How to get sick in the sauna and how to prevent it

Pirts bija sakarsusi, akmeņi karsti, viss it kā pareizi. Alberts apsēdās, pagāja dažas minūtes — un sajūta sāka mainīties. Nevis patīkams siltums, bet smagums. Galva kļuva dulla, elpa smagāka, un gribējās ātrāk iziet ārā. Tieši šeit rodas jautājums — kāpēc pirtī kļūst slikti, pat ja viss šķiet kārtībā?

“I guess I just don’t like baths,” he said.

But the problem wasn’t really the sauna.

Too much heat without balance

The first thing many people do is heat up the sauna as hot as possible, thinking that this automatically means a better experience. But a sauna is not about the peak temperature, it’s about how your body reacts to that temperature.

If the heat is intense and uncontrolled, the body cannot gradually adapt. The heart starts to beat faster, breathing becomes shallow and it feels like too much. At this point, instead of relaxing, the person struggles with the circumstances.

A good sauna feeling is when the heat “comes in” gradually – when you feel your body opening up rather than resisting. This means that it’s not just the number of degrees that counts, but also how that heat is built up and maintained.

The head overheats faster than the body

This is one of the most common reasons why people get unwell in the sauna, and one of the most often ignored.

The head heats up faster than the rest of the body because it is at its highest point and directly exposed to the heat. When the head overheats, the body starts to signal – dizziness, pressure, discomfort. And at this point, even a good sauna experience can be interrupted.

Many people try to “tough it out”, but the solution is simple – you need to protect your head. This is where the sauna hat comes in, helping to keep the balance between the body and the head.

Incorrect humidity

A sauna is not just hot air – it is an environment where heat and humidity work together. If one of them is out of balance, the whole sensation changes.

Air that is too dry produces a sharp, burning heat that tires you quickly. And too much humidity makes the air heavy, oppressive and hard to bear. In both cases, a person starts to feel uncomfortable, even if the temperature itself is not too high.

Pouring water on rocks is not just an activity – it is a way of controlling the environment. The right amount, at the right time, creates a steady, pleasant warmth that helps the body relax rather than tire.

Staying in the sauna too long

Another common mistake is the desire to “last longer”. People often see a sauna as a kind of endurance test to see how long they can last.

But sauna is not about duration. It’s about the feeling.

If you ignore your body’s signals – tiredness, dizziness, heaviness – you cross the threshold where sauna turns from a pleasant experience into a strain. And it is at this point that the feeling that sauna is “not for me” sets in.

The right approach is simple – go out when your body demands it, not when you “should sit still”.

No preparation

The sauna starts not when you enter the heat, but before.

If you enter a sauna without preparation – without water, without a clear plan, without an understanding of the process – everything is chaotic. You react to the sensations, but you can’t control them.

But when everything is ready – towel, water, hat, utensils – the sauna becomes fluid. You can focus on the feeling, not on what’s missing.

This seems like a small thing, but it is often what separates a good sauna experience from an average one.

How to make a sauna really work

Albert only realised this after a while.

Bathing is not about how hot it is or how long you can stand it. It’s about balance – between heat and humidity, between body and head, between sensation and control.

Once this balance is in place, the sauna becomes a place where the body is rejuvenated. When it is not, it becomes a strain.

And often, it only takes one right choice for this balance to emerge.

Finally

If you get sick in the sauna, it doesn’t mean it’s not for you.

This means that something is not quite right.

And when you realise exactly what it is, the sauna suddenly becomes very different.