Skip to main content

Therapies · lesson 4 of 10

Sauna safety & protocol

Who should skip it, what never to mix it with, and a sensible way to start.

7 min read · reviewed October 2026

Safe for most, risky for some

For healthy adults a traditional sauna is remarkably safe — millions of Finns use one every week. Deaths in saunas are rare, and they cluster around a few predictable factors: alcohol, serious heart disease, and staying in too long. Almost all of the risk can be avoided.

~50%

About half of the people who died while in a sauna in Finland between 1990 and 2002 were under the influence of alcohol. Alcohol adds to the blood-pressure drop from heat and dulls your judgment about when to get out.

Source: Kenttämies & Karkola, Journal of Forensic Sciences, 2008

Make a guess

In that sperm study, how many months after stopping sauna use did counts return to normal?

Somewhere between 0 and 12 months.

Reveal the answer →

~6 months

Three months after stopping, counts were still below normal; by six months they had recovered. The effect was reversible — but if you're trying to conceive, that's a long lag, so pause regular sauna use well ahead.

A sensible sauna protocol

  • Start with 5–10 minutes on a lower bench; build toward 15–20 minutes over a few weeks as it feels comfortable.
  • Drink water before and after — a typical session sweats out around half a litre, more if you stay longer or do several rounds.
  • No alcohol before or during. Skip it after a heavy meal or when you're unwell.
  • Get out straight away if you feel dizzy, nauseous, confused, get a headache or palpitations.
  • Stand up slowly at the end — blood pressure dips right after a session, which is when people faint.
  • Cool down gradually between rounds. If you have heart disease, skip jumping straight into icy water.
  • Supervise children and keep their sessions shorter and cooler.
Check yourself

Which combination is most strongly linked to deaths in saunas?

  1. Sauna followed by a cool shower
  2. Sauna and alcohol
  3. Sauna and drinking water
  4. Two sauna rounds in one visit
Show the answer →

B.Sauna and alcohol

Alcohol shows up in about half of sauna deaths in Finnish forensic data. It worsens the drop in blood pressure from heat and blunts the warning signs that tell you to get out.