Sauna bathing frequency in Finland and the impact of COVID-19.

OBJECTIVES: Recent research has revealed multiple potential health benefits of frequent sauna bathing. Finland is a country with extraordinary sauna culture and bathing opportunities. However, coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic introduced regulations and unprecedented closures to shared sauna facilities. In this study we aimed to examine the previously unknown baseline bathing frequency and its possible change during the epidemic. DESIGN: We investigated several aspects of sauna bathing with self-reports: the frequency, its possible changes, reasons for change, and beliefs about its health effects among a representative sample of thousand Finns aged 18-75 years. This online survey was administered in May 2020. RESULTS: Before the pandemic, 59 % of our respondents had enjoyed sauna at least once a week. Since the pandemic began, up to 23 % had reduced or stopped their bathing. This was often due to restricted sauna access. However, 11 % of respondents bathed more frequently and attributed this change to seeking relaxation and passing time. These findings demonstrate a surprising flexibility in this health-promoting national pastime. Men were more active bathers than women overall and women under 35 enjoy sauna more seldom than older women. Only 7.9 % of all respondents bathed at least four times a week, exceeding a suggested threshold for maximum health benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Finnish people are active sauna bathers. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that the frequency of bathing is dependent on good access to sauna facilities. This flexibility and wide access could be exploited to improve public health in the long term if more frequent bathing became a standard.

Sauna Bathing and Risk of Psychotic Disorders: A Prospective Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVE: Sauna bathing has been suggested to promote mental well-being and relaxation, but the evidence is uncertain with respect to mental disorders. We aimed to assess the association of frequency of sauna bathing with risk of psychosis in the Kuopio Ischemic Heart Disease prospective population-based study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Baseline sauna bathing habits were assessed in 2,138 men aged 42-61 years who had no history of psychotic disorders. Participants were classified into three groups based on the frequency of sauna bathing (once, 2-3, and 4-7 times per week). RESULTS: During a median follow-up of 24.9 years, 203 psychotic disorders were recorded. A total of 537, 1,417, and 184 participants reported having a sauna bath once a week, 2-3 times, and 4-7 times per week, respectively. In Cox regression analysis adjusted for age, compared to men who had 1 sauna session per week, the hazard ratio (95% confidence intervals) of psychosis for 4-7 sauna sessions per week was 0.23 (0.09-0.58). In a multivariable model adjusted for several risk factors and other potential confounders, the corresponding hazard ratio was 0.21 (0.08-0.52). The association was similar after further adjustment for total energy intake, socioeconomic status, physical activity, and C-reactive protein (0.22 [0.09-0.54]) and was unchanged on additional adjustment for duration of a sauna session and temperature of the sauna bath (0.23 [0.09-0.57]). CONCLUSION: Our study suggests a strong inverse and independent association between frequent sauna bathing and the future risk of psychotic disorders in a general male population.

[Not Available]. / Das Potenzial der Sauna im Rahmen der Prävention - eine Übersicht neuerer Erkenntnisse.

The benefits of using sauna in prevention and therapy could be enhanced. In this paper, new findings are reported underpinning the preventive and therapeutic potential of this intervention. Sauna can be helpful in toughening up and in supplementing pain management of e.g. fibromyalgia as well as in preventing and treating common lifestyle diseases, such as stress, metabolic diseases, or type 2 diabetes.

Being washed by someone is therapeutic... and a treat.

When in Istanbul, I visited a hamam, a traditional Turkish bath. I'm familiar with other bathing rituals--steam room, sauna, Jacuzzi--but suspected being washed by someone in front of others was not very British.

Effects of charcoal kiln saunas (Jjimjilbang) on psychological states.

This uncontrolled intervention study explored the effects of sauna bathing utilizing residual heat from charcoal kilns (charcoal kiln saunas) on psychological states. Forty-five volunteers (24 males and 21 females; mean age 51.9 years (S.D. 15.7) visiting a bamboo charcoal kiln in Japan participated in the study. They completed a shortened version of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) before and after charcoal kiln sauna bathing in order to determine mood and anxiety states. Six factors relating to mood were measured using the POMS: Tension-Anxiety, Depression-Dejection, Anger-Hostility, Vigor, Fatigue, and Confusion. The two anxiety concepts of state anxiety and trait anxiety were also measured. Changes in psychological states before and after sauna bathing were then determined. All mood scales and both manifest anxiety measures were improved after sauna bathing. Charcoal kiln sauna bathing appears to improve mood and decrease anxiety. It is a limitation of this study that this was a descriptive prospective and an uncontrolled intervention study. Further investigation of the improvement of trait anxiety is required.

[An evaluation of the effect of the sauna on the clinical, laboratory and psychological indices in rheumatoid arthritis]. / Otsenka vliianiia sauny na klinicheskie, laboratornye i psikhicheskie pokazateli pri revmatoidnom artrite.

The direct effect of sauna procedures was assessed in 196 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in minimal or moderate activity stage. Three temperature and humidity regimens were tested. The optimal conditions occurred at 80 +/- 5 degrees C and relative air humidity 10-20%. Sauna produced a positive effect on locomotor system, psychoemotional status, alleviated pain. Clinico-biochemical and immunological indices of the peripheral blood underwent insignificant transient shifts.

The sauna and sauna bathing habits--a psychoanalytic point of view.

Sauna bathing is a pleasant and relaxing experience that combines psychic, physical and social pleasures. A person's inner feelings about sauna bathing, its essential components are mainly unconscious. The sauna bath reduces the aggressive behaviour and enables bathers to forget the commonplace pressures of everyday life. The sauna evokes memories of childhood development, awakening feelings of maternal warmth and paternal power in the bather. The sauna is a positive mental health resource, even though its effects are transitory.