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“Both saunas and steam rooms increase your skin and core body temperatures, causing various physiological changes, but these changes happen a lot faster and with more intensity in steam rooms because your sweating responses are dampened, literally.” Two recent studies from Poland - a 2014 one on 10 men and a 2019 one on 10 women - show how steam rooms put extra stress on the body. “However, I would suspect that the health benefits are quite similar to dry saunas,” says Dr. Unfortunately, not as many studies have been done on steam rooms. Getty Images The health benefits of a steam room:

Hussain notes that sadly, the research needed to validate sauna use for particular ailments is lacking and tends to fall outside the scope of pharmaceutical funding. “Many of us in clinical practice think it might even be easier to get someone to follow a sauna regimen as opposed to, or perhaps in synergy with, an exercise prescription, especially with populations that have difficulty exercising.” Recent research shows sauna bathing may even help alleviate lower back pain, ease symptoms of depression, and reduce a person’s risk for dementia -but more studies are needed to confirm the results. “The range of benefits attributed to sauna bathing seem remarkably similar to those of exercise,” says Dr. Research shows that regularly spending time in a sauna (4 to 7 times a week for 20 to 30 minutes) can improve your cardiovascular health, lower your stroke risk, boost your immune system, help control blood pressure, aid in your body’s relaxation process, and provide opportunities for socialization. You may feel like you’re sweating more in a steam room, but the droplets on your body are more likely to be condensed water from the humid air than perspiration. “In a nutshell, both involve whole-body exposures to hot air, but dry saunas stimulate sweating and steam rooms reduce our ability to sweat,” says Joy Hussain, M.D., a physician in Brisbane, Australia, who has studied saunas. On the other hand, the temp in a steam room (also known as a Turkish bath) is usually between 110☏ and 120☏ with 100% humidity. Water can be sprinkled on a pile of hot rocks in the sauna to create some water vapor, but the humidity level may stay around 10% if no water is added (and then surpass 60% if it is). According to the North American Sauna Society, a traditional Finnish sauna is heated to 150☏ to 195☏.

The main differences between saunas and steams are temperature and humidity. What's the difference between a sauna and a steam room? These toasty rooms can be really beneficial to your health, so you might want to arrange time after your next workout to decompress in one. If you haven't taken advantage of either of them lately, now is the time to do it. If you’ve ever set foot in the locker room of a gym or fitness club, you’ve likely seen a dry sauna or steam room.
