How-to

How long should you stay in an infrared sauna?

By the Find My Sauna team· Updated 21 October 2026· 6 min read

Rē Sauna, Winnipeg. Leaning back in a private infrared cabin. Sessions here run up to 40 minutes.

Infrared studios sell sessions in neat 30- or 45-minute slots, which makes it tempting to stay until the timer runs out. How long you should actually sit there depends on the temperature, how used to heat you are and what you've just been doing.

The short answer

Start with 5–15 minutes at a low setting. Over a few weeks, build up to 20–30 minutes, which is as long as Cleveland Clinic suggests even for experienced users. Studios often sell 40–45 minute sessions, but that length only makes sense at a gentle setting: the hotter the cabin, the shorter the session. After exercise, 20–30 minutes is plenty. Many people go 2–4 times a week. Get out straight away if you feel dizzy, sick or get a headache.

This guide is just about infrared. For Finnish saunas, steam rooms and how rounds work, see how long to stay in a sauna.

Your first session

Book the shortest slot the studio offers, or plan to leave early from a longer one. A first visit might go like this:

Drink a glass of water and shower off any lotion.
Sit in for 5–15 minutes with the cabin at a low setting. Cleveland Clinic suggests starting at about 43 °C (110 °F) for 5–10 minutes.
Notice how you feel. Warm skin, a faster pulse and a steady sweat are normal. A thumping head is not.
Come out slowly. Sit for a minute before you stand, then have a lukewarm or cool shower.
Rest and drink for at least 10 minutes before you get dressed and leave.

Don't worry if you barely sweat the first time. Some people find they sweat more once they've done a few sessions.

Two women in sports tops sitting and talking in a wooden infrared sauna — Bodyhaven Spa Lyall Bay, Wellington. Two friends in a private infrared cabin. Sessions here run 30 or 45 minutes and can include a cold plunge.

A plan for the first month

Build up gradually, raising either the time or the temperature each week, not both:

	Time	Setting	Sessions a week
Week 1	5–15 min	40–45 °C (104–113 °F)	1–2
Week 2	15–20 min	45–50 °C (113–122 °F)	2
Week 3	20–25 min	45–50 °C (113–122 °F)	2–3
Week 4 on	20–30 min	50–60 °C (122–140 °F)	2–4

This is a starting point, not a target. If you feel drained or get headaches afterwards, drop back a step.

Time and temperature go together

Twenty minutes at 45 °C and twenty minutes at 65 °C are very different sessions. Research gives a feel for the range:

Around 45 °C: recent studies found little or no rise in core body temperature, even over 45 minutes. Pleasant and relaxing, but light on the body.
60 °C for 15 minutes: the routine Japanese doctors use in Waon therapy for heart patients, followed by 30 minutes of rest under a blanket. Core temperature rises by about 1.0–1.2 °C.
65 °C for 45 minutes: in a small Cardiff Metropolitan University study shared by the cabin's maker, heart rates rose from 74 to 153 beats a minute and core temperature by 1.4 °C. People rated it "extremely uncomfortable", and two of twelve left early.

So a long session only makes sense at a gentle setting. If you like the cabin hot, keep it to 15–20 minutes. Our guide to infrared sauna temperature explains the settings.

Woman in a sports top sitting on the bench of an infrared sauna with dark heater panels — WYLD Newmarket, Auckland. An infrared cabin in a private suite that also has an ice bath and a shower.

After exercise

Cool down first. Walk around, stretch, have something to drink, and give your heart rate 10 minutes or so to settle before you get in. Then 20–30 minutes at a moderate setting is plenty.

That's close to what was tested in a 2015 study at the University of Jyväskylä in Finland: ten men sat in a far-infrared sauna at 35–50 °C for 30 minutes after training. It seemed to help their recovery from an endurance session, though it made no measurable difference after a strength session. If you've trained hard in the heat or haven't eaten, keep it shorter. See sauna before or after a workout for more on timing.

Signs to get out

Leave the cabin straight away if you notice:

dizziness or feeling lightheaded
nausea
a headache
a racing or pounding heart that doesn't settle
chills, goosebumps or suddenly no longer sweating
muscle cramps
confusion or unusual tiredness

Because the air is milder, infrared can creep up on you. People sometimes feel fine sitting down and only notice when they stand. Get up slowly, sit somewhere cool and drink water. Don't go back in that day if the feeling lingers.

How often to go

Many people go 2–4 times a week. For healthy adults who drink enough, daily sessions are fine, but there's no evidence that more is better. The long-term studies of frequent sauna use, from Finland, were done in traditional saunas, so nobody can tell you the ideal number of infrared sessions a week. Pick a routine you'll keep. Consistency matters more than squeezing in an extra session.

Drinking enough

You can lose more fluid than you'd expect. In the Cardiff study, people lost about a kilo of body weight in 45 minutes, almost all of it sweat. That's an extreme session, but even a gentle 30 minutes can leave you short. Drink a glass of water before you go in and one or two afterwards, and more after a workout.

Who should be careful

Keep sessions short, or check with a doctor first, if you are pregnant, have a heart condition or very high or low blood pressure, take medicine that affects blood pressure, heart rate or sweating, or have a fever. Never use a sauna after drinking alcohol. Cleveland Clinic also notes that long heat exposure can temporarily lower sperm count, worth knowing if you're trying for a baby.

This guide is general information, not medical advice.