Wellness Devices

therapy

Infrared Sauna

A sauna that uses infrared radiation (rather than steam or hot air) to heat the body directly — typically used in blanket or cabin form.

Infrared saunas use far-infrared (and sometimes near-infrared) heating elements to warm the body directly, rather than heating the air the way traditional Finnish saunas do. The result is a lower ambient air temperature with similar core body heating.

The strongest evidence in the broader sauna category comes from a 20-year Finnish prospective cohort that found 4–7×/week sauna use associated with 40% lower all-cause mortality vs. once-per-week use. That study was on traditional sauna, not infrared — but the mechanism transfer is plausible.

Infrared sauna blankets have lower friction than full cabins and are the entry point most people choose. We rate the category at 2 on the Woo-Woo Meter.