Saunas vs. Steam Rooms: Benefits, Risks and How to Use Each (2025)

Saunas and steam rooms act in very similar ways, providing passive heat exposure to the body, but they are not interchangeable. Both offer their own pros and cons to your health, and choosing between the two can make a difference for how you feel and function.

A sauna is typically a dry heated room, heating up to 80-100C (176-212F). Steam rooms, on the other hand, are moist heat, which only deliver a temperature of 40-50C (104-122F), but near 100% humidity.

As dry heated rooms, saunas are very good for cardiovascular health, and are commonly associated with longevity (based on Finnish roots). In the short-term, saunas offer improvements in blood pressure and endothelial function, shown in clinical studies. (Source)

Steam rooms offer moist heat, which are great for opening up your airways, providing skin hydration and short-term relief to congestion and even bronchitis symptoms. Many claim that steam rooms help the body in broader cardiometabolic function, but data is still limited in this area. (Source)

Based on JAMA network internal medicine research (Source), frequent use of saunas are associated with reduced sudden cardiac death, CHD/CVD mortality, and all-cause mortality in middle-aged adults.  These results are based on a test done on 2315 adult men aged between 42-60 years from Finland. These examinations, carried over a total 5 years and then followed for up to 20 years, showed various rates of SCDs (sudden cardiac deaths), CHDs (coronary heart disease), CVDs (cardiovascular diseases), and all-cause mortality events and their reduction based on sauna bathing.

Out of 2315 adult men, 601 participants had sauna bathing sessions 1 timer per week, 1513 participants at 2 to 3 times per week, and 201 participants at 4 to 7 times per week. Comparing the numbers of SCDs, CHDs, CVDs, and All-cause mortality in each group, we see a regular downtrend in total fatal diseases as the number of weekly sauna bathing sessions increased. The most drastic being the difference between 49.1% of men with 1 sauna session facing all-cause mortality events version 30.8% in adults with 4 to 7 sauna sessions.

In addition to number of sessions, the study also looked at time spend per sauna session. Similarly, we see a continued benefit in increasing sauna time per session, comparing sessions of less than 11 minutes, sessions between 11 to 19 minutes, and finally sessions that lasted longer than 19 minutes.

Overall, the study concluded that increased frequency and time of sauna bathing can be associated with a reduced risk of SCD, CHD, CVD, and all-cause mortality.

Other studies from groups like the Cardiovascular and Prevention Centre at the University of Montreal (Source) and Sport and Health Sciences of the University of Jyvaskyla, Finland (Source) show that adding sauna sessions to regular exercise routines, normally post-exercise, showed improvements in hypertension, markers of endothelial function, and general cardiovascular function compared to exercise alone.

Meenu Singh et al from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, India (Source) shares an interesting study on the effects of heated and humidified air on the body. With a total of 387 participants in their goal to understand steam room effects on the common cold, they found that the environment can effectively loosen mucus and ease breathing during cold or bronchitis systems. They learned through varied participant results that the effects were typically short-term and had mixed results when it came to curing infection.

WebMD (Source) shares an interesting post where they share clinical summaries that note muscle relaxation and circulation increases after workouts due to steam room use.

Overall, the total research done on steam rooms are much less than saunas, and to match that, the evidence points towards significantly more health benefits from sauna bathing compared to steam room use.

Sauna Bathing vs Steam usage can have varied usage in your general health and routine. To best utilize their respective benefits, its best to break them down into different goal categories.

Overall, when it comes to heart and cardiovascular health, the sauna outshines the steam room, while the steam room shows it’s benefit better when it comes to skin health and airway relief for specific symptoms from things like cold, bronchitis, or allergies. In terms of general relaxation, either one can do the job.

Though both treatment are effective at improving our general health, everything should always be done in moderation. Over-exposure to either environment can have any of multiple negative effects on the body.

1. Heat stress, dehydration, hypotension, or syncope can all occur from extended heat exposure. The best advice is to stay hydrated, avoid alcohol when exposing yourself to high temperature, and listen to your body. If you are feeling dizzy, exit the room immediately and let your body recover.
2. Some cardiac conditions like angina, myocardial infarction, aortic stenosis and other potential issues related to blood flow can show themselves or worsen in some individuals. It’s important to not put your body under excessive stress, but only a moderate exposure for relaxation and recovery purposes.
3. Though steam rooms can help with opening airways and discomfort, some conditions like severe asthma can actually be triggered by the high heat and large amount of steam.
4. As always, children and pregnant women should limit exposure and stick to shorter time frames like 5 to 10 minute sessions max.

Hydrating before, during, or after is key to helping your body adjust and deal with the high heat exposure.

Heat exposure can be useful to you regardless of your current routine, whether you exercise daily or simply want to promote better cardiovascular health without additional exercise.

For strength and training days, a 10 to 15 minute sauna session as a cooldown after a workout session is a great way to support recovery in your muscle and relax. As mentioned in studies above, longer than 15 minute sessions can offer additional health benefits, but it is higher recommended to separate this time into two sessions with a 5 minute cool air session in between them to avoid any damage to your body.

In addition to recovery after training days, sauna use can also be used to promote cardiovascular health over time. Regardless of whether you workout or not, a regular usage can promote cardiovascular health over weeks.

Due to lack of conclusive evidence from studies, the steam room is best used for respiratory or skin health, focusing on combatting specific symptoms and providing some relaxation or relief.

The bottom line is that heat exposure through sauna bathing or steam can be a great tool for your body to relax, recover, and promote long-term cardiovascular health. Overall, sauna bathing shows the most conclusive evidence for improved health and warrants for more effort compared to steam room use. Regardless, adjusting your routine to include approximately 10 to 15 minute heat exposure sessions, especially at the end of workouts, is definitely a worthwhile way to improve your cardiovascular health and recovery.

If you have questions or comments on heat exposure and its benefits or risks, make sure to comment on our forum post for this topic here!