Saunas are a relatively new thing in North America, and many of us North Americans do not know how to use them properly. In order to get the maximum results from a sauna, we must first know the dos and don'ts of saunas. There is a lot of propaganda about sauna out there, and if someone were to believe and do everything that is said you can do, that person's health would be in serious jeopardy!



Saunas can do a lot for your body, and perhaps the best thing it does is to cleanse the toxins from your body. It does this by heating up your body and allowing it to sweat. Sweating is your body's way of removing the "bad stuff" and replacing it with the "good stuff". The room temperature in a sauna has to be pretty high for this process to happen properly, and some people are afraid that their bodies may be burned because of the high heat.

The correct temperature for a regular sauna is 180 degrees Fahrenheit. If your oven has heated up to this degree and you place your hand on the burner, your hand will be burned! However, in a sauna, the heat comes from only one thing in the room - the heater, and if you are using the sauna properly, you do not ever have to touch the heater. It is not possible for your body to be burned by the high heat of the sauna room as long as the temperature stays at a normal sauna temperature.

Before you enter a sauna you should do a body check. Look for any metal on your body. Some bathing suits have metal zippers or rings. Also, if you are wearing any rings, necklaces or anklets, these will have to come off before you open the door of the sauna. If your bathing suit has metal on it, it would be best to change into another suit before going into the sauna. The reason for this is because metal heats up very quickly, and touching it will burn your skin - not might burn you, will burn you! It is not even a good idea to take your jewelry off inside of the sauna. Even is you lay it on a towel beside you, if you forgot and picked it up by hand afterwards, or if you tripped and fell onto it, your skin would still suffer burns.

Another burn risk inside the sauna is the heater. There are two main ways to become burnt by the sauna heater. One is to touch the heater, which most people have the common sense never to do! The second way to get burnt is by the steam of the heater. When you are inside a sauna for any period of time you want to keep the humidity of the room high at all times, because if you don't, it can get very dry. All saunas have rocks on top of the heater and a water spout or bucket. If you pour some water on top of rocks, it will turn into steam and create humidity. It is very important to use a ladle when doing this so that you are not too close to the heater when the steam arises. Steam can cause a bad burn, and you do not want to be too close to it.