SaunaScape

It is winter, and if you are like me, your skin now is as white as the snow. I have no problem with my white skin that comes with my northern European heritage. Many people, though, would rather have more color on their skin, especially when you are planning to bare most of it on a spa day.  Dozens of bottles of sunless tanning lotions  are waiting for you at your local drugstore that promise to make you look like you just returned from the beaches of Aruba. If you’re willing to spend more, you might opt for a session in a spray-tan booth or an airbrush tan from your local salon.

But what happens when you go in the sauna with a new sunless tan? Will it end up streaked? Will it wash off in one large oil slick when you get into the hot tub? Will it change to an odd shade of orange, making you look more like a Muppet? Let’s take a look at sunless tans and what happens to them in the sauna.

Types suntans

Before you can guess what will happen to your tan, you have to figure out what you are using to make your skin look tanned. There are two major types of product available today, sunless tanners and bronzers. Manufacturers can put any name they want on their bottle, so unless you read the instructions and ingredients, you may not know what you are really getting.

A true suntan

The look that sunless tanners try to simulate is that of a real suntan. When you lay in the sun or on a tanning bed, you are exposing your skin to ultra-violet (UV) rays. Inside your skin is a chemical called melanin. When the UV rays hit melanin molecules in your skin, they immediately turn brown. This process stimulates your body to produce more melanin, which darkens your skin in the areas exposed to the sun.

A true suntan affects all the layers of your skin. In most areas of your you have about five layers of skin cells. Approximately every week your skin makes a new layer of skin cells inside your body, which push the older layers to the surface. The oldest layer, which is on the outside of your skin is about a month old. To protect your body from dirt and disease, these skin cells eventually wear off as you exfoliate. Since a real suntan occurs through all the layers in your skin, it can last for about a month after you’ve last seen the sun. Sunless tanners try to simulate this look, but cannot penetrate deep inside your skin.

A sauna or steam room will not affect a regular suntan. Saunas and steam rooms do not give off any UV radiation. So using a sauna or steam room will not give you a suntan or increase the body’s production of melanin. A sauna will help promote exfoliation, so if you haven’t seen the sun in a while, a sauna or steam bath can speed up the loss of your bronzed color by a few days as that outer layer of tanned skin cells goes away. However, that loss of color was going to happen anyway.

Bronzers

Bronzers are the quickest way to get a tanned look. These are usually just a skin lotion with some dye in them. You can tell you have a bottle of bronzer when the instructions tell you not to wear clothing over your tanned skin. Many “airbrush” tans done at salons and spas are also done with bronzers. Here are some examples of bronzers on Amazon.

Many bronzers are nothing more than makeup. If you wash the area where you’ve used them, the color will come off. Others have a more permanent dye in them to change the color of your skin’s surface. As this outside layer of skin comes off, so does all the color. These can give your fake tan a blotchy appearance as the outside layer of your skin comes off unevenly.

You definitely don’t want to  use a bronzer if your plans include a sauna. If your bronzer is the makeup type, your sweat from the sauna can cause it to run like mascara, leaving you with unattractive streaks in your tan and causing you to leave strange brown stains on everything you touch. Strange brown stains are definitely not welcome on the towel you wrap around your body.  If you jump into the hot tub after your sauna bath, you could end up leaving your whole “tan” behind as an oily slick on top of the water. All of these options are much less attractive than pasty white skin.

If your bottle of bronzer is the dye type, it might not embarrass you, but as you go through the exfoliating process of the sauna, your “tan” will come off unevenly. You’ll have a patchy look as your “tan” goes away in some places, but stays dark in others.

Sunless tanning products

A true sunless tanning product usually has a chemical called dihydroxyacetone or DHA, though a few other compounds are used.  Chemicals like DHA react with the outer layers of your skin and causes a chemical reaction that makes it change color over the course of a few hours. The reaction is similar to what happens to the flesh of a cut apple when you leave it exposed to the air. Here are some examples of sunless tanning lotions on Amazon.

You don’t have to worry about a sunless tanner washing off once it sets. The change to your skin color is permanent. However, some sunless tanning lotions also include a bronzer. This serves two purposes. The bronzer gives you an instant “tan” so you don’t have to wait for the reaction to take place. It also helps you see what parts of your skin you’ve covered and which ones you haven’t. All sunless tanning products take several hours for the reaction to take place. You definitely want to stay out of the sauna until the reaction is complete and wash away all the remaining bronzer on your skin to avoid leaving mysterious brown stains on everything you touch.

As we discussed above, the outside layers of your skin only stay on your body for about a week. Most sunless tanning products recommend you fully exfoliate the areas where you plan to use them before applying. This ensures you get the longest and most even “tan” possible. Since the outside skin layer will be “tanned” the most, when you lose this layer of your skin, you’ll also lose most of your “tan.”

Getting a good sweat going in the sauna or steam room, then rubbing your body with a loofah, brush, or getting a Korean body scrub are great ways to get a full body exfoliation in preparation for a sunless tanner. Of course, it is also a great way to quickly remove a sunless tan. Again, since these products affect just the outside layers of your skin, using a sauna or steam room can make a fresh sunless tan appear blotchy as different areas of your skin, like those that are regularly in contact with waistbands, bra straps and other clothing, are thicker and exfoliate more quickly than other areas.

Another problem with sunless tanning lotions is they do not work equally well on all areas of your body. The skin on your face, hands, feet, elbows, knees and pubic area is different from the skin on the rest of your body. These areas do not respond well to the sunless tanning lotion, leaving you with unnatural “tan lines” or they discolor your skin in those areas unevenly making it look dirty instead of tanned. Sunless tanning products also do not work well on stretch marks and other areas of scar tissue, so they can highlight these problem areas. Keep this in mind if you want an all-over “tan” before you go naked in your sauna.

So if you really feel you need to darken your skin and you can’t lay out or get to a tanning bed, a sunless tanner is a better option than a bronzer. Make sure you exfoliate very well before you use it, or else your sauna or steam room will make it go away quickly. Better still is to use your sunless tanning product right after a good exfoliating session in the sauna or steam room. Your “tan” will last the longest and should have the most even appearance as it ages.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Sunless tans are great, but how will they react to the sauna or steam room? Image via Flickr."][/caption] It is winter, and if you are like me, your skin now is as white as the snow. I have no problem with my white skin that comes with my northern European heritage. Many people, though, would rather have more color on their skin, especially when you are planning to bare most of it on a spa day.  Dozens of bottles of sunless tanning lotions  are waiting for you at your local drugstore that promise to make you look like you just returned from the beaches of Aruba. If you're willing to spend more, you might opt for a session in a spray-tan booth or an airbrush tan from your local salon. But what happens when you go in the sauna with a new sunless tan? Will it end up streaked? Will it wash off in one large oil slick when you get into the hot tub? Will it change to an odd shade of orange, making you look more like a Muppet? Let's take a look at sunless tans and what happens to them in the sauna. Types suntans Before you can guess what will happen to your tan, you have to figure out what you are using to make your skin look tanned. There are two major types of product available today, sunless tanners and bronzers. Manufacturers can put any name they want on their bottle, so unless you read the instructions and ingredients, you may not know what you are really getting. A true suntan The look that sunless tanners try to simulate is that of a real suntan. When you lay in the sun or on a tanning bed, you are exposing your skin to ultra-violet (UV) rays. Inside your skin is a chemical called melanin. When the UV rays hit melanin molecules in your skin, they immediately turn brown. This process stimulates your body to produce more melanin, which darkens your skin in the areas exposed to the sun. A true suntan affects all the layers of your skin. In most areas of your you have about five layers of skin cells. Approximately every week your skin makes a new layer of skin cells inside your body, which push the older layers to the surface. The oldest layer, which is on the outside of your skin is about a month old. To protect your body from dirt and disease, these skin cells eventually wear off as you exfoliate. Since a real suntan occurs through all the layers in your skin, it can last for about a month after you've last seen the sun. Sunless tanners try to simulate this look, but cannot penetrate deep inside your skin. A sauna or steam room will not affect a regular suntan. Saunas and steam rooms do not give off any UV radiation. So using a sauna or steam room will not give you a suntan or increase the body's production of melanin. A sauna will help promote exfoliation, so if you haven't seen the sun in a while, a sauna or steam bath can speed up the loss of your bronzed color by a few days as that outer layer of tanned skin cells goes away. However, that loss of color was going to happen anyway. Bronzers Bronzers are the quickest way to get a tanned look. These are usually just a skin lotion with some dye in them. You can tell you have a bottle of bronzer when the instructions tell you not to wear clothing over your tanned skin. Many "airbrush" tans done at salons and spas are also done with bronzers. Here are some examples of bronzers on Amazon. Many bronzers are nothing more than makeup. If you wash the area where you've used them, the color will come off. Others have a more permanent dye in them to change the color of your skin's surface. As this outside layer of skin comes off, so does all the color. These can give your fake tan a blotchy appearance as the outside layer of your skin comes off unevenly. You definitely don't want to  use a bronzer if your plans include a sauna. If your bronzer is the makeup type, your sweat from the sauna can cause it to run like mascara, leaving you with unattractive streaks in your tan and causing you to leave strange brown stains on everything you touch. Strange brown stains are definitely not welcome on the towel you wrap around your body.  If you jump into the hot tub after your sauna bath, you could end up leaving your whole "tan" behind as an oily slick on top of the water. All of these options are much less attractive than pasty white skin. If your bottle of bronzer is the dye type, it might not embarrass you, but as you go through the exfoliating process of the sauna, your "tan" will come off unevenly. You'll have a patchy look as your "tan" goes away in some places, but stays dark in others. Sunless tanning products A true sunless tanning product usually has a chemical called dihydroxyacetone or DHA, though a few other compounds are used.  Chemicals like DHA react with the outer layers of your skin and causes a chemical reaction that makes it change color over the course of a few hours. The reaction is similar to what happens to the flesh of a cut apple when you leave it exposed to the air. Here are some examples of sunless tanning lotions on Amazon. You don't have to worry about a sunless tanner washing off once it sets. The change to your skin color is permanent. However, some sunless tanning lotions also include a bronzer. This serves two purposes. The bronzer gives you an instant "tan" so you don't have to wait for the reaction to take place. It also helps you see what parts of your skin you've covered and which ones you haven't. All sunless tanning products take several hours for the reaction to take place. You definitely want to stay out of the sauna until the reaction is complete and wash away all the remaining bronzer on your skin to avoid leaving mysterious brown stains on everything you touch. As we discussed above, the outside layers of your skin only stay on your body for about a week. Most sunless tanning products recommend you fully exfoliate the areas where you plan to use them before applying. This ensures you get the longest and most even "tan" possible. Since the outside skin layer will be "tanned" the most, when you lose this layer of your skin, you'll also lose most of your "tan." Getting a good sweat going in the sauna or steam room, then rubbing your body with a loofah, brush, or getting a Korean body scrub are great ways to get a full body exfoliation in preparation for a sunless tanner. Of course, it is also a great way to quickly remove a sunless tan. Again, since these products affect just the outside layers of your skin, using a sauna or steam room can make a fresh sunless tan appear blotchy as different areas of your skin, like those that are regularly in contact with waistbands, bra straps and other clothing, are thicker and exfoliate more quickly than other areas. Another problem with sunless tanning lotions is they do not work equally well on all areas of your body. The skin on your face, hands, feet, elbows, knees and pubic area is different from the skin on the rest of your body. These areas do not respond well to the sunless tanning lotion, leaving you with unnatural "tan lines" or they discolor your skin in those areas unevenly making it look dirty instead of tanned. Sunless tanning products also do not work well on stretch marks and other areas of scar tissue, so they can highlight these problem areas. Keep this in mind if you want an all-over "tan" before you go naked in your sauna. So if you really feel you need to darken your skin and you can't lay out or get to a tanning bed, a sunless tanner is a better option than a bronzer. Make sure you exfoliate very well before you use it, or else your sauna or steam room will make it go away quickly. Better still is to use your sunless tanning product right after a good exfoliating session in the sauna or steam room. Your "tan" will last the longest and should have the most even appearance as it ages.

You can’t search for articles on “steam room” on the internet very long without coming across infomercial style weight loss claims: “Lose weight fast! With our new Super Steam Bath, you’ll be burning up to 600 calories every half hour, all without moving a muscle! Act now! Operators are standing by!”

Meanwhile, the fitness gurus, like Chris Klebba all say “the effects of a steam room on weight loss are due to a loss of water from sweating, not actual fat loss. Bottom line, forget it for fat loss.”

So who’s right? Well in a strange twist, both of them are wrong!

Steam rooms don’t burn many calories. But they do help regulate hormones that drive us to overeat. Interestingly, a steam room also helps those who don’t eat enough to eat more.

Better still, regular steam room users have improved circulation, which can help prevent  atherosclerosis, and reverse the effects of coronary heart disease.

These are conclusions from a 2003 study by Kagoshima University in Japan, where a team of researchers studied the effects of steam bath therapy on lifestyle diseases. The study began as a test to see if steam bathing could be used to improve the health of patients with congestive heart failure. The team noted improvement in both the symptoms and cardiac function of their subjects after a single steam bath, and continued improvement with more, regular steam baths.

When they examined the underlying mechanism of these improvements, they hypothesized that a similar improvement in the health of patients with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity could also be improved with regular steam bathing.

They tested a group of “at risk” people, who each had one or more of these conditions, and were not receiving treatment for any of these. What they found surprised them. After 2 weeks of daily steam room use, where they raised their body temperature by 2°F (1°C) for 30 minutes, they found that every member of the group had a lower blood pressure. Fasting plasma glucose and body weight also went down for the group.

To study this further, they repeated the study with a group of 5 men and 5 women. For 2 weeks, they all ate a controlled diet of 1800 calories / day, and each took a single steam bath each day. At the end, all 10 had lost weight. Their collective body fat fell from an average of 42% to 37%.

They did not attribute these results to calorie burn in the steam room, but instead to better regulation of the hormones that controlled their appetite. During the study, the subjects did not get hungry as quickly, and did not tend to overeat or snack between meals.

Coronary heart disease patients who were under eating as a result of their disease did the exact opposite: Regular steam baths improved their appetite, and they ate more to get them back to a healthy weight.

So, if you want to drop a few pounds, spend time every day in the steam room or sauna at your gym. You aren’t burning calories, but you should lose weight. Isn’t that what counts?

[Clinical Implications of Thermal Therapy in Lifestyle-Related Diseases] via Stephen Colmant

[caption id="attachment_248" align="alignright" width="300" caption="photo by whoaitsaimz on Flickr"][/caption] You can't search for articles on "steam room" on the internet very long without coming across infomercial style weight loss claims: "Lose weight fast! With our new Super Steam Bath, you'll be burning up to 600 calories every half hour, all without moving a muscle! Act now! Operators are standing by!" Meanwhile, the fitness gurus, like Chris Klebba all say "the effects of a steam room on weight loss are due to a loss of water from sweating, not actual fat loss. Bottom line, forget it for fat loss." So who's right? Well in a strange twist, both of them are wrong! Steam rooms don't burn many calories. But they do help regulate hormones that drive us to overeat. Interestingly, a steam room also helps those who don't eat enough to eat more. Better still, regular steam room users have improved circulation, which can help prevent  atherosclerosis, and reverse the effects of coronary heart disease. These are conclusions from a 2003 study by Kagoshima University in Japan, where a team of researchers studied the effects of steam bath therapy on lifestyle diseases. The study began as a test to see if steam bathing could be used to improve the health of patients with congestive heart failure. The team noted improvement in both the symptoms and cardiac function of their subjects after a single steam bath, and continued improvement with more, regular steam baths. When they examined the underlying mechanism of these improvements, they hypothesized that a similar improvement in the health of patients with lifestyle-related diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, high cholesterol, smoking and obesity could also be improved with regular steam bathing. They tested a group of "at risk" people, who each had one or more of these conditions, and were not receiving treatment for any of these. What they found surprised them. After 2 weeks of daily steam room use, where they raised their body temperature by 2°F (1°C) for 30 minutes, they found that every member of the group had a lower blood pressure. Fasting plasma glucose and body weight also went down for the group. To study this further, they repeated the study with a group of 5 men and 5 women. For 2 weeks, they all ate a controlled diet of 1800 calories / day, and each took a single steam bath each day. At the end, all 10 had lost weight. Their collective body fat fell from an average of 42% to 37%. They did not attribute these results to calorie burn in the steam room, but instead to better regulation of the hormones that controlled their appetite. During the study, the subjects did not get hungry as quickly, and did not tend to overeat or snack between meals. Coronary heart disease patients who were under eating as a result of their disease did the exact opposite: Regular steam baths improved their appetite, and they ate more to get them back to a healthy weight. So, if you want to drop a few pounds, spend time every day in the steam room or sauna at your gym. You aren't burning calories, but you should lose weight. Isn't that what counts? [Clinical Implications of Thermal Therapy in Lifestyle-Related Diseases] via Stephen Colmant

A reader wrote us this question:

Dear SaunaScape:

I’m going to a resort with some friends this weekend. In the spa area, they have a sauna. I’ve never used one before. There is one in my gym locker room and I don’t use it because it intimidates me. I don’t want to make a sauna faux-pas.

What is the etiquette for using a public sauna or a steam room like this?

Thank you,

Jordan

Jordan:

You shouldn’t get anxious about the sauna. It is a place to relax and do what is comfortable. Yes, it is a new experience for a lot of people, but as long as you remember the golden rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – you’ll be just fine.

If you are looking for some more specific rules, here is our top ten list of the most important etiquette rules consider when using a public sauna or steam bath:

10. Close the door.

Nothing upsets me more than when I am getting a good sweat on and someone else gets up to leave and does not close the door behind them. Nearly as bad is when someone is on their way in, and stops to chat with someone else while holding the door open.

When the sauna door is open, it does not take long for the heat to spill out of the sauna. It’s even worse in a steam room. If your gym or resort was stingy while sizing their sauna heater, it may take ten minutes or more for the sauna to recover from the door being open for just a minute.

If you are going in or out, please do it quickly, and make sure the door closes firmly behind you.

9. Sit on a towel.

Nothing is worse than walking into a sauna and having to find a spot to sit among the sweaty body prints others have left on the sauna bench. Saunas are not hot enough to kill germs, and in a high-use area like a public sauna, there may be a sealant or a protective barrier of gunk that neutralizes the disinfecting properties of wood.

Bring a towel in the sauna or steam room that is large enough to make a barrier between your body and the benches. If you’re sitting upright, a hand towel is big enough. If you’re going to lay down, you probably need a beach towel. It will protect you from what others have left behind, and keep you from leaving things behind.

Make sure you have a second towel that you leave outside the sauna to dry off with afterwards. You won’t want to use a sauna towel, and you can’t use a steam room towel to dry off after you’re done.

8. The sauna is not a clothes dryer.

There is a person at my gym who believes that the sauna is his personal clothes dryer. He does cardio, then goes for a swim. He brings in his sweaty clothes, wet bathing suit and towel and hangs them on the railing around the sauna stove to dry while he showers. Please, whatever you do, don’t do this.

7. Silence is golden.

I use the sauna as my place for relaxation and introspection. If you are going to talk, please do it quietly. Of course, if it is your own sauna, or you have the sauna to yourself, you can yak it up if you want. Just respect that in a public place, other people may want quiet.

6. If it’s in a locker room, it’s OK to got naked.

It seems like  Tobias Fünke wrote most sauna etiquette guides. Most begin with a rant against seeing other people’s naked bodies in locker rooms. I’m going to rant the other way: It’s a locker room. You’re supposed to change clothes in there, which means you need to get naked in there. Until the early 1970′s, many high school and YMCA swimming pools throughout the US and Canada expected men to swim naked. Now, proper decorum says we aren’t supposed to show our bodies to anyone.  This ad  is indecent (but not this one).

They call it a sauna bath for a reason. You wouldn’t complain about people being naked in the shower, would you? So if the sauna is in an area where you can be naked, then go naked in the sauna! It’s more hygienic and better for you too.

By the way, a sweat suit or a sauna suit is never appropriate attire for the sauna. If you don’t want to get naked, see our post on what to wear in the sauna.

5. Keep your hands and eyes to yourself.

I may sauna naked, or with very little clothing. That does not mean that I amshowing off for anyone else. The Finns have a saying, “behave in a sauna like you would in church.” I’ve been in a number of saunas and seen some things that definitely aren’t church-like.

My attitude is, that if someone is coming on to someone else in the sauna, it isn’t hot enough. I go looking for the thermostat to turn up the heat. In a proper sauna, you can’t think about anything except “can I stay in here another minute?”

4. Leave your electronics outside.

The sauna isn’t good for your electronics, but electronics also aren’t good for the sauna. The heat and humidity (yes, even if it’s a dry sauna) in the sauna will damage your phone, iPod or other gizmo. The etiquette problem is nearly every device has a camera these days. I don’t know if you are just browsing through your music collection or if you’re taking photos of me. I’d rather not have to ask. The other problem is your music. Yes, you’re listening to it on earphones, but if it is quiet in the sauna, I’m probably going to hear most of it. And really, if that phone call is so important, why are you taking it in the sauna?

Use your gizmo while you’re working out, but leave it in your locker when you take a sauna.

3. No spitting on the rocks.

I’ve seen this happen before. I shouldn’t have to write it. Just don’t do it.

2. Shower before you sauna.

Reading through other sauna etiquette posts on the internet, it is amazing how many people see nudity as dirty, but don’t see dirt as dirty. I’ve seen it at my gym too: people remove their sweaty workout clothes to reveal a sweaty swimsuit underneath and head straight for the sauna. Or someone comes right out of the pool and heads straight into the sauna.

If you’ve been swimming, there is chlorine on your body that will volatilize in the sauna and can irritate everyone’s eyes and lungs who shares the sauna with you. If you have been out in public, your perfume or some other smell you picked up throughout your day will become stronger and more pungent in the sauna.

Be considerate to the others who use the sauna with you: Take a shower first. If you’re wearing a swimsuit or some other clothing in the sauna, take it off while you shower.

Don’t forget to take at least a quick rinse off after you sauna before you get into the pool.

1. Remember to ask first before you do anything that affects me.

This is a public sauna, and I’m going to share it with you. I may like what you want to do, like splashing water on the rocks, or using that secret trick that sends the heater into overdrive. I may not care about others, like if you prepare some secret skin rub that you’re going to use or if you’re going to exercise in the sauna. Or, I may not want to stay, and may ask you to wait until I leave before you start.

This is a public place. I have as much right to enjoy the sauna the way I want to as you do. If they conflict, let’s talk about it and find a way we both can live with. Everyone will be better off that way.

Keep in mind, these are the general rules for a public sauna. If you are lucky enough to have your own, you can make your own rules. If you are a guest in someone else’s sauna, then you should ask them what their rules are before making assumptions.

Good Luck!

What is your opinion of sauna etiquette in your gym’s locker room? Take our poll and let us know!

 

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Photo of the Kotiharju Public Sauna in Helsinki. Image by Sami Oinonen via Flickr"][/caption] A reader wrote us this question: Dear SaunaScape: I'm going to a resort with some friends this weekend. In the spa area, they have a sauna. I've never used one before. There is one in my gym locker room and I don't use it because it intimidates me. I don't want to make a sauna faux-pas. What is the etiquette for using a public sauna or a steam room like this? Thank you, Jordan Jordan: You shouldn't get anxious about the sauna. It is a place to relax and do what is comfortable. Yes, it is a new experience for a lot of people, but as long as you remember the golden rule – Do unto others as you would have them do unto you – you'll be just fine. If you are looking for some more specific rules, here is our top ten list of the most important etiquette rules consider when using a public sauna or steam bath: 10. Close the door. Nothing upsets me more than when I am getting a good sweat on and someone else gets up to leave and does not close the door behind them. Nearly as bad is when someone is on their way in, and stops to chat with someone else while holding the door open. When the sauna door is open, it does not take long for the heat to spill out of the sauna. It's even worse in a steam room. If your gym or resort was stingy while sizing their sauna heater, it may take ten minutes or more for the sauna to recover from the door being open for just a minute. If you are going in or out, please do it quickly, and make sure the door closes firmly behind you. 9. Sit on a towel. Nothing is worse than walking into a sauna and having to find a spot to sit among the sweaty body prints others have left on the sauna bench. Saunas are not hot enough to kill germs, and in a high-use area like a public sauna, there may be a sealant or a protective barrier of gunk that neutralizes the disinfecting properties of wood. Bring a towel in the sauna or steam room that is large enough to make a barrier between your body and the benches. If you're sitting upright, a hand towel is big enough. If you're going to lay down, you probably need a beach towel. It will protect you from what others have left behind, and keep you from leaving things behind. Make sure you have a second towel that you leave outside the sauna to dry off with afterwards. You won't want to use a sauna towel, and you can't use a steam room towel to dry off after you're done. 8. The sauna is not a clothes dryer. There is a person at my gym who believes that the sauna is his personal clothes dryer. He does cardio, then goes for a swim. He brings in his sweaty clothes, wet bathing suit and towel and hangs them on the railing around the sauna stove to dry while he showers. Please, whatever you do, don't do this. 7. Silence is golden. I use the sauna as my place for relaxation and introspection. If you are going to talk, please do it quietly. Of course, if it is your own sauna, or you have the sauna to yourself, you can yak it up if you want. Just respect that in a public place, other people may want quiet. 6. If it's in a locker room, it's OK to got naked. It seems like  Tobias Fünke wrote most sauna etiquette guides. Most begin with a rant against seeing other people's naked bodies in locker rooms. I'm going to rant the other way: It's a locker room. You're supposed to change clothes in there, which means you need to get naked in there. Until the early 1970's, many high school and YMCA swimming pools throughout the US and Canada expected men to swim naked. Now, proper decorum says we aren't supposed to show our bodies to anyone.  This ad  is indecent (but not this one). They call it a sauna bath for a reason. You wouldn't complain about people being naked in the shower, would you? So if the sauna is in an area where you can be naked, then go naked in the sauna! It's more hygienic and better for you too. By the way, a sweat suit or a sauna suit is never appropriate attire for the sauna. If you don't want to get naked, see our post on what to wear in the sauna. 5. Keep your hands and eyes to yourself. I may sauna naked, or with very little clothing. That does not mean that I amshowing off for anyone else. The Finns have a saying, "behave in a sauna like you would in church." I've been in a number of saunas and seen some things that definitely aren't church-like. My attitude is, that if someone is coming on to someone else in the sauna, it isn't hot enough. I go looking for the thermostat to turn up the heat. In a proper sauna, you can't think about anything except "can I stay in here another minute?" 4. Leave your electronics outside. The sauna isn't good for your electronics, but electronics also aren't good for the sauna. The heat and humidity (yes, even if it's a dry sauna) in the sauna will damage your phone, iPod or other gizmo. The etiquette problem is nearly every device has a camera these days. I don't know if you are just browsing through your music collection or if you're taking photos of me. I'd rather not have to ask. The other problem is your music. Yes, you're listening to it on earphones, but if it is quiet in the sauna, I'm probably going to hear most of it. And really, if that phone call is so important, why are you taking it in the sauna? Use your gizmo while you're working out, but leave it in your locker when you take a sauna. 3. No spitting on the rocks. I've seen this happen before. I shouldn't have to write it. Just don't do it. 2. Shower before you sauna. Reading through other sauna etiquette posts on the internet, it is amazing how many people see nudity as dirty, but don't see dirt as dirty. I've seen it at my gym too: people remove their sweaty workout clothes to reveal a sweaty swimsuit underneath and head straight for the sauna. Or someone comes right out of the pool and heads straight into the sauna. If you've been swimming, there is chlorine on your body that will volatilize in the sauna and can irritate everyone's eyes and lungs who shares the sauna with you. If you have been out in public, your perfume or some other smell you picked up throughout your day will become stronger and more pungent in the sauna. Be considerate to the others who use the sauna with you: Take a shower first. If you're wearing a swimsuit or some other clothing in the sauna, take it off while you shower. Don't forget to take at least a quick rinse off after you sauna before you get into the pool. 1. Remember to ask first before you do anything that affects me. This is a public sauna, and I'm going to share it with you. I may like what you want to do, like splashing water on the rocks, or using that secret trick that sends the heater into overdrive. I may not care about others, like if you prepare some secret skin rub that you're going to use or if you're going to exercise in the sauna. Or, I may not want to stay, and may ask you to wait until I leave before you start. This is a public place. I have as much right to enjoy the sauna the way I want to as you do. If they conflict, let's talk about it and find a way we both can live with. Everyone will be better off that way. Keep in mind, these are the general rules for a public sauna. If you are lucky enough to have your own, you can make your own rules. If you are a guest in someone else's sauna, then you should ask them what their rules are before making assumptions. Good Luck! What is your opinion of sauna etiquette in your gym's locker room? Take our poll and let us know! What would you wear in a locker room sauna? Public OpinionView Results  

I was in a hotel a few weeks ago, and they had one of those magnifying mirrors in the bathroom. As I was brushing my teeth, I got a glimpse of a close-up view of my nose. Gross! I’m not typically a vain person, but I changed my morning plans and headed out to the nearest drugstore to buy a box of nose strips so I wouldn’t offend the client I was about to visit.

Once your eyes open to what your nose looks like at 10x magnification, you can’t ignore it anymore. I noticed that the strips would clean the blackheads out of my nose for a couple of days, but pretty soon, it would be back to its same yucky appearance. Sure the nose strips worked, but they are expensive, and leave a glue-like residue on your nose. There has to be a better way I thought.

There is. The sauna is the best exercise for your skin. If you use it correctly, you can sauna away your blackheads, pimples and other skin blemishes.

Using a sauna to clear your acne

To get started, you need a sauna. If you don’t have one at your gym or spa, you can find a public one in our database, or search for a hotel sauna if you’ll be traveling. Any type of sauna will work for this: A conventional Finnish-style sauna, an infrared sauna, or even a steam room or steam sauna all work well. It just needs to get your body hot enough to sweat.

To do this, you need:

• A bathing suit (or less if you’re comfortable), because you’re going to get wet;
• Two towels: one to sit on in the sauna, and one to dry off with;
• A brush, loofah, or rough cloth to exfoliate your skin; and
• Your preferred soap or facial cleanser.

To begin, take a hot shower and wash your acne problem area with your soap or cleanser. Make sure to rinse all the soap off well when you finish. Many cleansers can leave a residue that can promote acne. After your shower, dry yourself off.

Now head into the sauna. Lay your towel on the bench and relax. If you want, splash some water on the rocks to increase the sensation of heat. Wait until your body starts sweating.

If you’ve never used the sauna before, you may feel a some of moisture on your forehead just after you enter. This is most likely condensation and not sweat. Depending on the heat of the sauna, it may take 5-10 minutes before your body starts really sweating. You will know when, because sweat will be pouring out of every square inch of your skin.

Now that your sweat is flowing, take your exfoliating device of choice, and gently rub at the surface skin of all your problem areas. All that sweat will mobilize your sebum and mobilize all the dirt, dead skin and other contaminants that might be in your skin. When you are done exfoliating, stay in the sauna for another minute or two and let your sweat continue to do its magic.

Once you finish in the sauna, or if the heat gets to be too much for you, head back to the showers. Start with a warm shower and rinse your skin clean. When you have done that, turn the shower to as cold as is comfortable, and stand under it until you feel like the deluge of sweating has stopped. Don’t use soap or other cleansers.

When you are done, towel dry again and take a break until you have stopped sweating. Take a drink, go for a walk, just sit and relax or even go for a swim if there is a pool available. Your body needs to recover from your first sauna round.

Once you feel like you are back to normal, head back into the sauna again. You should start sweating more quickly this time. Again, once your whole body sweat starts, exfoliate that problem area another time, sweat it out and shower off to cool down. When you are showering, resist the temptation to use soap. If you typically put on lotion after a shower, resist that temptation too. You will find that after a sauna, all of your skin’s natural oils have done the job for you.

When you look at your problem area in the mirror, you will find that your skin is more clear than ever before. A sauna session like this at least twice a week will keep your skin clear for a lot less money than some of those fancy cleansers will.

Your skin: close up

To understand how a sauna removes acne, it helps to take a closer look at your skin. There are two major types of glands in your skin that secrete substances to help it: Sweat glands and sebaceous glands.

Sebaceous glands surround your hair follicles and secrete a waxy substance, called sebum, onto the surface of your skin. Sebum is unlike any other substance your body secretes, and all of its purposes are still not well understood by the medical community. Sebum helps protect your skin by moisturizing it and providing nutrients directly to the surface skin cells. It also helps repel water from your skin when you are cold, but also keeps your sweat from rolling off when you are hot. Some even believe it has antibacterial properties that protect your skin from disease.

The problems come when your sebaceous glands get blocked. There are many things that can block them: dead skin, cosmetics, bacteria, even a poor diet. If the blockage is at the surface of your skin, you get a blackhead. If the blockage is underneath, you get a whitehead, pimple or a boil.

The Sauna and Sebum

When you heat up your skin with a sauna, it does several things for you that can help get rid of your acne. Raising the temperature makes sebum more fluid causing it to flow. Also, when you start sweating, the sweat released softens your skin and mixes with the sebum to make it more fluid.

When you exfoliate your skin in the sauna, the sebum helps lubricate whatever device you are using, making it easier to get rid off all that stuff your skin doesn’t want on it, while your sweat mobilizes it and carries it away.

Some risks:

A few words of warning before you try this treatment:

If you are on a prescription medication, talk to your doctor before you go in the sauna. The heat of the sauna can cause your medicine to be absorbed more quickly than normal, potentially giving you a short-term overdose. Some medications affect your body’s response to heat, putting you at risk of overheating while in the sauna.

While you are in the sauna, listen to your body. If you feel lightheaded or nauseous, leave at once and get yourself into a cool shower to lower your body temperature. When you do go to leave the sauna, stand up slowly to reduce the risk of fainting.

Some types of acne do not respond well to a sauna treatment. For instance, if your acne is cystic, this regimen can complicate things. Keep an open mind, and if things don’t work the way you expect them to, speak to a medical professional.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="240" caption="Image by RachelHermosillo via Flickr"][/caption] I was in a hotel a few weeks ago, and they had one of those magnifying mirrors in the bathroom. As I was brushing my teeth, I got a glimpse of a close-up view of my nose. Gross! I'm not typically a vain person, but I changed my morning plans and headed out to the nearest drugstore to buy a box of nose strips so I wouldn't offend the client I was about to visit. Once your eyes open to what your nose looks like at 10x magnification, you can't ignore it anymore. I noticed that the strips would clean the blackheads out of my nose for a couple of days, but pretty soon, it would be back to its same yucky appearance. Sure the nose strips worked, but they are expensive, and leave a glue-like residue on your nose. There has to be a better way I thought. There is. The sauna is the best exercise for your skin. If you use it correctly, you can sauna away your blackheads, pimples and other skin blemishes. Using a sauna to clear your acne To get started, you need a sauna. If you don't have one at your gym or spa, you can find a public one in our database, or search for a hotel sauna if you'll be traveling. Any type of sauna will work for this: A conventional Finnish-style sauna, an infrared sauna, or even a steam room or steam sauna all work well. It just needs to get your body hot enough to sweat. To do this, you need: A bathing suit (or less if you're comfortable), because you're going to get wet; Two towels: one to sit on in the sauna, and one to dry off with; A brush, loofah, or rough cloth to exfoliate your skin; and Your preferred soap or facial cleanser. To begin, take a hot shower and wash your acne problem area with your soap or cleanser. Make sure to rinse all the soap off well when you finish. Many cleansers can leave a residue that can promote acne. After your shower, dry yourself off. Now head into the sauna. Lay your towel on the bench and relax. If you want, splash some water on the rocks to increase the sensation of heat. Wait until your body starts sweating. If you've never used the sauna before, you may feel a some of moisture on your forehead just after you enter. This is most likely condensation and not sweat. Depending on the heat of the sauna, it may take 5-10 minutes before your body starts really sweating. You will know when, because sweat will be pouring out of every square inch of your skin. Now that your sweat is flowing, take your exfoliating device of choice, and gently rub at the surface skin of all your problem areas. All that sweat will mobilize your sebum and mobilize all the dirt, dead skin and other contaminants that might be in your skin. When you are done exfoliating, stay in the sauna for another minute or two and let your sweat continue to do its magic. Once you finish in the sauna, or if the heat gets to be too much for you, head back to the showers. Start with a warm shower and rinse your skin clean. When you have done that, turn the shower to as cold as is comfortable, and stand under it until you feel like the deluge of sweating has stopped. Don't use soap or other cleansers. When you are done, towel dry again and take a break until you have stopped sweating. Take a drink, go for a walk, just sit and relax or even go for a swim if there is a pool available. Your body needs to recover from your first sauna round. Once you feel like you are back to normal, head back into the sauna again. You should start sweating more quickly this time. Again, once your whole body sweat starts, exfoliate that problem area another time, sweat it out and shower off to cool down. When you are showering, resist the temptation to use soap. If you typically put on lotion after a shower, resist that temptation too. You will find that after a sauna, all of your skin's natural oils have done the job for you. When you look at your problem area in the mirror, you will find that your skin is more clear than ever before. A sauna session like this at least twice a week will keep your skin clear for a lot less money than some of those fancy cleansers will. Your skin: close up To understand how a sauna removes acne, it helps to take a closer look at your skin. There are two major types of glands in your skin that secrete substances to help it: Sweat glands and sebaceous glands. Sebaceous glands surround your hair follicles and secrete a waxy substance, called sebum, onto the surface of your skin. Sebum is unlike any other substance your body secretes, and all of its purposes are still not well understood by the medical community. Sebum helps protect your skin by moisturizing it and providing nutrients directly to the surface skin cells. It also helps repel water from your skin when you are cold, but also keeps your sweat from rolling off when you are hot. Some even believe it has antibacterial properties that protect your skin from disease. The problems come when your sebaceous glands get blocked. There are many things that can block them: dead skin, cosmetics, bacteria, even a poor diet. If the blockage is at the surface of your skin, you get a blackhead. If the blockage is underneath, you get a whitehead, pimple or a boil. The Sauna and Sebum When you heat up your skin with a sauna, it does several things for you that can help get rid of your acne. Raising the temperature makes sebum more fluid causing it to flow. Also, when you start sweating, the sweat released softens your skin and mixes with the sebum to make it more fluid. When you exfoliate your skin in the sauna, the sebum helps lubricate whatever device you are using, making it easier to get rid off all that stuff your skin doesn't want on it, while your sweat mobilizes it and carries it away. Some risks: A few words of warning before you try this treatment: If you are on a prescription medication, talk to your doctor before you go in the sauna. The heat of the sauna can cause your medicine to be absorbed more quickly than normal, potentially giving you a short-term overdose. Some medications affect your body's response to heat, putting you at risk of overheating while in the sauna. While you are in the sauna, listen to your body. If you feel lightheaded or nauseous, leave at once and get yourself into a cool shower to lower your body temperature. When you do go to leave the sauna, stand up slowly to reduce the risk of fainting. Some types of acne do not respond well to a sauna treatment. For instance, if your acne is cystic, this regimen can complicate things. Keep an open mind, and if things don't work the way you expect them to, speak to a medical professional.

There is a sauna in the locker room in my gym. Just like you see on the workout floor, there is a huge variety of what people wear in the sauna. Many believe there are no wrong ways to use a sauna, but there are definitely some wrong things to wear into the sauna.

This list applies no matter what kind of sauna you are going in: infrared sauna, Finnish sauna, portable sauna, and even a steam room.

Here is our list of what to wear in the sauna from best to worst.

Best Sauna Attire: Nothing

We’ve said it here many times before. The sauna is a bath. It is a way to clean and exercise your skin. The best way to sauna is naked with all of your skin exposed to the heat. As you are in there, you don’t have to worry about any clothing getting soaked with sweat, and when you get out, you don’t need to worry about your clothes holding heat.

Of course, don’t forget you still need a towel to sit or lay on while you are in the sauna. Unless it’s your own personal sauna, you don’t want to leave your sweaty butt prints on someone else’s sauna benches. (Worse still, you don’t want to pick something up from a sweaty butt print someone else left on the sauna bench). Even if it is your own sauna, protecting the wood from your body oils will help make your sauna benches last longer.

If you are modest, you can wrap yourself in a towel or sarong while in the sauna. Although we find that trying to keep a towel properly positioned, especially those too-small ones gyms like to give out, while you get in and out of the sauna is more embarrassing than just letting it all hang out.

Second Place: A Swimsuit

In many parts of the world, nudity is expected in the sauna. However, there are times, like at a hotel or club, where the sauna is poolside, in a mixed public area. At other times, the bath house or spa with your sauna is coed and they need coverage. This is especially true at saunas in the English-speaking parts of the world. Since you’ll be sweating profusely in the sauna, a swimsuit is a good compromise when you have to wear something.

An older bathing suit where the fabric has started to lose its elasticity is a good choice for the sauna. This way it’s a little loose, and you won’t mind getting it sweaty. Another advantage with old swimwear is that there is a pretty good chance you’ve proven it is colorfast and won’t lose its colors when you jump in the shower, pool or hot tub after your sauna.

If you are going to wear a swimsuit in the sauna, don’t wear it under your clothes. You want to change into it there, preferably just before you use the sauna. All of pollutants you’ve picked up from the environment can travel into your skin once you start sweating in the sauna.

Also, rinse off between the pool and the sauna. You don’t want to leave a sweat slick in the pool, and you don’t want to release chlorine vapors in the sauna! If you can, it is best if you take off your suit while you shower.

Don’t forget to sit on a towel when you are in the sauna. Your bare skin should not touch the wood of the sauna benches.

Men’s Swimsuits

For men, any pair of loose-fitting swim trunks is good to wear in the sauna. If you can find them, a swimsuit made from a natural fiber like bamboo or cotton are the best choices. If not, look for something made from a non-stretchy synthetic like nylon or microfiber. The heat from the sauna can damage elastic fibers.

Women’s Swimsuits

Finding a good women’s swimsuit for the sauna is a more difficult challenge. Most women’s suits are designed as form-fitting and are made with lots of Lycra or other stretchy synthetics. The heat from the sauna will damage these fibers and cause them to lose their elasticity, leaving you with a baggy suit. You also should be careful about the dyes used in women’s suits: There are stories of women who went in the sauna with a colored suit, then afterwards went for a swim and ended up with a white suit! The heat of the sauna caused the dye to release.

When wearing a swimsuit in the sauna, try to avoid suits that have slimming panels or racing suits. The compression of these are going to restrict your breathing and make your time in the sauna very uncomfortable. Definitely avoid any suit with an underwire. The metal in the underwire will heat up quickly in any sauna and can burn you. Yikes!

For women, a bikini top with a pair of men’s style bottoms is your best bet. This gives you the least amount skin of coverage, and the best chance of finding a suit with little stretch to it. Of course, not every woman feels comfortable in a bikini. If you feel you need more coverage, look for a suit that at least has a liner made from bamboo or another natural material.

Honorable Mention: Cotton Clothes

A cotton tee-shirt and shorts are the norm in the coed areas of a Korean sauna. Others prefer a cotton sarong or other body wrap. While it is not the best for getting wet, clean, cotton clothes will allow your skin to breathe easily while you are in the sauna, and will not get damaged or evolve toxic compounds in the heat of the sauna. For those concerned about modesty, a longer legged short or even a pair of yoga pants could be a good choice.

Any clothing you plan to wear in the sauna should be clean, so you shouldn’t have worn them all day. If you are using the sauna correctly, you are going to get sweaty and you won’t want to wear those clothes anyway when you are done. Bring them with you and change into them when you are ready to sauna. Don’t wear any underwear in the sauna: Underwear tends to be constricting, and you want to be able to breathe easily. Ladies, don’t wear your bra in the sauna: They are constricting, usually made from synthetic materials and trust us, you don’t want an underwire in the sauna.

Unacceptable

There are a lot of things that we have seen people wear in the sauna that are not acceptable for sauna use. We’ve seen and heard of some strange ones over the years, so it’s going to be hard to list them all, but we’ll try to at least cover some of the most common ones.

• Shoes: This is probably one of the worst offenses. There is all kinds of junk you pick up walking around all day. Bringing that into the sauna is a bad thing, plus the heat of the sauna when it lingers in your shoe is just going to make you susceptible to athlete’s foot. If you wear shower sandals when walking through the gym, make sure you leave them on the floor when you step on the benches.
• Sauna Suits: It is our opinion that sauna suits should not be worn by anyone, ever. Especially in a sauna. Covering your whole body with plastic insulates your body from the heat of the sauna, eliminating most of the effects. Most sauna suits are made of PVC, which has a melting point lower than many saunas. PVC sauna suits give off toxic fumes and leaches toxic liquids for years after it was manufactured. You don’t want those compounds touching your skin, and you really don’t want to be breathing them in while you are in the sauna.
• Sweat Suits: During wrestling season, we see a lot of young people going in the sauna wearing a full sweat suit with the hood pulled up. My guess is they are trying to cut weight before their next match. It does not do them any good. In the sauna, that sweat suit is going to act as an insulator from the heat of the sauna. It slows the progress of heat, so it’s going to take a lot longer in the sauna before they start to sweat, which is what they really want. If you’re going to cut weight in the sauna, go in naked, then put on your sweat suit when you can’t stand it anymore to slow your cool down.
• Workout Clothes: You got all sweaty on the treadmill, and now you’re coming into the sauna with those same clothes on? Please.
• Street Clothes: This is probably the worst offense. The fabric of your clothing picks up all sorts of chemical and biological compounds during the day. When you come into the sauna wearing these, you releasing them to everyone who is in there with you. Your modesty is not that sacred. Please get changed.

Sauna Laundry

This article would not be complete without a discussion of how to clean what you wore into the sauna. Many commercial laundry detergents are loaded with things like optical brighteners, foaming agents, perfumes and fabric sizing chemicals that you don’t want touching your body when you are in a sauna. Your best bet is to use an ultra gentle detergent meant for baby clothes, or even no detergent, just plain vinegar. Give everything an extra rinse to make sure as much soap is out as possible, and then dry everything normally.

However, if you’re going with the quick rinse in the sink method, don’t use the sauna as your dryer!

Even if you don’t use the sauna, if you wash your swimsuits this way, you will find that they last longer.

What do you prefer to wear in the sauna? Let us know in our poll.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Photo by colorblindPICASO on Flickr"][/caption] There is a sauna in the locker room in my gym. Just like you see on the workout floor, there is a huge variety of what people wear in the sauna. Many believe there are no wrong ways to use a sauna, but there are definitely some wrong things to wear into the sauna. This list applies no matter what kind of sauna you are going in: infrared sauna, Finnish sauna, portable sauna, and even a steam room. Here is our list of what to wear in the sauna from best to worst. Best Sauna Attire: Nothing We've said it here many times before. The sauna is a bath. It is a way to clean and exercise your skin. The best way to sauna is naked with all of your skin exposed to the heat. As you are in there, you don't have to worry about any clothing getting soaked with sweat, and when you get out, you don't need to worry about your clothes holding heat. Of course, don't forget you still need a towel to sit or lay on while you are in the sauna. Unless it's your own personal sauna, you don't want to leave your sweaty butt prints on someone else's sauna benches. (Worse still, you don't want to pick something up from a sweaty butt print someone else left on the sauna bench). Even if it is your own sauna, protecting the wood from your body oils will help make your sauna benches last longer. If you are modest, you can wrap yourself in a towel or sarong while in the sauna. Although we find that trying to keep a towel properly positioned, especially those too-small ones gyms like to give out, while you get in and out of the sauna is more embarrassing than just letting it all hang out. Second Place: A Swimsuit In many parts of the world, nudity is expected in the sauna. However, there are times, like at a hotel or club, where the sauna is poolside, in a mixed public area. At other times, the bath house or spa with your sauna is coed and they need coverage. This is especially true at saunas in the English-speaking parts of the world. Since you'll be sweating profusely in the sauna, a swimsuit is a good compromise when you have to wear something. An older bathing suit where the fabric has started to lose its elasticity is a good choice for the sauna. This way it's a little loose, and you won't mind getting it sweaty. Another advantage with old swimwear is that there is a pretty good chance you've proven it is colorfast and won't lose its colors when you jump in the shower, pool or hot tub after your sauna. If you are going to wear a swimsuit in the sauna, don't wear it under your clothes. You want to change into it there, preferably just before you use the sauna. All of pollutants you've picked up from the environment can travel into your skin once you start sweating in the sauna. Also, rinse off between the pool and the sauna. You don't want to leave a sweat slick in the pool, and you don't want to release chlorine vapors in the sauna! If you can, it is best if you take off your suit while you shower. Don't forget to sit on a towel when you are in the sauna. Your bare skin should not touch the wood of the sauna benches. Men's Swimsuits For men, any pair of loose-fitting swim trunks is good to wear in the sauna. If you can find them, a swimsuit made from a natural fiber like bamboo or cotton are the best choices. If not, look for something made from a non-stretchy synthetic like nylon or microfiber. The heat from the sauna can damage elastic fibers. Women's Swimsuits Finding a good women's swimsuit for the sauna is a more difficult challenge. Most women's suits are designed as form-fitting and are made with lots of Lycra or other stretchy synthetics. The heat from the sauna will damage these fibers and cause them to lose their elasticity, leaving you with a baggy suit. You also should be careful about the dyes used in women's suits: There are stories of women who went in the sauna with a colored suit, then afterwards went for a swim and ended up with a white suit! The heat of the sauna caused the dye to release. When wearing a swimsuit in the sauna, try to avoid suits that have slimming panels or racing suits. The compression of these are going to restrict your breathing and make your time in the sauna very uncomfortable. Definitely avoid any suit with an underwire. The metal in the underwire will heat up quickly in any sauna and can burn you. Yikes! For women, a bikini top with a pair of men's style bottoms is your best bet. This gives you the least amount skin of coverage, and the best chance of finding a suit with little stretch to it. Of course, not every woman feels comfortable in a bikini. If you feel you need more coverage, look for a suit that at least has a liner made from bamboo or another natural material. Honorable Mention: Cotton Clothes A cotton tee-shirt and shorts are the norm in the coed areas of a Korean sauna. Others prefer a cotton sarong or other body wrap. While it is not the best for getting wet, clean, cotton clothes will allow your skin to breathe easily while you are in the sauna, and will not get damaged or evolve toxic compounds in the heat of the sauna. For those concerned about modesty, a longer legged short or even a pair of yoga pants could be a good choice. Any clothing you plan to wear in the sauna should be clean, so you shouldn't have worn them all day. If you are using the sauna correctly, you are going to get sweaty and you won't want to wear those clothes anyway when you are done. Bring them with you and change into them when you are ready to sauna. Don't wear any underwear in the sauna: Underwear tends to be constricting, and you want to be able to breathe easily. Ladies, don't wear your bra in the sauna: They are constricting, usually made from synthetic materials and trust us, you don't want an underwire in the sauna. Unacceptable There are a lot of things that we have seen people wear in the sauna that are not acceptable for sauna use. We've seen and heard of some strange ones over the years, so it's going to be hard to list them all, but we'll try to at least cover some of the most common ones. Shoes: This is probably one of the worst offenses. There is all kinds of junk you pick up walking around all day. Bringing that into the sauna is a bad thing, plus the heat of the sauna when it lingers in your shoe is just going to make you susceptible to athlete's foot. If you wear shower sandals when walking through the gym, make sure you leave them on the floor when you step on the benches. Sauna Suits: It is our opinion that sauna suits should not be worn by anyone, ever. Especially in a sauna. Covering your whole body with plastic insulates your body from the heat of the sauna, eliminating most of the effects. Most sauna suits are made of PVC, which has a melting point lower than many saunas. PVC sauna suits give off toxic fumes and leaches toxic liquids for years after it was manufactured. You don't want those compounds touching your skin, and you really don't want to be breathing them in while you are in the sauna. Sweat Suits: During wrestling season, we see a lot of young people going in the sauna wearing a full sweat suit with the hood pulled up. My guess is they are trying to cut weight before their next match. It does not do them any good. In the sauna, that sweat suit is going to act as an insulator from the heat of the sauna. It slows the progress of heat, so it's going to take a lot longer in the sauna before they start to sweat, which is what they really want. If you're going to cut weight in the sauna, go in naked, then put on your sweat suit when you can't stand it anymore to slow your cool down. Workout Clothes: You got all sweaty on the treadmill, and now you're coming into the sauna with those same clothes on? Please. Street Clothes: This is probably the worst offense. The fabric of your clothing picks up all sorts of chemical and biological compounds during the day. When you come into the sauna wearing these, you releasing them to everyone who is in there with you. Your modesty is not that sacred. Please get changed. Sauna Laundry This article would not be complete without a discussion of how to clean what you wore into the sauna. Many commercial laundry detergents are loaded with things like optical brighteners, foaming agents, perfumes and fabric sizing chemicals that you don't want touching your body when you are in a sauna. Your best bet is to use an ultra gentle detergent meant for baby clothes, or even no detergent, just plain vinegar. Give everything an extra rinse to make sure as much soap is out as possible, and then dry everything normally. However, if you're going with the quick rinse in the sink method, don't use the sauna as your dryer! Even if you don't use the sauna, if you wash your swimsuits this way, you will find that they last longer. What do you prefer to wear in the sauna? Let us know in our poll. What would you wear in a locker room sauna? Public OpinionView Results

Korean-style public saunas, also known as  jjimjjilbangs, have become the mega-stores of public bathing. New construction is taking place the world over, as Koreans emigrate from their homeland and want to take a piece of home with them. Each new jjimjilbang is built larger than the last.

Several companies have established themselves as name brands in the budding Korean bath house industry. One of the leaders is the King Sauna brand. At the moment, they have jjimjjilbang locations outside New York, Dallas and Chicago.  All are large facilities. Each one has a gender-segregated bathing area, where clothing is forbidden. When you have washed yourself clean in showers, rested in the hot tubs, and enjoyed the steam room and sauna, you can don a simple, unflattering uniform and enter the co-ed facility. In the co-ed area you can enjoy traditional Korean sauna domes built from rocks, minerals, even gold; each gives a unique benefit. Among the saunas is a Korean restaurant and several different styles of comfortable chairs. All three are open 24 hours.

So, after a marathon business trip a few weeks ago put me at Newark airport at 5pm on a weeknight with a morning appointment in Massachusetts. There was bad weather in New York. 1010 WINS had little time for other news because the traffic was so snarled, I headed the short distance up the New Jersey Turnpike to the Pallisades Park and King Sauna to relax while I waited out the rush hour.

After spending the first hour soaking and steaming away the stresses of the trip so far in the naked area, I grabbed a uniform and headed down to one of the TV rooms to catch a traffic report. The chairs in there are huge overstuffed recliners. I settled in, listening to whatever celebrity gossip was the breathless headline of the day, and leaned back in the chair.

I woke up, and the news wasn’t on anymore. It was now a baseball game — In the bottom of the 7th inning. I found a clock. It was nearly 9. I napped for about 3 hours! It was at that point that I realized just how worn out I was from my trip so far, and I shouldn’t be driving anywhere that night.

I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of Korean noodles with a variety of toppings. After that I cooked myself in the Bulhanjeungmok for a little while. The Bulhanjeungmok is a wood-heated dome sauna in the style of the traditional Korean charcoal kiln. Outside the entrance, they show the overnight preparations of the room, and when the fire goes out around 6am, they use it to bake eggs. Signs caution visitors not to wear anything except for the cotton uniform inside. Right outside the door is a basket of heavy burlap blankets. The norm seemed to be to grab two and duck inside the small door.

I grabbed my two blankets and ducked through the door. It is the hottest sauna I have ever been inside. The sauna was lit by a single bulb, recessed deep in one of the walls. Hanging from another wall was an oven thermometer. I checked it out, and in the dim light and the buckets of sweat already pouring down my face, I could only tell the needle was somewhere between 400-450°F (205-230°C). Wow.

I took one of my blankets, and folded it and laid it down on the floor. I then knelt down on it like many of the others were doing. I laid the second blanket beside me instead of draping it over my head like others were doing. Most of the others in the Bulhanjeungmok were middle-aged Korean women in what appeared to be a meditative trance. I managed to stay in for about 10 minutes. Most of the women who were in there when I came in were still there when I left.

Right across the room from the Bulhanjeungmok is the ice sauna, which is basically a walk-in freezer. I sat in there until I stopped sweating. Tried out a few more of the lower temperature dome saunas, leafed through a paper, and cooked myself one more time in the Bulhanjeungmok. By then it was about 11pm. I went back to the men’s area, discarded my sweaty uniform in the laundry bins, rinsed off in the shower, soaked in the cold tub for a few more minutes, brushed my teeth with a complimentary toothbrush, donned a fresh uniform and found another recliner to spend the night.

I had a reasonably restful night there (but I can have a reasonably restful night on an airplane, in coach). I woke up once around 2am and took a walk to see what was going on. There was a large number of people who also spent the night. There was an equal mix of men and women. Most were of Korean descent and in their 40′s to 60′s. Even the men’s bath was still a hive of activity. And for those of you who hear bath house and think of something seedy, there was absolutely nothing untoward going on there.

At 4:30am my phone alarm went off and I headed up to the men’s bath again, just as the cleaning crew was finishing their nightly scrub of the place. I headed first for the sauna, then drenched myself in the icy shower right outside, then took a round in the steam room. After that I headed for one of the shower stalls, showered off, shaved with a complimentary razor, used their ample supply of complimentary toiletries to freshen up, and headed downstairs to pay my bill: $48.00. Not bad for a pretty restful night’s sleep, several hours of sauna, dinner, overnight parking and toiletries for the morning. To get that price, you need to ask the parking attendant for a coupon when you arrive, but now you know.

I grabbed a cup of coffee at a nearby gas station, and was across the George Washington Bridge by 5:30, heading up I95 into the rising sun.

If I got stuck in the area again, I would definitely spend the night here again. For the money and relaxation, it can’t be beat. If course, if I planned better, I would have found a hotel with a sauna along my route.

Have you ever spent the night in a Korean public sauna? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A bowl of Korean noodles similar to the one I had for dinner during my night at King Sauna. Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Korean-style public saunas, also known as  jjimjjilbangs, have become the mega-stores of public bathing. New construction is taking place the world over, as Koreans emigrate from their homeland and want to take a piece of home with them. Each new jjimjilbang is built larger than the last. Several companies have established themselves as name brands in the budding Korean bath house industry. One of the leaders is the King Sauna brand. At the moment, they have jjimjjilbang locations outside New York, Dallas and Chicago.  All are large facilities. Each one has a gender-segregated bathing area, where clothing is forbidden. When you have washed yourself clean in showers, rested in the hot tubs, and enjoyed the steam room and sauna, you can don a simple, unflattering uniform and enter the co-ed facility. In the co-ed area you can enjoy traditional Korean sauna domes built from rocks, minerals, even gold; each gives a unique benefit. Among the saunas is a Korean restaurant and several different styles of comfortable chairs. All three are open 24 hours. So, after a marathon business trip a few weeks ago put me at Newark airport at 5pm on a weeknight with a morning appointment in Massachusetts. There was bad weather in New York. 1010 WINS had little time for other news because the traffic was so snarled, I headed the short distance up the New Jersey Turnpike to the Pallisades Park and King Sauna to relax while I waited out the rush hour. After spending the first hour soaking and steaming away the stresses of the trip so far in the naked area, I grabbed a uniform and headed down to one of the TV rooms to catch a traffic report. The chairs in there are huge overstuffed recliners. I settled in, listening to whatever celebrity gossip was the breathless headline of the day, and leaned back in the chair. I woke up, and the news wasn't on anymore. It was now a baseball game — In the bottom of the 7th inning. I found a clock. It was nearly 9. I napped for about 3 hours! It was at that point that I realized just how worn out I was from my trip so far, and I shouldn't be driving anywhere that night. I walked over to the restaurant and ordered a bowl of Korean noodles with a variety of toppings. After that I cooked myself in the Bulhanjeungmok for a little while. The Bulhanjeungmok is a wood-heated dome sauna in the style of the traditional Korean charcoal kiln. Outside the entrance, they show the overnight preparations of the room, and when the fire goes out around 6am, they use it to bake eggs. Signs caution visitors not to wear anything except for the cotton uniform inside. Right outside the door is a basket of heavy burlap blankets. The norm seemed to be to grab two and duck inside the small door. I grabbed my two blankets and ducked through the door. It is the hottest sauna I have ever been inside. The sauna was lit by a single bulb, recessed deep in one of the walls. Hanging from another wall was an oven thermometer. I checked it out, and in the dim light and the buckets of sweat already pouring down my face, I could only tell the needle was somewhere between 400-450°F (205-230°C). Wow. I took one of my blankets, and folded it and laid it down on the floor. I then knelt down on it like many of the others were doing. I laid the second blanket beside me instead of draping it over my head like others were doing. Most of the others in the Bulhanjeungmok were middle-aged Korean women in what appeared to be a meditative trance. I managed to stay in for about 10 minutes. Most of the women who were in there when I came in were still there when I left. Right across the room from the Bulhanjeungmok is the ice sauna, which is basically a walk-in freezer. I sat in there until I stopped sweating. Tried out a few more of the lower temperature dome saunas, leafed through a paper, and cooked myself one more time in the Bulhanjeungmok. By then it was about 11pm. I went back to the men's area, discarded my sweaty uniform in the laundry bins, rinsed off in the shower, soaked in the cold tub for a few more minutes, brushed my teeth with a complimentary toothbrush, donned a fresh uniform and found another recliner to spend the night. I had a reasonably restful night there (but I can have a reasonably restful night on an airplane, in coach). I woke up once around 2am and took a walk to see what was going on. There was a large number of people who also spent the night. There was an equal mix of men and women. Most were of Korean descent and in their 40's to 60's. Even the men's bath was still a hive of activity. And for those of you who hear bath house and think of something seedy, there was absolutely nothing untoward going on there. At 4:30am my phone alarm went off and I headed up to the men's bath again, just as the cleaning crew was finishing their nightly scrub of the place. I headed first for the sauna, then drenched myself in the icy shower right outside, then took a round in the steam room. After that I headed for one of the shower stalls, showered off, shaved with a complimentary razor, used their ample supply of complimentary toiletries to freshen up, and headed downstairs to pay my bill: $48.00. Not bad for a pretty restful night's sleep, several hours of sauna, dinner, overnight parking and toiletries for the morning. To get that price, you need to ask the parking attendant for a coupon when you arrive, but now you know. I grabbed a cup of coffee at a nearby gas station, and was across the George Washington Bridge by 5:30, heading up I95 into the rising sun. If I got stuck in the area again, I would definitely spend the night here again. For the money and relaxation, it can't be beat. If course, if I planned better, I would have found a hotel with a sauna along my route. Have you ever spent the night in a Korean public sauna? Let us know about your experiences in the comments.

Here it is, the second day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, which is a good time to make your vihta, venik, sauna broom or sauna whisk.  According to conventional wisdom, the best time to make one is just after the leaves on a tree have reached their full size.

To get started, you want to first find a suitable tree:

• Birch vihta are said to help with muscle and joint pains, heal wounds, and help clean phlegm out of your lungs.
• Oak vihta are said to make the skin smooth, it has anti-inflammatory properties, and acts as a mild sedative that removes stress. Some sites caution that an oak vihta is appropriate for people with oily skin.
• Eucalyptus vihta are great for people with colds or other respiratory problems, and using the vihta transfers its essential oils onto your skin.
• You can experiment with other types of leaves. Others report that in some areas lime and even nettle are good choices.

When you have selected your tree, you want to gather a full handful of young, thin flexible branches each about 2 feet (60 cm) long from your chosen tree.  Remove enough leaves from the tree-side of each branch so you have a comfortable handle. Gather the leaves together into a flower-bouquet style bunch and bind them together at the handle using rope, tape, or even thin twigs or vines. If my directions are confusing, the video below shows an attractive finn performing all the steps.

If you don’t live near trees, many Russians offer veniks (their word for vihta) for sale on eBay, Etsy, even Sears.

Once you have your vihta, now you need to prepare it for use. Soak it in a bucket of warm water and bring it into the sauna with you to soften it up. If it’s fresh, it should be ready to use quickly. If it is dry or frozen, you may have to wait until your second round in the sauna until it is ready to use.

Once you have a good sweat going you or a friend can use the vihta as a massage tool. The techniques are hard to describe, but the video below does a good job of showing the techniques used in a Russian Platza, their version of this massage.

When you are done in the sauna, hang up your vihta to dry — If you’ve made it from good leaves, it should last you several sauna visits. Take your soaking bucket of water it into the shower with you. The water, now infused with many of the tree’s essential oils can be used as a shampoo and body wash.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Here it is, the second day of summer in the Northern Hemisphere, which is a good time to make your vihta, venik, sauna broom or sauna whisk.  According to conventional wisdom, the best time to make one is just after the leaves on a tree have reached their full size. To get started, you want to first find a suitable tree: Birch vihta are said to help with muscle and joint pains, heal wounds, and help clean phlegm out of your lungs. Oak vihta are said to make the skin smooth, it has anti-inflammatory properties, and acts as a mild sedative that removes stress. Some sites caution that an oak vihta is appropriate for people with oily skin. Eucalyptus vihta are great for people with colds or other respiratory problems, and using the vihta transfers its essential oils onto your skin. You can experiment with other types of leaves. Others report that in some areas lime and even nettle are good choices. When you have selected your tree, you want to gather a full handful of young, thin flexible branches each about 2 feet (60 cm) long from your chosen tree.  Remove enough leaves from the tree-side of each branch so you have a comfortable handle. Gather the leaves together into a flower-bouquet style bunch and bind them together at the handle using rope, tape, or even thin twigs or vines. If my directions are confusing, the video below shows an attractive finn performing all the steps. [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtL0zL4YHVE[/embed] If you don't live near trees, many Russians offer veniks (their word for vihta) for sale on eBay, Etsy, even Sears. Once you have your vihta, now you need to prepare it for use. Soak it in a bucket of warm water and bring it into the sauna with you to soften it up. If it's fresh, it should be ready to use quickly. If it is dry or frozen, you may have to wait until your second round in the sauna until it is ready to use. Once you have a good sweat going you or a friend can use the vihta as a massage tool. The techniques are hard to describe, but the video below does a good job of showing the techniques used in a Russian Platza, their version of this massage. [embed]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22qX_8YBGRs[/embed] When you are done in the sauna, hang up your vihta to dry — If you've made it from good leaves, it should last you several sauna visits. Take your soaking bucket of water it into the shower with you. The water, now infused with many of the tree's essential oils can be used as a shampoo and body wash.

It’s time to open the reader mailbag, for this question from A:

The locker room at my gym has a sauna, a steam room, cold plunge and a hot tub. I want to use them, but this will be my first time. What order should I use them? Do I need to be naked or can I wear my sports bra & panties and wrap myself up with a towel? Can I wear slippers inside the sauna or steam room? Can I take a bottle of water with me inside the sauna or steam room?

Don’t stress A. These are a common question that many new sauna users have. The sauna, steam room and tubs are all tools to help you relax. The thing you want to remember is the basic cycle: Heat, Cool, Rest, Repeat.

If you are at the gym to work out, do that first, then use these features. The heat of the baths will help ease your muscles after your workout, and your sweat will help rid your body of metabolic wastes that could otherwise accumulate in your joints.

What to wear

Before you get started on your heat bath regimen, you should to take a few steps to prepare.

The sauna is a place of relaxation and introspection, so you want to change out of your other “uniforms,” like your workout clothes or street clothes, even your underwear into something that is a dedicated sauna “uniform.” Having your own uniform should put you into the right mindset, and allow your body to sweat freely.

We believe that enjoying a the baths naked is best, but you can also wear a towel, swimsuit or loose-fitting shorts and t-shirt depending on your personal preferences (and the policy of your sauna facility). One thing to keep in mind is that high temperatures and body oils can combine to take the color and stretchiness out of elastic fibers. If you are going to wear a swimsuit, wear an older one.

Shower

Before you enter a sauna, steam room or hot tub, you need to take a shower to clean your skin of any chemicals, dirt, oils, antiperspirants, perfumes and makeup that are on your skin or trapped in your hair. In a pool, you’ll be leaving everything on your skin in the water as what the hot tub industry refers to as “body film.” Yuck. In the heat of the sauna, scents on your skin can negatively affect other people’s’ experiences and contaminants on your skin can travel into your bloodstream via your sweat. Double yuck.

In Asia, the cleansing of your body before you sauna or soak in a tub is a ritual that cleanses your mind of stresses before you enter the hot bath. Keep this in mind as you shower. Don’t forget if you are wearing a swimsuit or other outfit to take it off while you shower.

Towel Dry

This is most important if you are going to use the sauna or steam room. Water acts as a very good insulator. If you leave a film of water on your body, it is going to slow down how quickly you heat up and really start to sweat.

Heat

Now is the time to apply heat: This the purpose of the saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs. Which one you choose first is up to you. We like to start with the dry sauna on our first round, and move to the more humid baths as we spend our time there. You may like it better the other way around.

Choose your first bath and get comfortable. In the sauna or steam room, the upper benches are hotter than the lower benches. Many people find that lying down on the bench heats their body more evenly than sitting on the bench. However, for yourself and others, sit or lie on a towel. If you wore slippers or sandals into the sauna, you should leave them on the floor. This will keep them cool, and prevent you from transferring anything that was on the floor to the benches.

You can definitely bring in a water bottle with you into the steam room or even place it next to the hot tub. If the temperature is mild, you might want to stay in for a long time, and in the sauna you can always splash some of the water onto the rocks to make what the Finns call löyly to enhance the experience.

As you sit in the heat, you will feel the heat of your body rising, then you should break out into a full body sweat. Try to stay in the room until this happens. Most people find it takes about 5-20 minutes before this happens, but there are far too many things that can influence this to make any hard and fast rules.

When you have had enough or if you aren’t comfortable, listen to your body and leave. If you have lain down, allow a minute or so for your blood pressure to equalize before you stand up.

Cool Down

When you leave the heat, you should feel that warmth throughout your body, your heart pounding like you just sprinted a mile and have sweat pouring out of your skin. Now you need to cool down to get that excess heat out of your body.

You can cool down rapidly by jumping into a cold pool, taking a cold shower, rolling in the snow, or even jumping through a hole in the ice. This has the effect on your body like a blacksmith dunking a hot horseshoe into water: It hardens you sending your circulatory system into overdrive.

If that sounds too harsh or you have any health risks, you can also cool down more gently by taking a warm shower, going for a dip in the pool or even wrapping yourself in a blanket, towel or robe and letting the heat slowly come out of you.

You can cool down the same way every time, or mix it up. It is your choice.

Rest

After you cool down, your body needs some time for its temperature to equalize and for your pulse rate and blood pressure to come back to normal, especially if you used one of the more extreme methods to cool down. Use this time to drink some water, get a massage or body scrub, or just sit and think happy thoughts. Hopefully, your gym has a lounge area where you can sit.

Repeat

One trip through the heat baths is never enough. Most people recommend two to three rounds. The cycling of your body through the heat and cold is an exercise for your skin and circulatory system. Just remember to cool down and rest and stay hydrated before you start your next round.

Finnish and Russians folklore both say that if you take more than three rounds, the spirits of the sauna will become upset with you. If you are superstitious, keep this in mind.

Finishing up

When you have had your fill, you should leave at the end of the rest phase. Let your body finish cooling down and let your sweating stop. Some people like to take a full shower with soap and shampoo to help them finish cooling down and get ready to return to society. Others believe in just a quick rinse as the oils your body releases into your skin and hair are better than any lotion or conditioner.

If you were wearing a swimsuit or clothing any, you should give it a good rinse at this point and wring the water out of it before putting it away. When you get home, hang it up and let it air dry. This is enough to keep it clean. If you feel you need to wash it, use some vinegar or a baby detergent, as the foaming agents, scents and fabric conditioners in most detergents will come out the next time you bathe.

As you get dressed again, you’ll feel the pressures of everyday life returning to you. Hopefully, the time you spent will help you better face what remains of the day, or help you get a good night’s sleep that night.

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] It's time to open the reader mailbag, for this question from A: The locker room at my gym has a sauna, a steam room, cold plunge and a hot tub. I want to use them, but this will be my first time. What order should I use them? Do I need to be naked or can I wear my sports bra & panties and wrap myself up with a towel? Can I wear slippers inside the sauna or steam room? Can I take a bottle of water with me inside the sauna or steam room? Don't stress A. These are a common question that many new sauna users have. The sauna, steam room and tubs are all tools to help you relax. The thing you want to remember is the basic cycle: Heat, Cool, Rest, Repeat. If you are at the gym to work out, do that first, then use these features. The heat of the baths will help ease your muscles after your workout, and your sweat will help rid your body of metabolic wastes that could otherwise accumulate in your joints. What to wear Before you get started on your heat bath regimen, you should to take a few steps to prepare. The sauna is a place of relaxation and introspection, so you want to change out of your other "uniforms," like your workout clothes or street clothes, even your underwear into something that is a dedicated sauna "uniform." Having your own uniform should put you into the right mindset, and allow your body to sweat freely. We believe that enjoying a the baths naked is best, but you can also wear a towel, swimsuit or loose-fitting shorts and t-shirt depending on your personal preferences (and the policy of your sauna facility). One thing to keep in mind is that high temperatures and body oils can combine to take the color and stretchiness out of elastic fibers. If you are going to wear a swimsuit, wear an older one. Shower Before you enter a sauna, steam room or hot tub, you need to take a shower to clean your skin of any chemicals, dirt, oils, antiperspirants, perfumes and makeup that are on your skin or trapped in your hair. In a pool, you'll be leaving everything on your skin in the water as what the hot tub industry refers to as "body film." Yuck. In the heat of the sauna, scents on your skin can negatively affect other people's' experiences and contaminants on your skin can travel into your bloodstream via your sweat. Double yuck. In Asia, the cleansing of your body before you sauna or soak in a tub is a ritual that cleanses your mind of stresses before you enter the hot bath. Keep this in mind as you shower. Don't forget if you are wearing a swimsuit or other outfit to take it off while you shower. Towel Dry This is most important if you are going to use the sauna or steam room. Water acts as a very good insulator. If you leave a film of water on your body, it is going to slow down how quickly you heat up and really start to sweat. Heat Now is the time to apply heat: This the purpose of the saunas, steam rooms, and hot tubs. Which one you choose first is up to you. We like to start with the dry sauna on our first round, and move to the more humid baths as we spend our time there. You may like it better the other way around. Choose your first bath and get comfortable. In the sauna or steam room, the upper benches are hotter than the lower benches. Many people find that lying down on the bench heats their body more evenly than sitting on the bench. However, for yourself and others, sit or lie on a towel. If you wore slippers or sandals into the sauna, you should leave them on the floor. This will keep them cool, and prevent you from transferring anything that was on the floor to the benches. You can definitely bring in a water bottle with you into the steam room or even place it next to the hot tub. If the temperature is mild, you might want to stay in for a long time, and in the sauna you can always splash some of the water onto the rocks to make what the Finns call löyly to enhance the experience. As you sit in the heat, you will feel the heat of your body rising, then you should break out into a full body sweat. Try to stay in the room until this happens. Most people find it takes about 5-20 minutes before this happens, but there are far too many things that can influence this to make any hard and fast rules. When you have had enough or if you aren't comfortable, listen to your body and leave. If you have lain down, allow a minute or so for your blood pressure to equalize before you stand up. Cool Down When you leave the heat, you should feel that warmth throughout your body, your heart pounding like you just sprinted a mile and have sweat pouring out of your skin. Now you need to cool down to get that excess heat out of your body. You can cool down rapidly by jumping into a cold pool, taking a cold shower, rolling in the snow, or even jumping through a hole in the ice. This has the effect on your body like a blacksmith dunking a hot horseshoe into water: It hardens you sending your circulatory system into overdrive. If that sounds too harsh or you have any health risks, you can also cool down more gently by taking a warm shower, going for a dip in the pool or even wrapping yourself in a blanket, towel or robe and letting the heat slowly come out of you. You can cool down the same way every time, or mix it up. It is your choice. Rest After you cool down, your body needs some time for its temperature to equalize and for your pulse rate and blood pressure to come back to normal, especially if you used one of the more extreme methods to cool down. Use this time to drink some water, get a massage or body scrub, or just sit and think happy thoughts. Hopefully, your gym has a lounge area where you can sit. Repeat One trip through the heat baths is never enough. Most people recommend two to three rounds. The cycling of your body through the heat and cold is an exercise for your skin and circulatory system. Just remember to cool down and rest and stay hydrated before you start your next round. Finnish and Russians folklore both say that if you take more than three rounds, the spirits of the sauna will become upset with you. If you are superstitious, keep this in mind. Finishing up When you have had your fill, you should leave at the end of the rest phase. Let your body finish cooling down and let your sweating stop. Some people like to take a full shower with soap and shampoo to help them finish cooling down and get ready to return to society. Others believe in just a quick rinse as the oils your body releases into your skin and hair are better than any lotion or conditioner. If you were wearing a swimsuit or clothing any, you should give it a good rinse at this point and wring the water out of it before putting it away. When you get home, hang it up and let it air dry. This is enough to keep it clean. If you feel you need to wash it, use some vinegar or a baby detergent, as the foaming agents, scents and fabric conditioners in most detergents will come out the next time you bathe. As you get dressed again, you'll feel the pressures of everyday life returning to you. Hopefully, the time you spent will help you better face what remains of the day, or help you get a good night's sleep that night.

Reader Alex writes:

Dear Saunascape:

I’ve heard a lot about the benefits of using a sauna. When I take a sauna bath, is there a recommended amount of time I should spend in the sauna? How many days a week can I safely go in the sauna?

Thanks

Alex, we’ll start with the easy one first.

The sauna is safe to use every day.

Many people in Finland and Korea use the sauna every day. The safety of the sauna is backed up by numerous medical studies that have tested different populations, both healthy and ailing. All these studies have found that daily sauna users are at least as healthy as the control group who did not use the sauna. In many cases, the daily sauna users had measurable benefits over the non-sauna using group. These ranged from improved feelings of well being, to better sleep, to lower chances of catching a cold, even to lower blood pressure and weight loss and lowered blood insulin levels.

These tests have been made in many different types of sauna: From traditional Finnish-style saunas to gently-heated steam saunas and even in infrared saunas. All showed a benefit.

There are a few risks in the sauna: If you have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or are on any type of medicine, you should talk to your doctor first. The sauna can put a strain on your system and can make your body react differently to any medicine. There are reports of lowered sperm counts after a sauna. However, the Finns and Koreans have not gone extinct yet, so this should not be a huge concern for you or your partner. There is also some evidence that recovering from a strength-building workout in a warm environment can inhibit muscle growth.

Now for your second question, which is more difficult to answer:

How long can I stay in the sauna?

There are many different types of saunas out there, and all feel different. You want to stay in long enough that your body starts to really sweat, but not long enough that you begin to feel lightheaded or uncomfortable.

In my experience, this is about 5-20 minutes per round. It depends on the temperature of the sauna, the air movement inside the sauna, the humidity of the sauna, and even how you are feeling that day. Some people keep their saunas cool, and as long as you stay hydrated, you could spend the whole day in there. Others are blazing hot and spending five minutes inside feels like a lifetime.

A sauna should best be enjoyed in rounds, so you don’t want to just go in the sauna once. You will not get as much benefit from a single sauna session as you will from multiple rounds.

When you leave the sauna, you want to cool down. If your heart is healthy, the best way is to jump into cold water or stand under a cold shower. This contrast from hot to cold really sends your body into overdrive.

If the cold isn’t your thing, you can cool down in a warm shower, take a swim in a pool, or even just sit, relax and drink a cool beverage.

Once your body has stopped sweating, it is time to head back into the sauna or steam room. If you are using a Finnish sauna, the second round is a good time to sprinkle some water on the rocks to generate some steam in the sauna. This increases your feeling of the heat.

Conventional wisdom for many cultures says that you should take no more than three sauna rounds in a day. Any more and the sauna spirits who live behind the stove will think you are greedy. We have not seen any medical studies that explain this. However, like a lot of folktales, we can only assume that there was some basis in fact for these. Three sauna rounds feels better than two or four to us.

Good luck and enjoy the sauna!

[caption id="" align="alignright" width="300" caption="How long and how often can I safely sit in the Sauna? Image via Wikipedia"][/caption] Reader Alex writes: Dear Saunascape: I've heard a lot about the benefits of using a sauna. When I take a sauna bath, is there a recommended amount of time I should spend in the sauna? How many days a week can I safely go in the sauna? Thanks Alex, we'll start with the easy one first. The sauna is safe to use every day. Many people in Finland and Korea use the sauna every day. The safety of the sauna is backed up by numerous medical studies that have tested different populations, both healthy and ailing. All these studies have found that daily sauna users are at least as healthy as the control group who did not use the sauna. In many cases, the daily sauna users had measurable benefits over the non-sauna using group. These ranged from improved feelings of well being, to better sleep, to lower chances of catching a cold, even to lower blood pressure and weight loss and lowered blood insulin levels. These tests have been made in many different types of sauna: From traditional Finnish-style saunas to gently-heated steam saunas and even in infrared saunas. All showed a benefit. There are a few risks in the sauna: If you have heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes or are on any type of medicine, you should talk to your doctor first. The sauna can put a strain on your system and can make your body react differently to any medicine. There are reports of lowered sperm counts after a sauna. However, the Finns and Koreans have not gone extinct yet, so this should not be a huge concern for you or your partner. There is also some evidence that recovering from a strength-building workout in a warm environment can inhibit muscle growth. Now for your second question, which is more difficult to answer: How long can I stay in the sauna? There are many different types of saunas out there, and all feel different. You want to stay in long enough that your body starts to really sweat, but not long enough that you begin to feel lightheaded or uncomfortable. In my experience, this is about 5-20 minutes per round. It depends on the temperature of the sauna, the air movement inside the sauna, the humidity of the sauna, and even how you are feeling that day. Some people keep their saunas cool, and as long as you stay hydrated, you could spend the whole day in there. Others are blazing hot and spending five minutes inside feels like a lifetime. A sauna should best be enjoyed in rounds, so you don't want to just go in the sauna once. You will not get as much benefit from a single sauna session as you will from multiple rounds. When you leave the sauna, you want to cool down. If your heart is healthy, the best way is to jump into cold water or stand under a cold shower. This contrast from hot to cold really sends your body into overdrive. If the cold isn't your thing, you can cool down in a warm shower, take a swim in a pool, or even just sit, relax and drink a cool beverage. Once your body has stopped sweating, it is time to head back into the sauna or steam room. If you are using a Finnish sauna, the second round is a good time to sprinkle some water on the rocks to generate some steam in the sauna. This increases your feeling of the heat. Conventional wisdom for many cultures says that you should take no more than three sauna rounds in a day. Any more and the sauna spirits who live behind the stove will think you are greedy. We have not seen any medical studies that explain this. However, like a lot of folktales, we can only assume that there was some basis in fact for these. Three sauna rounds feels better than two or four to us. Good luck and enjoy the sauna!

 

In our review of the news this morning, we happened across Sherie Bourg Carter’s January article on Psychology Today, “Energy Zappers: 10 Everyday Things That Drain Our Energy and Steal Our Time.” She talks about how to change these in your everyday life, but we see that you could change many of these with a regular sauna. She acknowledges this by closing her article with a quote made by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, the Roman physician and scientist in 25 BC:

 

Take massage, baths, exercise, and gymnastics. Fight insomnia with gentle rocking or the sound of running water.

Ms. Carter has several items on her list of energy zappers that can be cured by a sauna.

Tight Clothes are energy zappers. According to Ms. Carter, the restrictive fashions of today with their slimming panels and form-fitting designs restrict your ability to breathe freely, limiting your oxygen supply. At SaunaScape, frequent readers will know we advocate using the sauna naked, yet we frequently read stories from locker rooms of the modest refusing to enter a locker room sauna without their swimsuit or workout clothes. Leave your modesty and binding clothes behind and do something for yourself. When you are free of your clothes take some deep breaths and replenish your body’s oxygen supply.

Working Without a Break. Ms. Carter talks abot how the career-minded routinely work 10 or more hours without a break. This leads to energy zapping burnouts. Taking a gym break in the middle of the day, and using your gym’s sauna as a few minute refuge can help you reinvigorate yourself and have a more productive afternoon.

Negativity. If through our own thoughts or brought on by other people, negativity is a huge energy drain. The sauna, through a variety of mechanisms, has been proven to improve the moods of those who use it regularly.

Irregular Sleep Cycles. If you don’t have a consistent sleep-wake cycle, you can throw your internal circadian rhythm off, making you feel tired even on days when you had a good night’s sleep. One of the benefits of a good sauna session with a few cycles of heating and cooling  is that you sleep incredibly well after the session is over.

So to keep yourself energized, try out that sauna in your health club, at a hotel when you are traveling, or at a sauna establishment near you. Your body will thank you.

For more information, you can read  Sherie Bourg Carter’s blog on Psychology Today, “High Octane Women“, or read her book, “High-Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout.”

Energy Zappers via Lifehacker.com

  [caption id="" align="alignright" width="263" caption=""Worn Out" by Chris Fritz on Flickr"][/caption] In our review of the news this morning, we happened across Sherie Bourg Carter's January article on Psychology Today, "Energy Zappers: 10 Everyday Things That Drain Our Energy and Steal Our Time." She talks about how to change these in your everyday life, but we see that you could change many of these with a regular sauna. She acknowledges this by closing her article with a quote made by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, the Roman physician and scientist in 25 BC:   Take massage, baths, exercise, and gymnastics. Fight insomnia with gentle rocking or the sound of running water. Ms. Carter has several items on her list of energy zappers that can be cured by a sauna. Tight Clothes are energy zappers. According to Ms. Carter, the restrictive fashions of today with their slimming panels and form-fitting designs restrict your ability to breathe freely, limiting your oxygen supply. At SaunaScape, frequent readers will know we advocate using the sauna naked, yet we frequently read stories from locker rooms of the modest refusing to enter a locker room sauna without their swimsuit or workout clothes. Leave your modesty and binding clothes behind and do something for yourself. When you are free of your clothes take some deep breaths and replenish your body's oxygen supply. Working Without a Break. Ms. Carter talks abot how the career-minded routinely work 10 or more hours without a break. This leads to energy zapping burnouts. Taking a gym break in the middle of the day, and using your gym's sauna as a few minute refuge can help you reinvigorate yourself and have a more productive afternoon. Negativity. If through our own thoughts or brought on by other people, negativity is a huge energy drain. The sauna, through a variety of mechanisms, has been proven to improve the moods of those who use it regularly. Irregular Sleep Cycles. If you don't have a consistent sleep-wake cycle, you can throw your internal circadian rhythm off, making you feel tired even on days when you had a good night's sleep. One of the benefits of a good sauna session with a few cycles of heating and cooling  is that you sleep incredibly well after the session is over. So to keep yourself energized, try out that sauna in your health club, at a hotel when you are traveling, or at a sauna establishment near you. Your body will thank you. For more information, you can read  Sherie Bourg Carter's blog on Psychology Today, "High Octane Women", or read her book, "High-Octane Women: How Superachievers Can Avoid Burnout." Energy Zappers via Lifehacker.com