While a steam room session is not generally something that most people do every day, some people have regular access to these facilities and may opt to use a steam room more frequently than others normally would.
This has left many people wondering if using a steam room every day is actually healthy for you or if it could be detrimental to your health as a whole.
The answer to this question actually depends on a variety of factors, such as your age, heart health, and general health, as well as how long you intend to spend in a steam room every day.
HOW LONG CAN YOU STAY IN A STEAM ROOM?
Using a steam room correctly can offer many health benefits, but staying in a steam room for too long can actually be detrimental to your health.
Experts seem to recommend that most people do not stay in a steam room for any longer than 12 to 20 minutes. If you spend any more time, you run the risk of overheating and dehydrating yourself. Spending more than 20 minutes in the moist heat could cause you to pass out or dangerously affect your heart.
It is also recommended that you cool off for about 20 minutes after a steam room session.
SHOULD YOU USE A STEAM ROOM EVERY DAY?
While it is possible to use a steam room every day, it will not be as effective as using it more sparingly or intermittently with a sauna, such as a few times a week. The below is a study on sauna use at 80 degrees, which may also provide the benefits from a steam room session.
Researchers from the University of Eastern Finland tracked 2,300 middle-aged men for an average of 20 years.
Those that had 2-3 sauna sessions per week had:
- A 27% reduced chance of dying from cardiovascular related causes*
Those that had 4-7 sauna sessions per week had:
- A 63% reduced chance of sudden cardiac death*
- A 50% reduced risk of cardiovascular disease-related death*
- A 48% reduced risk of coronary heart disease-related death*
- A 40% reduced risk of death (from all causes of premature death) *
*Benefit compared to participants who had 1 sauna session (at least 20 minutes) per week
WHY USE A STEAM ROOM REGULARLY?
Here are some of the ways using a steam room regularly, but not every day, can benefit your health:
IMPROVES SKIN HEALTH
Steam rooms provide a lot of moist heat, and this creates a high level of humidity that opens your pores. Our pores can often get clogged with dirt and dead skin cells, so opening them can help in improving skin health.
The moist heat also causes you to sweat profusely, which pushes the oil and dirt out of your pores in order for them to be able to release sweat more efficiently.
This can allow you to remove blackheads much more easily, too.
If you experience acne breakouts that are caused by blocked or clogged pores, then using a steam room can prevent you from breaking out. Unfortunately, if your acne is the result of hormones, steam will not prevent any breakouts from occurring.
INCREASES BLOOD CIRCULATION
Wet heat has been proven to improve circulation, as it causes vasodilation in your capillaries. This means that your small blood vessels expand, which allows blood flow to be far more efficient.
This can lower blood pressure and improve your heart health. Better circulation also promotes the healing of any broken skin tissue, which could be caused by acne or any wounds you may have incurred.
The reason that steam rooms improve circulation is owing to the fact that they can cause the body to produce more of the hormone called aldosterone, which is responsible for the blood pressure regulation in your body.
CLEARS AND LOOSENS CONGESTION IN YOUR NASAL PASSAGE
Moist heat and warm condensation are known to loosen the mucus in your nasal passage. Making use of a steam room when you have blocked sinuses or a stuffy nose can improve your condition significantly.
The heated room will help to loosen any phlegm that you have in your nasal passage, so it would be a good idea to have something to wipe your nose with if you choose to do this.
If you have a cold, a case of the flu, or COVID, you should not use a steam room every day, as these conditions often also cause you to have a fever.
Dehydrating yourself excessively can also cause sinus issues, so using steam rooms sparingly will give you the most benefits with the fewest drawbacks.
HELPS TO REDUCE STRESS
Steam rooms can help you to feel less stressed for a variety of reasons. Firstly, sitting in a steam room can reduce the amount of cortisol in your body, which reduces stress.
This is owing to the fact that your body releases cortisol when you are stressed, and reducing the level of cortisol in your body can leave you feeling far less stressed.
The treatment can also release endorphins, which are hormones that make you feel good, but using steam every day could cause you to build a tolerance to this effect.
HELPS WITH WORKOUT RECOVERY
A steam sauna session can make you recover from an intense workout much sooner than if you were to allow your body to heal by itself.
Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness, or DOMS, can cause your body to ache intensely the day after a workout. The heat and moisture given off in a steam sauna can loosen your muscles and reduce the effects of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness.
This will allow you to get back to the gym much sooner than normal and help you build the physique you want more quickly.
STRENGTHENS IMMUNE SYSTEM
Leukocytes are the cells in your body dedicated to fighting infection and unwanted foreign bodies. These cells are stimulated by warm water, which the humid conditions of a steam sauna provide.
Therefore, using a steam sauna regularly boosts your immune system and can prevent you from getting sick in the future.
Even though this is the case, it is still best to not use a steam room every day due to the other health risks it could pose.
CONCLUSION
While using a steam room regularly can offer many health benefits, it is better to make use of steam therapy a few times a week rather than every day.
Using steam therapy every day can lessen the benefits that the therapy offers you, so using one every day is not recommended.
You should also always check with a doctor or any other wellness professionals to see if it will be safe and healthy for you to make use of a steam room.
Pregnant women, older adults, and anyone with a heart condition are generally discouraged from using steam rooms, as the treatment could adversely affect their health.
If you have been medically cleared by a doctor, steam therapy is an excellent way to improve your mental and physical health in many ways, so why not book your session today?
