How Long Should You Stay In An Infrared Sauna

What Is The Optium Time For Maximum Results?

I’ve written this to be taken as general advice. The reason I wanted to start off with this is, we are all in different situations with our health and wellbeing. 

Here’s the thing, you might be able to handle the standard length of time you should stay in an infrared sauna, while someone else reading this might be having some challenging times and needs to take things a little slower. 

So it’s up for individual interpretation and the best person that knows their body is you. If you have any concerns please speak to your local doctor. Having said all that, let’s get into it.

How Long Should I Stay In An Infrared Sauna, Is There A Limit?

Ok, with all the information I’ve said above there are some recommendations I can offer with regards to the amount of time you can spend in an infrared sauna, and whether there is a point where you can actually stay in there for too long. 

With all the health benefits associated with using an infrared sauna, I get that you want to maximise your time and extract as much good stuff from the sauna session as you can. 

So how long can I stay in an infrared sauna? Standard practice is for 30 minutes. You can do 20 minutes and you can go to 45 minutes, that’s about the recommended maximum time limit for an infrared sauna, within reason.

If you’ve ever gone to a beauty spa that offers infrared sauna therapy you’ll notice that 30-minute sessions are the industry standard, often they will also offer 45-minute sessions on the guidelines you have been in an infrared sauna before and it’s not your first time. 

Now, these times can be determined by a couple of main factors. 

Your health. 

Your hydration levels.

Your level of experience.

For anyone new to the wonderful world of infrared saunas we always recommend going easy, there’s no rush to push yourself. Especially when there’s heat involved. 

It’s always highly recommended to make sure you are well hydrated. To be honest, there’s no exception to this, it’s that important. 

This is where you can get into trouble by not being hydrated. Because of the heat, there’s a good chance you’ll get dehydrated and feel very unwell afterwards, especially if you’re in there for longer than 30 minutes. 

You could feel dizzy and light-headed which will all come back to a lack of water. So hopefully you can see it’s that important. 

On top of that your health can also have a bearing on the length you can stay in the sauna. So please keep that in mind, and again I know I probably say it a lot, there’s no harm in taking it easy. 

Ok, on the flip side, if you’re fit and healthy you could stretch this out to the maximum of 45-minute sessions. Or even push it to the 1-hour mark.   

Having said all that, we usually start the time clock when the sweat begins, but that’s totally up to you. Really it comes down to your body clock and how you feel, not the actual clock. If you have your own sauna this can be flexible but that’s not the case if you’re hiring a sauna session.

Infrared saunas offer time flexibility compared to a regular sauna and this is due to the fact that infrared saunas operate at a lower temperature. And this is great for us as we are able to essentially stay in the sauna longer and reap the health benefits for a little longer.

Lower temperatures mean less stress on our bodies, therefore, we are able to embrace the sweat and absorb all the benefits for longer, and to be fair the more you do it the more you will be able to handle. 

To give you a reference as to what types of temperatures you’re going to experience you’re looking around the 100-130F. It can go higher but that’s the average and probably all you need to get the most out of your sauna sessions.

We don’t need the temperatures to go that much higher than our core body’s temperature to start to sweat, so for some, anything in that range will be very effective.

Can You Overdo Being In An Infrared Sauna?

At the end of the day if you stay anywhere that involves heat for long periods of time can’t be ideal. And the sauna is no different. Staying in too long can cause dehydration and the potential to feel unwell, pretty much the same symptoms I described above. Potential dizziness, feeling sick and possible headaches.

To be fair there is no need to stay in an infrared sauna for too long anyway. Once you start to sweat and you’ve done the recommended times that’s all you need to reap the health benefits. 

Can I Use An Infrared Sauna Every Day?

As I’m sure you know there have been many benefits associated with regular infrared sauna use, so I get it that you want to use it as much as you can. And If you own your own infrared sauna, well you have that option for sure.

Now I’m not here to say you can’t, because the reality is you can use your infrared sauna daily. What I will say is to be mindful of how you are feeling.

My recommendation and the recommendation of others in the industry is for you to use your sauna every 2-3 days. Doing this will give you maximum results and benefits.

Having said that you are the one that knows your body and if you’re fit and very healthy it’s deferentially doable. We just ask that you do be careful.

Infrared Saunas For Mind Development

Now let’s look at this with a different angle in mind, because it’s interesting. 

What if we were to use our infrared sauna for mindset development. Yes I know I’m going off in a different direction here, but there have been some studies on this topic and they are valid points.

Because the heat temperature of the infrared sauna is a lot lower than a regular sauna it can help you to get into a calm or relaxed state of mind, which is the ideal state for meditation. Which is recommended when using your infrared sauna.

So if you were to use a sauna on a daily basis or let’s say every second day or so it can actually have psychological benefits.

It’s an interesting way to look at it, but it does have some merit. Having said that, using an infrared sauna on a regular basis can help with your state of mind, which in the long run can help with all the mental health issues we all seem to deal with in this day and age.

If you think about it you get double the benefit. You get the health benefits for your body and health benefits for your mind. How good is that? To me, it makes a lot of sense.

Conclusion

So there you have it we have covered a lot, and at times I got off track a bit but I think it’s going to help as I offer a different angle on some things.

We have covered how long you should stay in an infrared sauna. Can you overdo infrared sauna use and can I use the infrared sauna every day? I hope I’ve given you all the information you need when It comes to using an infrared sauna. Enjoy.