Infrared versus traditional Finnish sauna, which is better? This is one of the most common sauna questions I receive. My short answer is if I had access to both, I would choose a traditional Finnish sauna. It's the modality behind the strongest long-term evidence where frequent use is associated with lower cardiovascular and all-cause mortality and a lower risk of dementia. Infrared sauna is not useless. It uses radiant heat, but at a much lower air temperature, so many people tolerate longer sessions. However, infrared has not been shown to be equivalent to Finnish sauna. Its evidence base is much smaller, devices and protocols vary widely, and we don’t have comparable long-term data for cardiovascular disease, dementia, or longevity. In a 2025 head-to-head study, traditional sauna raised core temperature, whereas a 45-minute far-infrared session increased skin and body temperature and cardiac output but did not raise core temperature. The thermal dose (and potentially the adaptations) may therefore be different. Choose Finnish sauna when you can. If infrared is all you have, or it’s the sauna you’ll use consistently, use it. There is currently no validated time-for-time conversion between the two.