Can you wear contacts in a sauna?
By the Find My Sauna team·
Updated ·
6 min read
If you can't see much without your contacts, taking them out for the sauna can feel like walking around half blind. The good news is that the heat itself isn't the main problem. The bad news is that the water that comes with most sauna visits is.
The short answer
You can wear contact lenses in a dry sauna, but hot, dry air can make soft lenses dry and uncomfortable. The bigger risk is water. Health authorities say to keep lenses away from all water, including showers, pools, hot tubs and the sea, because of rare but serious eye infections such as Acanthamoeba keratitis. If you keep your lenses in, wear daily disposables, keep your eyes shut in showers and cold dips, and throw the lenses away afterwards. Or take them out and wear glasses between rounds.
What heat does to your lenses
Soft contact lenses are made of materials that hold water, and they rely on your tears to stay moist. In a traditional Finnish sauna the air is hot and very dry. Your tears evaporate faster, the lens can dry out, and your eyes may start to feel gritty and tired. Some people notice their vision blurring slightly.
Blinking more often helps, and so do shorter rounds. If your eyes feel dry, rewetting drops made for contact lenses can help once you're out. When someone throws water on the stones, the burst of hot steam can sting your eyes with or without lenses, so it's worth closing them for a few seconds.
Rigid gas permeable lenses don't hold water in the same way, so dryness is less of an issue. The water risks below apply to them just as much.
The real risk: water
The official advice is blunt. The US Food and Drug Administration says not to expose contact lenses to any water at all: tap, bottled, distilled, lake or ocean. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says to keep lenses away from all water and to take them out before swimming or showering.
A typical sauna visit breaks that rule several times. There's a shower before you go in and after each round, and often a cold plunge, a lake or the sea in between. Ordinary water carries microbes that can get trapped between a lens and your eye, where they have a warm, damp place to settle.
Acanthamoeba keratitis
The infection eye doctors worry about most is Acanthamoeba keratitis, caused by a tiny amoeba found in tap water, pools, the sea and soil. It infects the cornea, the clear front of the eye. It's rare, affecting fewer than one in 20,000 contact lens wearers a year in the UK according to researchers at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London. But it's painful and hard to treat, and it can damage sight. Some people need a corneal transplant.
A Moorfields study published in 2018 confirmed an outbreak in south-east England, with cases around three times higher from 2010–11 than in 2004–09. Wearing lenses while swimming or bathing was one of the risk factors it identified. A later Moorfields study, published in 2022, found that people who wore reusable soft lenses had 3.8 times the risk of those wearing daily disposables, and that showering with lenses in roughly tripled the risk.
If you keep your lenses in
- Use daily disposables for sauna days, even if you normally wear monthly lenses.
- Put them in with clean, dry hands, and bring a spare pair and a case.
- Close your eyes tightly under the shower and keep your head above water in plunge pools and the sea.
- If water gets in, take the lenses out as soon as you can and throw them away. Never rinse or store lenses in tap water.
- Take them out at the end of your visit and give your eyes a rest.
Glasses and other options
Glasses are simpler, but they fog up the moment you walk in, and metal frames get hot enough to be uncomfortable against your face. Most people leave them on a hook outside the door and put them on between rounds to find their way to the shower and back. Plastic frames are more comfortable if you want to wear them inside.
Prescription swimming goggles are worth having if your sauna is next to a lake, a lido or the sea. They let you see while keeping water out of your eyes. Our guide to what to wear in a sauna covers glasses, jewellery and the rest.
Steam rooms and cold plunges
Steam rooms are kinder to lenses in one way, because the air isn't dry. But condensation and sweat run down your face and into your eyes, so you're back to the water problem. See sauna vs steam room for how the two rooms differ.
Cold plunges, lakes and the sea are where lenses are most at risk, because that's water splashing straight into your eyes. If you love the cold part of the routine, this is the best reason to switch to glasses and goggles, or to daily lenses you bin afterwards. Our guide to cold plunge benefits explains how to get in safely.
Who should be careful
- People with dry eyes, who may find a hot sauna uncomfortable with lenses in.
- Anyone who has had recent eye surgery or an eye infection. Ask your surgeon or optometrist before using a sauna.
- Anyone with a red, painful or watery eye. Take your lenses out and don't put them back in until it has settled.
If your eye becomes painful, red or sensitive to light, or your vision blurs after your lenses have been in water, take them out and see an optometrist or eye casualty department urgently. Keep the lenses and case, as they can help with tests.
This guide is general information, not medical advice.
Saunas by the water
Seaside and lakeside saunas are where a lens plan matters most. A few listed on Find My Sauna:
Luna Hut Sauna Sea Lanes
Brighton · Sauna and outdoor pool
Southsea Sauna
Portsmouth · Outdoor sauna
Driftwood Sauna
Galway · Outdoor sauna
Frequently asked questions
Can you wear contact lenses in a sauna?
You can, but hot dry air can make them uncomfortable, and showers and cold dips risk getting water on them. Daily disposables you throw away afterwards are the safest choice.
Can you shower with contacts in?
Health authorities advise against it. Tap water can carry Acanthamoeba, a rare cause of serious eye infection.
Can heat damage contact lenses?
The main effect of heat is drying soft lenses out, which makes them uncomfortable. Water is the bigger risk to your eyes.
Can I wear glasses in a sauna?
They fog up and metal frames get hot. Most people leave them outside and wear them between rounds.
What should I do if water gets in my eyes with lenses in?
Take the lenses out as soon as you can and throw them away. If your eye becomes painful, red or sensitive to light, see an optometrist or eye doctor urgently.
