The claim
“Regular sauna use protects your lungs and prevents pneumonia.”
Unsettled. In one Finnish study that followed men for about 25 years, those who took four or more saunas a week were diagnosed with pneumonia and chronic lung disease less often. The link disappeared once the analysis allowed for men who died of other causes first, and the published abstract leaves that result out.
Updated Sep 24, 2026 · 1 study reviewed
A little human data and a plausible mechanism support it. Better trials have to come before anyone relies on it.
People say it in places like these
Daily Express headline
Regular sessions in a hot room could slash your risk of pneumonia.
See an example ↗Journal titles
Sauna bathing cuts your risk of respiratory disease.
See an example ↗Research papers
Frequent sauna use and high fitness may hold lessons for COVID-19.
See an example ↗
The research found this
The Kuopio researchers followed 1,935 men who started without chronic lung disease and counted hospital diagnoses of pneumonia and chronic lung disease through 2014.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Over a median of 25.6 years there were 379 cases. The researchers adjusted for smoking, physical activity, socioeconomic status and other factors. Men who went four or more times a week then had a 41% lower hazard than men who went once a week or less.
Over the same years, 919 of the men died. The researchers then accounted for men who died of other causes before any lung diagnosis. In that analysis the top group's hazard ratio came out at 1.00, so the frequent bathers did no better than men who went once a week or less.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The authors put the change down to the study's high death rate. That result appears in the accepted manuscript and is missing from the published abstract.
Pneumonia by itself showed a hazard ratio of 0.63 for four or more sessions a week, and that figure came from 22 cases in the top group. A second paper on 2,210 men printed the same estimates.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Cohort studyFrequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk of pneumonia in middle-aged Caucasian men: The KIHD prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Respiratory Medicine, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Later analyses lumped two to seven sessions a week together and found the hazard of pneumonia about 20% lower. In one of them, the link showed up only in men who were also fit.Source 3 · Cohort studyHigh fitness levels, frequent sauna bathing and risk of pneumonia in a cohort study: Are there potential implications for COVID‐19?Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 4 · Cohort studyAttenuated Risk of Pneumonia Due to Inflammation by Frequent Sauna BathsKunutsor SK, Jae SY, Laukkanen JA. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention, 2022.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
A 2023 letter looked at 2,658 men. Of those, 150 developed the chronic lung disease COPD, and three to seven sessions a week went with a 38% lower hazard than two or fewer.Source 5 · Cohort studyFrequent sauna bathing may reduce chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk: A prospective studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2023.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Its analysis adjusted for smoking and left out physical activity and socioeconomic status.
Few studies have measured the lungs directly. A 1988 review found that breathing changes by only about 10% in the sauna, and it advised against sauna during an acute respiratory infection.Source 6 · ReviewLungs and ventilation in saunaLaitinen LA, Lindqvist A, Heino M. Annals of clinical research, 1988.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ In 12 men with obstructive lung disease, forced vital capacity (the most air you can blow out after a deep breath) rose from 3.22 to 3.6 liters after a sauna program. That study had no control group, and healthy volunteers in another showed no significant change in lung function.Source 7 · Clinical trialSauna to transiently improve pulmonary function in patients with obstructive lung diseaseCox NJ, Oostendorp GM, Folgering HT, et al.. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 1989.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 8 · Clinical trialEffects of the Sauna on Diffusing Capacity, Pulmonary Function and Cardiac Output in Healthy SubjectsKiss D, Popp W, Wagner C, et al.. Respiration, 1994.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The dial reads 49°H for four reasons
How the reading adds up
7 + 18 + 16 + 8 = 49°H
EvidenceWhat kind of human evidence exists?
7/25The evidence is one study that followed Finnish men for about 25 years and counted lung disease diagnosed in hospital.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The studies that measured lungs directly are small and old. One of them tested 12 men with obstructive lung disease and had no control group.Source 7 · Clinical trialSauna to transiently improve pulmonary function in patients with obstructive lung diseaseCox NJ, Oostendorp GM, Folgering HT, et al.. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 1989.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
ConsistencyHave other studies found the same thing?
18/25Every lung result comes from the Kuopio men. Two papers report identical pneumonia estimates from different numbers of men, so the same cases were probably counted in both.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 2 · Cohort studyFrequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk of pneumonia in middle-aged Caucasian men: The KIHD prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Respiratory Medicine, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Allowing for deaths from other causes erased the link with lung disease.
MagnitudeDoes the claim match the size of the effect?
16/25For pneumonia alone, four or more sessions a week gave a hazard ratio of 0.63 from 22 cases in the top group. Its confidence interval (the plausible range for the true value) reached 1.00, so the data also fit no effect at all.Source 2 · Cohort studyFrequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk of pneumonia in middle-aged Caucasian men: The KIHD prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Respiratory Medicine, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The word prevents turns that borderline result into a promise.
DoseDoes the studied dose match how people use it?
8/25The men reported their usual Finnish sauna habit, and the lower rates showed up in the 172 men who went four or more times a week.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
The claim drifts from the data here
The protection shows up only in the simpler analysis. Men who died during the follow-up could no longer be diagnosed with lung disease, and once the analysis allowed for those deaths, frequent bathers looked no different.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
In the lung study, the men who bathed most were also more physically active and better off.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ The same Kuopio research has linked sauna to less dementia and less stroke as well. Critics read that spread as a sign that healthy people choose saunas.Source 9 · ReviewReader response: Sauna bathing reduces the risk of stroke in Finnish men and women: A prospective cohort studyDippel DW, Fransen PS, Ikram MK. Neurology, 2019.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
No trial has tested sauna against pneumonia. One paper raised a COVID-19 angle without any COVID-19 data.Source 3 · Cohort studyHigh fitness levels, frequent sauna bathing and risk of pneumonia in a cohort study: Are there potential implications for COVID‐19?Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2021.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Put it to use
Skip the sauna while you have a chest infection, as a Finnish review advised.Source 6 · ReviewLungs and ventilation in saunaLaitinen LA, Lindqvist A, Heino M. Annals of clinical research, 1988.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Treat any lung benefit as unproven. It comes from one study of Finnish men, and it vanished in a stricter analysis.
From our sister magazine
Sauna Monthly explains how Finns fit frequent sessions into a week
People also ask
Is sauna good for your lungs?
The evidence is thin. In one study of Finnish men, frequent sauna use went with fewer hospital diagnoses of lung disease, and the link disappeared when the analysis accounted for deaths from other causes.Source 1 · Cohort studySauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort studyKunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗ Lab studies found small changes in breathing, and healthy people's lung function didn't change significantly.Source 6 · ReviewLungs and ventilation in saunaLaitinen LA, Lindqvist A, Heino M. Annals of clinical research, 1988.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗Source 8 · Clinical trialEffects of the Sauna on Diffusing Capacity, Pulmonary Function and Cardiac Output in Healthy SubjectsKiss D, Popp W, Wagner C, et al.. Respiration, 1994.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Should you use a sauna with a cold or chest infection?
Better not. A Finnish review of sauna and the lungs advised staying out of the sauna during an acute respiratory infection.Source 6 · ReviewLungs and ventilation in saunaLaitinen LA, Lindqvist A, Heino M. Annals of clinical research, 1988.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Can a sauna help COPD or asthma?
No controlled trial has tested it. One uncontrolled study of 12 men with obstructive lung disease found that forced vital capacity rose from 3.22 to 3.6 liters after a sauna program, and their airways didn't narrow.Source 7 · Clinical trialSauna to transiently improve pulmonary function in patients with obstructive lung diseaseCox NJ, Oostendorp GM, Folgering HT, et al.. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation, 1989.Read the paper ↗PubMed ↗
Check these claims next
54°H
Unsettled
“Regular sauna use means you catch fewer colds.”
One 50-person trial from 1990 found fewer colds in regular sauna users, and in the last three of its six months they had about half as many. It stands alone, and the other support comes from a Finnish study that linked frequent sauna use to less pneumonia.
36°H
Likely
“Regular sauna use helps you live longer.”
One long-running Finnish study ties frequent sauna use to fewer deaths. The 2015 paper put the most frequent bathers' risk of death 40% lower, and later papers with longer follow-up and broader groups put it about 14% lower. The link didn't show up in the fitter half of the men or in the women the study added later.
50°H
Unsettled
“Cold showers mean you get sick less.”
In a trial of 3,018 Dutch adults, people who finished their showers cold took 29% fewer sick days off work. They didn't report significantly fewer days of illness, and most people in every group missed no work at all.
We cited these sources
- 01Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Sauna bathing reduces the risk of respiratory diseases: a long-term prospective cohort study. European Journal of Epidemiology. 2017;32(12):1107-1111. doi:10.1007/s10654-017-0311-6 PMID 28905164
- 02Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen T, Laukkanen JA. Frequent sauna bathing may reduce the risk of pneumonia in middle-aged Caucasian men: The KIHD prospective cohort study. Respiratory Medicine. 2017;132:161-163. doi:10.1016/j.rmed.2017.10.018 PMID 29229091
- 03Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen JA. High fitness levels, frequent sauna bathing and risk of pneumonia in a cohort study: Are there potential implications for COVID‐19?. European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2021;51(3):e13490. doi:10.1111/eci.13490 PMID 33426640
- 04Kunutsor SK, Jae SY, Laukkanen JA. Attenuated Risk of Pneumonia Due to Inflammation by Frequent Sauna Baths. Journal of Cardiopulmonary Rehabilitation and Prevention. 2022;42(1):59-63. doi:10.1097/HCR.0000000000000598 PMID 33797457
- 05Kunutsor SK, Laukkanen JA. Frequent sauna bathing may reduce chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk: A prospective study. European Journal of Clinical Investigation. 2023;53(5):e13940. doi:10.1111/eci.13940 PMID 36541049
- 06Laitinen LA, Lindqvist A, Heino M. Lungs and ventilation in sauna. Annals of clinical research. 1988;20(4):244-248. PMID 3218895
- 07Cox NJ, Oostendorp GM, Folgering HT, van Herwaarden CL. Sauna to transiently improve pulmonary function in patients with obstructive lung disease. Archives of physical medicine and rehabilitation. 1989;70(13):911-913. PMID 2596966
- 08Kiss D, Popp W, Wagner C, Zwick H, Sertl K. Effects of the Sauna on Diffusing Capacity, Pulmonary Function and Cardiac Output in Healthy Subjects. Respiration. 1994;61(2):86-88. doi:10.1159/000196312 PMID 8008993
- 09Dippel DW, Fransen PS, Ikram MK. Reader response: Sauna bathing reduces the risk of stroke in Finnish men and women: A prospective cohort study. Neurology. 2019;92(4):205. doi:10.1212/WNL.0000000000006808 PMID 30665915