-burning sauna, the humid environment of a steam room benefits to rehydrate the skin and give off a fuller glow after you soak in the steam. That glow in our skin comes about from a release of natural oils from our pores which also act as a natural moisturiser.
Steam Room Benefits Shared with Traditional Saunas
Luckily, many of the significant steam room benefits can also be achieved from regular traditional sauna use.
Saunas and Steam Rooms are good for our Circulatory Health
Because both saunas and steam rooms make us sweat, they are both extraordinarily good for our overall circulatory health. While saunas tend to run a bit hotter, there is evidence that shows both saunas and steam rooms are equally good for our circulatory health. When we step into either a sauna or a steam room, our heart rate goes up compared to when we aren’t in the heat.
There is evidence that shows our body is doing the most for our cardiovascular health, anywhere from 50-90 degrees Celsius; this range is possible for both saunas and steam rooms. As we spend more and more time in the sauna, our blood vessels will also help reduce overall inflammation and release endorphins that may make post-work sessions even more beneficial.
Interestingly, the reasons that saunas and steam room benefits our circulatory and cardiovascular health are actually slightly different. When we step into a steam room, the body instantly reacts to the humid environment and gives off a hormone called aldosterone. Aldosterone over a long period of time can help lower chronic high blood pressure. So the more frequently a person uses a steam room, the more frequently this certain hormone makes its way into our bloodstream. Aldosterone may also aid our overall ability to relax, hence why steam rooms are so relaxing.
Saunas, particularly wood-burning saunas, support circulatory and cardiovascular health in different ways. The dry heat of a traditional sauna can help reduce systolic blood pressure without the involvement of aldosterone. While the benefits of regular sauna use over time can help manage chronic high blood pressure, this can also be applied to steam room benefits, but through distinct mechanisms.
Saunas and Steam Rooms are Good for Our Muscular Health
For those using saunas for muscle recovery, both saunas and steam rooms provide equally beneficial environments. Individuals seeking to relax their muscles after a workout often turn to these environments for heat therapy. Whether in a sauna or steam room, muscles undergo significant relaxation when exposed to heat over 50 degrees Celsius. While there’s ongoing debate about whether the dry heat of a sauna or the humid environment of a steam room benefits muscle health, the bottom line is that both are incredibly relaxing and beneficial additions to a post-workout routine.
As discussed earlier, the circulatory system benefits from saunas and steam rooms contribute to muscle relaxation. Increased blood flow during sauna sessions ensures that oxygen reaches muscles more quickly, aiding in their recovery. This boost in oxygen delivery reduces muscle soreness and promotes overall muscular health, making both steam rooms and saunas valuable tools for post-exercise recovery.
Questions About Saunas and Steam Room Benefits
There are several major questions users ask regarding sauna and steam rooms benefits of either system. Let’s explore those here.
Should You Use a Sauna or Steam Room First?
If you are planning on using both a sauna and a steam room in one day, it’s natural to ask which makes sense first. While there’s no major health benefit lost by choosing one over the other, the sauna wellness community generally agrees on a common order: use the sauna first, followed by the steam room. However, it’s important not to go from one directly to the other. A good practice is to allow about 15 minutes between any heat session, whether it’s in a traditional sauna or a steam room, to let your body cool down.
After a sauna, it’s customary to jump into a cold lake or even a pile of snow. This contrast between hot and cold is part of the traditional sauna experience. After cooling off, a visit to the steam room can be an excellent way to relax. Alternatively, a cold shower between sauna and steam room visits is a good idea. If you’re fortunate enough to have access to both a sauna and steam room, it’s worth trying a post-sauna steam room visit for ultimate relaxation!
Is a Steam Room or a Sauna Harder to Use?
Depending on your health conditions, it may be easier to use a sauna or a steam room. For example, people with asthma or other respiratory problems have reported increased trouble taking deep breaths in steam rooms because of the high humidity. However, those new to saunas or steam rooms may find steam rooms more manageable since they are typically less hot than traditional wood-burning saunas. The dry air in a wood-burning sauna can be challenging for beginners, but adding water to the hot rocks can help ease the experience.
Both saunas and steam rooms have a learning curve. If you’re new to either, it’s a good idea to gradually increase your time in the heat over several weeks to let your body adjust.
Should You Use a Steam Room or Sauna After a Workout?
One of the most common reasons to use a sauna is as a post-workout cooldown. The good news is there is no downside to using either a sauna or a steam room after a workout. As long as you are properly hydrated, both the sauna and steam room will give you the relief you are looking for.
Another reason people take up saunas as a post-workout choice is because of continued sweating. With this in mind, there is a very slight reason to prefer traditional wood-burning saunas; this is because they are, on average, slightly hotter than steam rooms. But even the lowest temperature in a steam room is bound to make you sweat, especially after a workout. Further, there is new research that shows steam rooms benefits soreness in the days after a workout.
Sauna or Steam Room for Weight Loss?
Is a sauna or steam room better for weight loss? Both the sauna and steam room are equally able to help you lose weight … that’s because they both equally don’t help you lose weight. This is a long-running myth about saunas and steam rooms, which comes from a misunderstanding about how the body holds weight. While some of our body’s weight is indeed unwanted fat, a substantial amount of it is also water. When you sweat in a sauna or steam room, you are technically losing weight, but this weight is only the water on the outer layer of your skin that was set aside by your body to sweat out.
So while a person could conceivably weigh a kg less after taking a sauna, that kg will come right back after you rehydrate. So the next time you hear someone asking about a sauna or steam room for weight loss, know that the only way to genuinely lose weight is a well-balanced diet and regular exercise.
Which is Best for You: Steam Room or a Traditional Sauna?
While both a steam room and a traditional sauna have their unique benefits, the overall advantages are quite similar. Your choice comes down to personal preference. If only one is available to you, rest assured you’re not missing out on the benefits of the other. For instance, while the humidity of a steam room benefits dryness in the sinuses, you can create a similar effect in a traditional wood-burning sauna by pouring water over the heated rocks. Though some research shows that saunas may be slightly better for thermoregulatory health, both saunas and steam rooms contribute to improvements in cardiovascular health.
Ultimately, whether you choose a sauna or a steam room, know that your body is benefiting from one of the most natural forms of therapy available.
