The morning-after sauna is a tradition in some places and a meme in others. The logic sounds right: sweat it out.
The medical writing on alcohol and saunas says the opposite. This article lays it out. It sits under our overview of sauna health benefits. This is general information, not medical advice.
Short answer: don’t use a sauna for a hangover. A hangover leaves you dehydrated and puts extra strain on your heart, and a sauna adds to both. Drink water, rest, and use the sauna tomorrow.
What the research says about the hangover phase
Finnish researchers wrote about this directly in 1988, in a paper titled “The sauna and alcohol.”
They are frank about the limits: at the time, scientific information on how sauna and alcohol interact was “totally lacking,” so their discussion “relies merely on presumptions.”
Their presumption about hangovers is still worth reading: “Alcohol intoxication and particularly the hangover phase exposes a person to cardiac arrhythmias, and sauna may further increase the arrhythmia-risk.”
And their conclusion: “Sauna bathing and heavy drinking, and also sauna bathing during hangover phase undoubtedly create real health risks.”
What was measured later
In 1992, a team tested alcohol and sauna in 10 healthy young men.
Sauna alone left systolic blood pressure at its baseline. Sauna with alcohol “decreased systolic blood pressure markedly from 136 +/- 4 to 113 +/- 3 mmHg.”
The reassuring part: in these healthy young men, neither condition increased abnormal heartbeats. The authors still concluded that “the risk of hypotension is increased when sauna bathing is combined with alcohol consumption.”
That study tested drinking, not the morning after. No study I found tested a hangover sauna directly.
How people get hurt
The 1988 paper lists what goes wrong: “sprains and burns,” and more serious events such as “head contusions, heat stroke after passing out in sauna and drownings while swimming.” It estimated that alcohol contributed to “some 20 to 25 sauna-related deaths every year” in Finland at that time.
A 2018 Korean study reviewed 103 sauna deaths between 2008 and 2015. In 76 of them, the person’s blood alcohol was 0.08% or higher.
Those numbers describe deaths that were investigated, not the risk of any single session. They do show where the danger concentrates.
Why “sweating it out” doesn’t work
A hangover already involves fluid loss. Harvard Health says a short sauna session costs about a pint of sweat. That is the wrong direction.
On the detox idea, Medical News Today is blunt: “there is no scientific research that proves sweating detoxifies the body.”
The evidence in one table
| Source | What it covers | Finding |
|---|---|---|
| Ylikahri et al., 1988 | Review and expert opinion | Sauna in the hangover phase creates health risks |
| Roine et al., 1992 | 10 healthy men, alcohol plus sauna | Blood pressure fell from 136 to 113 mmHg |
| Yang et al., 2018 | 103 sauna deaths in Korea | 76 had blood alcohol of 0.08% or more |
| Hannuksela and Ellahham, 2001 | Review | Alcohol raises risk of hypotension, arrhythmia, sudden death |
What to do instead
Cleveland Clinic and UCLA Health both say to avoid the sauna when you have been drinking. For the morning after, the plain advice holds: water, food, rest, and time.
My rule of thumb: if you can still feel last night, the sauna waits until tomorrow. And never use a sauna alone after drinking.
When you are back to normal
A sauna the next evening, sober and hydrated, is a different thing. Keep it to 15 to 20 minutes. If you are planning a home sauna, the home sauna buying guide covers timers and controls that shut the heater off for you.
Bottom line: a sauna doesn’t cure a hangover, and the combination is where sauna injuries cluster. Rehydrate first. Sauna later.
Sources
- Ylikahri R, Heikkonen E, Soukas A, “The sauna and alcohol,” Annals of Clinical Research, 1988 (abstract): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Roine R, et al., “Alcohol and sauna bathing: effects on cardiac rhythm, blood pressure, and serum electrolyte and cortisol concentrations,” Journal of Internal Medicine, 1992 (abstract): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Yang KM, Lee BW, Oh J, Yoo SH, “Characteristics of sauna deaths in Korea in relation to different blood alcohol concentrations,” Forensic Science, Medicine, and Pathology, 2018 (abstract): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Hannuksela ML, Ellahham S, “Benefits and risks of sauna bathing,” The American Journal of Medicine, 2001 (abstract): pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Medical News Today, “Sauna: Health benefits, risks, and precautions,” medically reviewed, last updated June 27, 2023: medicalnewstoday.com
- Harvard Health Publishing, “Sauna Health Benefits: Are saunas healthy or harmful?” May 14, 2020 (opening section): health.harvard.edu
- Cleveland Clinic, “Get Your Sweat On: The Benefits of a Sauna,” August 12, 2024: health.clevelandclinic.org