Get ready to start seeing people on your Instagram feeds sweating it out in infrared saunas, because this is the latest trend influencers like Sammy Robinson and Steph Smith are loving.
Gone are the mist-filled and tiled sauna rooms, which are being replaced with new ‘infrared sauna technology’ which use infrared light to create heat.
Speaking as someone who voluntarily locked herself up in a wooden, infrared sauna box for 45 minutes, I’m a fan.
Trialling the treatment at Surry Hill’s yoga and wellness studio, Body Mind Life, I arrived to my appointment well-hydrated, as per the website’s instructions, and ready and eager to sweat it out.
Once I checked in with the receptionist, I was led to a private, dimly lit room which smelt pleasantly of essential oils and in front of me was a wooden, infrared sauna box which had been preheated to 65 degrees celsius. I then took off the bulk of my face makeup (the studio recommends you go in with ‘clean skin’ to “clear out all the toxins and impurities”), de-clothed and spent the next 45 minutes sitting on a towel letting my body do its thing perspiring.
To keep myself entertained, I listened to a podcast through the aux cord connected internal speakers.
Top Comments
First of all, I'm troubled to see you repeating that dangerous myth about burning hundreds of calories in one of these boxes, a claim which has been thoroughly debunked. People that use any type of sauna for weight loss risk serious dehydration, because that's the only weight loss you get.
That's not the only claim from sellers of these infrared saunas that's been debunked, and any time you come across a genuine scientific study that refers to the health benefits of a sauna, they always pertain to the traditional Scandinavian style saunas.
You've disparaged these original saunas opting to prefer the dry heat of the so-called infrared saunas, but you can operate a genuine sauna in dry mode as well. Just don't sprinkle water on the stones.
I've also heard the higher heat of a traditional sauna disparaged, which is silly. Just don't turn up the heater as high!
The reality is that a traditional sauna can be operated in wet or dry mode and at a much wider range of temperatures compared to an infrared sauna.
Moreover, all of the so-called infrared saunas are made in China, and the quality of the materials and workmanship reflects this. There have been house fires and product recalls, and it's been suggested that the shellac you find being used on many of these saunas emits harmful gasses.
Much of the benefits people seek from these fad saunas can actually be had tenfold in a traditional sauna, and the bulk of the scientific literature bears this out. Before anyone buys any type of sauna they should do their research, and if something sounds just too good to be true, like burning 400 to 600 calories sitting on your bum for 30 minutes, it probably isn't.