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Sweating in the sauna can help to remove toxins, improve circulation, reduce stress, ease muscle pain, and enhance skin health.
You are not sweating in the sauna due to genetic factors or certain medical conditions. Sweat gland activity can also decrease with age or certain medications. However, lack of sweat doesn’t necessarily mean the sauna isn’t effective, as other physiological changes still occur from heat exposure.
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In this article, you will learn why some people don’t sweat in a sauna or have stopped sweating in the sauna. You will also learn what you can do to fix this issue.
Table of Contents
Is It Normal Not to Sweat in the Sauna?
It’s not normal not to sweat in the sauna but it’s not unheard of.
- Some people don’t sweat in the sauna due to reasons like the sauna temperature is not set properly.
- Or perhaps your body is too cold and you need to spend a long time inside the sauna to be able to sweat.
- It could even be a gender thing. Men tend to sweat more and faster than women so (assuming that you are a woman) increasing the time you spend in the sauna could make you sweat more.
- In some cases, the air is so dry that it evaporates the moisture from your skin. In other words, no sweat is not the same as no moisture loss.
- And lastly, it could be your age. The older you get the less to tend to sweat.
Yes, it’s good to sweat in a sauna. The heat inside a sauna increases the temperature of your body. So the body tries to cool down by sweating profusely. A side effect of sweating is the removal of harmful toxins. There are many more benefits to sweating inside a sauna. Let’s take a detailed look at the benefits of sweating in a sauna.
Benefits of Sweating in a Sauna
There are 6 major benefits of sweating in a sauna. Those are:
1. Sweating Helps You Age Well
The heat from the sauna increases your blood circulation. As a result, you tend to look vibrant and younger. Moreover, the heat also helps open up your pores and as you sweat, all the dirt and debris are pushed out of your skin which adds to the radiance and clarity of your skin. Some studies even suggest that infrared saunas help reduce cellulite. You might want to check out the benefits of using an infrared sauna.
2. Sweating Can Help Lose Weight
When you sweat, you lose water weight and inevitably you gain that right back after you step out of the sauna and hydrate yourself. But as you sit inside the sauna, your heart starts pumping as if you were doing a cardio workout. Your body tries to cool down and in the process uses energy and helps burn calories. This can become a contributing factor to weight loss but it does not substitute a healthy diet and regular exercise.
3. Sweating Reduces Health Risks
Sweating in a sauna can reduce the risk of cardiovascular heart disease. In a study conducted over two decades on a handful of Finnish men, researchers found that then who frequented the sauna regularly were developing diseases that were less fatal.
Some people even believe that sweating can reduce the chances of kidney stones. Sweating removes water from your body which means your kidney is at rest, it’s not producing urine. So there are low chances of toxic substances flowing to your kidney and urinary tract.
Human sweat is said to contain a type of protein called dermcidin that protects the body against bacteria that causes disease like tuberculosis and MRSA.
(Image source: Ron Lach from Pexels)
4. Sweating Aids Muscle Recovery
As we have said many times before, sweating helps increase the heart rate and boost blood circulation. It also helps flush out toxins like lactic acid which not just reduces pain but also speeds up the recovery process.
5. Sweating Detoxify Body
We mentioned at the very beginning that sweating is a great way to detox your body. That said, there are skeptics who don’t think sweat can detoxify the body. But there are studies indicating that the levels of heavy metals decrease in people who exercise and sweat regularly. So sweating is a potential method for the elimination of toxic materials from your body. But sweating alone won’t flush out all toxic compounds. To keep your body clean, you will need to follow a healthy diet and keep yourself hydrated.
6. Sweating Can Lead to Better Mental Health
During a sweaty session in a sauna, endorphins, are a hormone that triggers positive feelings and uplifts your mood. Spending enough time in a sauna adds to mental well-being.
How to Sweat More in the Sauna
To be able to sweat in the sauna properly, we recommended carrying out the following steps to the T.
1. Hydrate a Lot
This one’s a no-brainer. You need to be hydrated to be able to sweat. Therefore drink a lot of water before, during, and after the sauna session. The water you drink before and during the sauna will boost your sweating. But make sure, you drink a ton of water after the session ends because you have lost a lot of water during the session.
2. Ensure Temperature is Set Properly
This seems a bit too obvious but we strongly recommend checking whether the temperature is set properly before every sauna session. By taking a few minutes to check the equipment, you might actually discover if a piece of equipment is malfunctioning.
3. Take a Hot Shower Pre-Sauna
We had mentioned earlier in the article that when the body is cold, it takes time for the skin to start sweating. If that’s something you suffer from then you can consider staying in the sauna a while longer but not more than 30 mins. If that doesn’t work then take a hot shower before stepping into the sauna. With your core temperature already elevated, you are likely to start sweating immediately.
4. Enter the Sauna Dry
Going into the sauna with a moist body can delay sweating. As soon as your body starts heating, it uses the moisture in your skin to try and cool the core temperate down and this could lead to delayed sweating. So make sure you enter the sauna dry.
5. Use These Products (Optional)
There are a few products out there like the Sunlighten Pure Sweat cream that claims to help people sweat more. Since I don’t have any personal experience with such products, I don’t know if they work. But you might give it a try if everything else fails.
You can also use a soft, dry body brush to brush your skin and activates the lymph system, and its waste-disposal mechanisms, helping you sweat and remove toxins from your body.
NOTE: If none of the techniques we shared with you works and you just can’t seem to be able to sweat inside the sauna, then it’s possible that you have an underlying health issue. We strongly recommend that you consult with a doctor.
(Image source: veritastore.com)
FAQs
Why Do I Not Sweat in Sauna?
You are not sweating inside the sauna due to a number of reasons like the sauna temperature is set low, your body is too cold or moist, and therefore taking a long time to heat up. Perhaps you are getting old and sweating decreases with age. It’s also possible that the air inside the sauna is so dry that the moisture inside the sauna evaporates and there’s no room left to sweat.
Does a Sauna Make You Sweat Less?
The sauna does not make you sweat less. When you sit inside a sauna, your core temperature starts to rise and your body’s natural defense mechanism kicks starts. It begins sweating in order to bring the core temperature down to normal. The more you visit the sauna, the more your body gets used to the heat and knows that it needs to respond by sweating. So when you are inside the sauna, your body is likely to sweat more.
How Much Do You Sweat in a Sauna?
An average person, spending 15 minutes in a sauna is likely to sweat a bit more than 4 cups (1 liter) of sweat. That said, it’s worth remembering that men sweat much more than women do.
Conclusion
Sweating is a vital part of your sauna experience. If you are unable to sweat during a sauna session, the next time you step inside the sauna, we recommend following this checklist:
✅ Are you properly hydrated?
✅ Is the temperature set properly?
✅ Is your heater functioning properly?
✅ Was your body cold when you entered the sauna?
✅ Does the air feel super dry?
✅ Do you think have any potential medical conditions?
That’s it for this one folk! We hope you found our article informative and useful. If you have any queries, leave us a comment below.
(Feature image by Cottonbro from Pexels)
