Do infrared sauna blankets really deliver their wellness promises?

The humble sauna remains one of the most popular wellness amenities of the moment - albeit also one of the priciest - and infrared sauna blankets are being touted as more budget-friendly (and portable!) options with comparable benefits. If the marketing claims made by the brands selling them are to be believed, infrared sauna blankets can aid with detoxification, accelerate post-workout recovery, promote glowing skin, and more. But can sweating your ass off in a glorified heated sleeping bag really move the needle for your health and wellness? We consulted the experts to find out exactly what infrared sauna blankets can - and, crucially, cannot - do for you.

How do infrared sauna blankets compare with an actual sauna?

The heated rivalry between traditional and infrared saunas rages on, with varying degrees of research to back their respective mechanisms and benefits. But comparing either option with infrared sauna blankets is not so simple. Mostly, because "there is essentially zero peer-reviewed research specifically studying infrared sauna blankets," says Geeta Yadav, MD, board-certified dermatologist and founder of FACET Dermatology.

Instead of basing claims on the results of clinical trials, manufacturers have largely been making theoretical assumptions based on the study of traditional and infrared saunas, the latter of which is itself in its infancy. "Everything claimed is extrapolated from sauna studies involving very different thermal loads and protocols," Dr. Yadav says. "The robust research on cardiovascular benefits comes from Finnish saunas heated to 80-100 degrees Celsius, not consumer blankets."

Granted, infrared saunas and infrared sauna blankets both raise body temperature by emitting far-infrared light. But that's about where the similarities end. "In a blanket, [the emitters] are very, very close to your skin, which is interesting, because we generally say you want to have it a certain distance away from you to allow it to penetrate deeper, so I don't know how the mechanics of that would work, to be honest with you," says Christopher T. Minson, PhD, professor of human physiology at the University of Oregon.

"That matters, because many of the health claims depend on actually raising core temperature enough to trigger adaptive responses," says Dr. Yadav. "You're warm and sweating, which feels nice, but, physiologically, the body may not be working as hard as the marketing suggests."

"The claims with the sauna blankets just seem to go way beyond what there's any science or evidence for," says Dr. Minson. "Some of them may be true; we just don't know."

You're not detoxifying anything in there

One of the most common claims is that infrared sauna blankets will help you detoxify, or sweat out toxins. Unfortunately, these blankets are about as effective in this regard as the quilted variety draped over your living room sofa. "There is no established mechanism or published evidence for far-infrared reaching deep tissues to pull out toxins," says Dr. Yadav.

Not only is this claim untrue for sauna blankets; it's a widely held yet objectively false belief about saunas in general. "It's conceivable that you're cleansing your skin, that it's getting a little cleaner as the pores open up and you have sweat coming out," says Dr. Minson. "But there's just really no way for us to move 'toxins' from our deeper body into our skin and push it out through sweating."

"The word 'detox' always makes me skeptical, and implies your body is failing at something it's already handling-and that's misleading for healthy people," says Dr. Yadav. "Your liver and kidneys are your body's actual detoxification system, and they do a remarkably good job."

Glowing skin? Maybe for a moment

The detoxification claim is almost always paired with one about how infrared sauna blankets can help you achieve instantly radiant, naturally glowing skin. This is another one that has dermatologists raising an eyebrow-not because it's strictly untrue, but rather because this "benefit" is by no means exclusive to infrared sauna blankets.

"The temporary glow people notice after a session is almost certainly just increased blood flow to the skin surface, also known as vasodilation, and it's the same flushed, dewy look that you get after a workout or a hot bath," says Dr. Yadav. "That's real, but it's not specific to infrared. Any heat exposure will do that."