I take wellness trends with a grain of salt. Call me discerning or just negative, but so many of them are over-hyped and under-deliver on their promises. Yet I still scroll through Instagram and TikTok in an attempt to stay up to speed on what's popular. Blame it on my FOMO.
That's what I was doing a few weeks ago when I came across an influencer who was using a sauna blanket (yes, a sauna blanket). It looked a little bit like a black sleeping bag. The influencer climbed inside of it while rattling off all the purported benefits of an at-home sweat session. She claimed it could help lower inflammation, detox the body, and even aid in muscle recovery. I was intrigued, but I wasn't sold, so I mentally filed it away to come back to later. Except I didn't have to. Soon, I came across another video featuring a sauna blanket, and then another. After the third one, I decided it was time to learn more. So, I reached out to the experts and even went as far as to try one out for myself. Ahead, learn everything you need to know about this wellness trend, including my personal experience with it.
This is the exact sauna blanket I saw the influencer use, and it's the same one I tried too. Yes, it's expensive, but rightfully so. After all, it's supposed to offer the same benefits of a traditional infrared sauna—with no gym membership or home renovation necessary. ake it from Katie Kaps and Lauren Berlingeri, co-founders and co-CEOs of HigherDOSE. "Sauna blankets took off because of their portability to bring a spa experience into your home and with you while traveling. Most consumers can't afford to install a full-size sauna in their homes, so sauna blankets are a fantastic accessible solution to help the masses stay committed to a consistent wellness routine."
The blanket has multiple layers. The first is the polyurethane leather case; this is the black outer material that makes it look a little bit like a sleeping bag. Inside, there's an infrared heat core to raise the body's internal temperature. There's also a layer of charcoal, clay, and magnetic material to detox the body even further while balancing heat and improving circulation.
All in all, the brand claims the sauna blanket has myriad benefits. "Infrared heat elevates the body's core temperature to support detoxification, deep relaxation, glowing skin, and circulation. The benefits are holistic to overall longevity when used frequently," Kaps and Berlingeri say.
Board-certified multi-specialist physician, Azza Halim, MD, says the benefits of infrared heat are legit. "Infrared saunas operate at a lower temperature than traditional saunas yet still provide therapeutic benefits," she says. "Benefits include heart health by decreasing blood pressure and mimicking exercise, relaxation, pain relief of sore muscles, improved sleep cycle, as well as decreased oxidative stress and decreased inflammation thereby boosting the immune system and overall detoxification via sweating." As if that's not enough Halim adds that it's also great for the skin, which explains my post-sweat glow (more on that in a minute).
If you don't want to have to wear the fashion equivalent of longjohns every time you use the sauna blanket, the brand offers an insert, which I think is well worth the money. If you have it, you can go into the sauna blanket naked. The insert is machine washable.