Unlike a traditional sauna where you can pour water over the rocks on the heater to make steam, you cannot add steam to an infrared sauna. This type of sauna is not designed for humidity, and adding steam could result in electrical shortages and damage to your saunas heating components.

How Do Infrared and Steam Saunas Work? 

Unlike a traditional sauna that uses heat to warm the air around you which in turn warms your body, an infrared sauna heats your body directly, from the inside out, with rays of light. It offers the same benefits of sauna bathing but at lower temperatures, which makes it accessible to people who can’t tolerate the high heat of a conventional sauna. Infrared rays still induce the intense sweating that characterizes a sauna experience, but without the steam.

Infrared saunas use wavelengths of light to heat your body in the same way as natural sunlight, while traditional saunas heat the air around you which then heats the surface of your skin. An infrared saunas heater can be made from carbon or ceramic panels and reach temperatures of 120°-150°F. Traditional dry saunas build warmth by heating rocks which then heat the air in the room reaching temperatures of 150°-190°F. 

Modern dry saunas no longer use a wood burning stove, and instead use an electric heater, to radiate heat throughout the room. Users can either enjoy a dry heat experience, or ladle water over the heated rocks to create steam. Steam saunas (also called steam rooms or showers) use a generator that boils water, turns it into steam and then continually releases it into the room keeping humidity levels close to 100%. The temperature in a steam sauna is typically lower than in a traditional one, but can feel much warmer due to the humidity. 

Which is Better: A Steam Room or a Sauna? 

Both saunas and steam rooms bring your body into a thermoregulatory response called hormesis, a state of mild, controlled stress that can help raise your resilience threshold. Heat shock proteins are produced when your body experiences things like exercise, calorie restriction, or heat/cold. These stressful situations cause damage to your cells, but HSPs act immediately in overdrive to repair those cells. By making too many proteins, your body is then left with a surplus to better endure future stressful events.

The difference between a sauna and a steam room are temperature and humidity, and the type of hormesis inducing heat that they provide. A traditional sauna reaches high temperatures and water can be sprinkled on hot rocks to create some steam. The humidity level will stay around 10% if no water is added and then surpass 60% if it is. The temperature in a steam room is lower but with 100% humidity, which can make it feel hotter.

Research has been done on traditional dry saunas and conclude they can aid in relieving sore muscles, increase blood flow, and promote faster recovery after a tough workout. Unfortunately, not many studies have been done on steam rooms, so there isn’t evidence directly comparing the two to make any kind of meaningful statement about the differences. Steam rooms can also help with muscle soreness and recovery, loosen phlegm and mucus, improving congestion and breathing, but research shows if you have a respiratory illness or infection, steam alone will not clear it up for you. Steam can also help temporarily hydrate the skin (steaming too much can strip the skin of natural oils and lead to dryness).

Both saunas and steam rooms can promote muscle relaxation, alleviate soreness and can help with your body’s stress response, but neither one is inherently better than the other. If you have questions about different types of saunas, give us a call at 970-879-4390 or contact us.