January 2012

Q. My neighbor just built a sauna. I’ve heard that sitting in a sauna is good for my high blood pressure. Should I take my neighbor up on his offer to use his sauna whenever I feel like it?

A. There have been a few studies that look at saunas as therapy for high blood pressure. First, though, ask your neighbor if his sauna uses radiant heat or infrared heat. Radiant heat saunas are usually wood-paneled rooms using radiant heaters that put out dry or heat or wet steam. However, the two best studies I know of regarding saunas for lowering high blood pressure use infrared saunas; these rooms are warmed by infrared heat lamps.