Breaking a sweat has always been a means of achieving good health, but steam rooms and saunas have reached a new height of popularity in recent years.
Heat therapy provides numerous health benefits, from cardiovascular health to immunity boosting and metabolic increase. Saunas have become the hottest trend, but what about their counterpart steam rooms?
Let’s investigate the health benefits of steam rooms and how they match up to saunas.
Need-to-Know Facts:
- Research shows that spending time in a steam room can reduce blood pressure, decrease muscle aches, and lessen stress. It can also hydrate your skin while releasing congestion.
- Although steam rooms have benefits, they likely don’t have the same beneficial impact on health as saunas.
- It is easier to stay in dry heat environments like saunas, increasing lasting effects.
- Experts recommend staying in a steam room for a maximum of 15 minutes, only 3-4 times per week maximum.
What is a steam room?
Steam rooms are similar to saunas in terms of heat, but they involve a wet heat intended to cleanse the body and relieve tension.
Across the world, steam rooms and baths have been used for centuries, from Roman bathhouses to Turkish Hammam baths, which held religious importance and continue to be common today.
Benefits of Steam Rooms
#1- Steam rooms may lower blood pressure
A study focused on steam rooms and cardiovascular health found that steam rooms can significantly lower blood pressure and keep it reduced for 30 minutes up to an hour.
Lowering blood pressure can decrease the risk of heart disease, heart attacks, and strokes.
#2- Steam rooms may relieve tension & stress
Relieving muscle tension and providing overall relaxation is one of the main benefits of using a steam room.
The heat from steam rooms has numerous health benefits, including easing arthritis pain, migraines, and headaches. Spending time in a steam room releases endorphins, which can trigger mood boosts, increase energy, and even help your sleep.
#3- Steam rooms spark hormetic stress with
Saunas, steam rooms, ice baths, and intermittent fasting are all examples of hermetic stress, which is an intermittent burst of stressors that can trigger cellular processes, enhancing overall health, slowing aging, and increasing longevity.
#4- Steam can support a healthy complexion
Steam is often part of a spa facial, used to help loosen dead skin and hydrate your complexion. Facial steaming opens the pores and dilates the blood vessels in your skin.
#5- Steam can help relieve congestion
Steam helps loosen mucus, thus improving congestion and breathing. A steamy hot shower can greatly help loosen phlegm and clear up sinus or lung congestion.
Steam room vs. sauna
Using both steam rooms and sauna can benefit your overall health. If you have to pick one, saunas can reach higher temperatures than steam rooms, and you can stay in them for longer, potentially giving them an edge for your overall health.
