The Skinny

Let’s talk about sweat.  Many people are not fans of sweating.  It’s sticky, wet, and you feel gross while doing it.  Like it or not, sweating is a normal bodily function that we all do, and even if you don’t enjoy the feeling of your own body fluids sticking to your skin on a hot day, you can at least recognize that it is helping to keep you cool in the sun, and that it means you are doing something right in your exercise routine.  In fact, some people love the benefits of sweating so much, that they go into saunas for hours so they can sweat their anxieties away.  The steam from a sauna is supposed to clear the skin, and increase circulation within the muscles, easing tension and promoting relaxation.  That makes sweating not sound so bad, right?

Now, sweating is being taken to new heights with a very special type of sauna treatment known as infrared saunas.  This treatment has been all over the news as of lately, obtaining praise from celebrity personal trainers, and buzzfeed writers alike.  With claims being made about these saunas such as “being in one for an hour will burn 1,000 calories,” or “being in one gives you a natural high,” it is hard to know exactly just how safe, or legitimate this treatment is.

So, what exactly is an infrared sauna?  As the name would suggest, it is an infrared light ray that gets absorbed into your skin, and “detoxifies,” you from bacteria while helping you feel healthy and relaxed.  Unlike a regular sauna, which heats up the air surrounding you, an infrared sauna raises your body’s core temperature, causing you to have a more intense sweat.  The main benefits of the treatment are supposed to be clearer skin, pain relief, and even in some cases, weight loss due to the amount of calories that get burned.  The whole process lasts about an hour, and leaves clients feeling “like they are floating.”

I suppose at this point, you’re asking the same questions as I am: Do these work?  Are they safe?  How can I get myself to one of these saunas?  Unfortunately, like many of these new supposedly “miracle” treatments, none of the claims made about it are backed up by science, so there is no way of knowing if the benefits are true, or simply placebo.  Like any regular sauna, you do not want to be in there for too long, or else you risk becoming dehydrated from the loss of water in your body.  You also probably want to stay away from them if you have cardiovascular problems, because of blood pressure levels.  Other than that, there really aren’t any reported cases of infrared saunas harming anyone, so you should be safe to sweat to your heart’s content.

If you live in a major city, like New York or LA, you are in luck!  There are a number of wellness centers that offer infrared treatments, from the traditional room treatment, to infrared beds that you can lay in while scrolling through Netflix.  The most popular places in New York at the moment are HigherDOSE, DTX Cellular Evolution, and Floating Lotus.  A regular hour long treatment for one usually goes for about $65, so it is probably best to save your visit for a special occasion. You can also take advantage of the 2 people for $80 deal at HigherDOSE if your friend is also in the mood to have the best shvitz of their life.  If you happen to be a sweat addict, and you’re looking for a way to detoxify your skin, or just trying to find some peace of mind, then an infrared sauna may just be what you are looking for.