H2Glow water bottle on a cedar sauna bench beside a folded towel and a wooden bucket and ladle

Infrared sauna vs traditional sauna: what's actually different

What is the difference between an infrared sauna and a traditional sauna?

A traditional sauna heats the air in the room, and the hot air heats you. An infrared sauna uses emitters whose infrared radiation is absorbed by your skin and turns into heat there. Both make you sweat. Most of the long-term health research comes from traditional Finnish saunas, and infrared has a much thinner evidence base.

Part of the Glow Protocol guide. Start here: The Glow Protocol

Five things worth knowing

The difference is how heat reaches you. Hot air in one, absorbed infrared in the other.
The big long-term studies are Finnish, and they looked at traditional sauna habits.
Infrared has less research of its own. Applying the Finnish results to it is an assumption.
Both make you lose water and sodium in sweat, and both need replacing afterward.
The research tracked regular habits, not single sessions. The one you will actually use matters.

How each one heats you

Traditional sauna. A stove heats the room, and you sit in hot air. In the skin study cited below, the sauna ran at 80°C (176°F), in two 15-minute rounds.

Infrared sauna. Emitters give off infrared radiation, which your skin absorbs as heat. A review of far-infrared research describes the band as wavelengths of 3 to 100 micrometers, delivered by specialty lamps, saunas, and even fabrics woven with infrared-emitting ceramic particles. A separate review notes that in direct sunlight, absorbed infrared raises skin temperature to about 40°C (104°F). In a 2025 study of a portable infrared sauna, the sauna ran at about 66°C (151°F).

Steam rooms. These use humid heat. None of the studies in this article tested a steam room, so we do not compare them here.

	Traditional sauna	Infrared sauna
How heat reaches you	Hot air	Infrared absorbed by the skin
Temperature in the studies cited	80°C (176°F)	About 66°C (151°F), portable unit
Long-term population data	Yes, from Finland	Not in the studies cited here
Makes you sweat	Yes	Yes

Illustration of two seated figures: one in a sauna heated by a stove and swirling hot air, one warmed directly by rays from an infrared wall panel — *A traditional sauna heats the air around you; an infrared sauna heats the body directly with infrared rays. Illustration.*

Is an infrared sauna better than a traditional sauna?

None of the studies here compared the two directly, so "better" is not established. The strongest long-term data, linking frequent sauna use with lower risk of cardiovascular and all-cause death, come from traditional sauna habits in Finnish men. Infrared has a thinner research base. The type you will use regularly and safely matters more.

What the long-term research covers

The Finnish cohort. Researchers followed 2,315 men aged 42 to 60 in Eastern Finland for a median of 20.7 years. Compared with men who used a sauna once a week, those who went 4 to 7 times a week had a hazard ratio of 0.37 for sudden cardiac death after adjustment for risk factors. Similar associations appeared for fatal heart disease, fatal cardiovascular disease and death from any cause. Sessions longer than 19 minutes were linked with lower sudden cardiac death risk than sessions under 11 minutes.

This is an association in middle-aged men, not proof that sauna caused the difference. The authors called for studies of the mechanism.

The review of Finnish sauna bathing. A 2018 review summarized emerging evidence linking Finnish sauna use with lower risk of high blood pressure, cardiovascular disease and neurocognitive disease, and with relief in conditions such as arthritis, headache and flu. The proposed reasons include better blood vessel function, less arterial stiffness and lower blood pressure.

The systematic review of dry sauna. A 2018 systematic review found 40 clinical studies of regular dry sauna bathing, with 3,855 participants. Only 13 were randomized controlled trials, and most had fewer than 40 people. Most reported benefits. One small study, of 10 men, found disrupted sperm production that reversed after stopping sauna use. The authors called for better data on side effects and on the right frequency and duration for each type of sauna.

What we know about infrared specifically

The main source is a 2012 review of far-infrared radiation. It reports that this band stimulates cells and tissue in lab and in vivo studies, and the authors describe far-infrared lamps and saunas as safe, effective and widely used. That is the authors' view in a narrative review, not a long-term population study like the Finnish one.

A 2025 study showed a portable infrared sauna reliably made 15 young adults lose more than 2% of their body mass. That confirms it makes you sweat. It says nothing about long-term health.

Does a sauna dehydrate you?

It can, whichever type you use. Sweat is water plus salt. In a 2025 study, young adults sitting in repeated rounds in a portable infrared sauna at about 66°C reliably lost more than 2% of their body mass. After any session, the evidence says to drink more fluid than you lost and to replace sodium.

That study used a deliberate protocol: rounds of up to 20 minutes with 5-minute rests, repeated until each person hit a target loss. A relaxed single session is shorter. The principle still holds. A sports-nutrition review states that full recovery needs a volume of fluid greater than the sweat lost, plus replacement of electrolytes, particularly sodium.

A simple check is to weigh yourself before and after. Researchers use that change in body mass as their measure of fluid lost.

Full detail: What to drink before and after a sauna

Skin: what each type has been tested for

The only controlled skin study in our evidence set used a traditional Finnish sauna. It assessed 41 healthy adults aged 20 to 49: a group who used a sauna regularly and a control group who did not. The regular users had a more stable skin barrier, higher hydration in the outer skin layer, and faster recovery of water loss and skin pH after two 15-minute rounds at 80°C. It was controlled but not randomized.

An older review states that sauna bathing does not dry the skin and may even help psoriasis, but that sweating may increase itching in atopic dermatitis.

For infrared, the skin evidence is a caution rather than a benefit. A review of infrared radiation and heat on skin, written about sunlight, reports that both can contribute to premature skin aging.

Full detail: Does infrared sauna help your skin?

Which one should you choose?

If you want what the long-term research studied, choose a traditional sauna.
If you want heat at home, an infrared cabin or blanket is the practical option. See Sauna blankets: do they work?
If you pair heat with cold, see Contrast therapy: sauna and cold plunge.
Either way, start with short sessions, drink before and after, and skip alcohol. Alcohol during sauna use raises the risk of low blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm and sudden death.
Check with your doctor first if you have a heart condition, are pregnant, or take medication. One review lists unstable angina, a recent heart attack and severe aortic stenosis as reasons not to use a sauna.

What saunas do not do

They are not a fat-loss tool on this evidence. Researchers count the body mass lost in a sauna as dehydration, which is fluid to replace.
They do not meaningfully detox you. The kidneys and gut do that work.
They have not been shown to speed workout recovery. A 2025 systematic review of 14 studies and 194 people found the results uncertain.
Infrared has not been shown to match the Finnish long-term findings. That research has not been done.

Make it a Glow Protocol

Before. Drink normally through the day so you arrive hydrated.
During. Follow the time and temperature guidance for your sauna, and get out if you feel dizzy or unwell.
After. Replace what you sweated out: more fluid than you lost, with sodium, through food or an electrolyte drink.
Daily. Skin hydration is built every day, not only on session days. That daily layer is Step 0.

H2Glow is Step 0: the hydration layer underneath the routine. It does not make any device work better. See the full Glow Protocol.

Where H2Glow fits

Any sauna session costs you water and sodium. H2Glow is mixed into water and adds 300 mg sodium, 200 mg potassium, 150 mg magnesium and 515 mg chloride, so it helps with the replacement step. It also carries 250 mg sodium hyaluronate and 40 mg rice phytoceramides, aimed at the skin's own water content and barrier. It does not change how a sauna works, and no study has tested H2Glow with sauna use.

Frequently asked questions

Is an infrared sauna better than a regular sauna?

Not that research has shown. The long-term evidence comes from traditional Finnish saunas, and infrared has not been compared head to head in the studies cited here.

What is the difference between an infrared sauna and a dry sauna?

"Dry sauna" usually means a traditional sauna that heats the air. An infrared sauna heats you through infrared absorbed by the skin. Both make you sweat.

Is infrared sauna or steam room better?

None of the studies cited here tested steam rooms, so we cannot compare them on evidence. Choose the one you tolerate and will use safely.

How long should a sauna session be?

In the Finnish study, sessions over 19 minutes were linked with lower sudden cardiac death risk than sessions under 11 minutes. That is an association in middle-aged men, not a prescription. Start shorter and follow the facility's or maker's guidance.

Do infrared saunas have the same benefits as traditional saunas?

Possibly, but it has not been shown. The cardiovascular and mortality findings come from traditional sauna use.

Who should avoid saunas?

One review lists unstable angina, a recent heart attack and severe aortic stenosis. If you have any heart condition, are pregnant, or take medication, check with your doctor first.

Can you drink alcohol in a sauna?

No. Alcohol during sauna use raises the risk of low blood pressure, irregular heart rhythm and sudden death.

Do saunas detox your body?

Not in a meaningful way. Sweat plays a minor role in removing waste compared with the kidneys and gut.