Can Sauna Kill Coronavirus? Public and Home Sauna for Covid-19 May Be Beneficial.

Sauna Benefits in the Time of Corona

Now that we don’t have unrealistic expectations for sauna to cure Covid-19, we think it’s quite possible that home saunas will play a role in coronavirus prevention and recovery.

A sauna may directly kill coronavirus on skin, but more importantly, the same physiological factors that decrease all-cause mortality (did you know people who sauna frequently actually live longer?) may prepare your body to fight coronaviruses.

There’s a lot going on when you sauna, with dozens of real, proven health benefits that sound too good to be true.  Our database is here, but we also recommend Dr. Rhonda Patrick’s deep dive on sauna research here.

As Dr. Rhonda Patrick explains, the health benefits of sauna are studied in Finnish Dry saunas.  If you want to replicate these studies, you need a dry, Finnish Saunas that reach 79°c, or 174.2°, which should also be more than hot enough to kill any viruses on your skin.

Other Ways To Prevent Coronavirus Covid-19

#StayHome – The best way to slow the spread of Coronavirus is to stay home, and avoid any unnecessary interactions outside your immediate family while health care systems prepare.  So grab a book and stay home, here are a couple fun options…

Only a N95 respirator would keep it out of your lungs, we recommend one like this if available.  These non-medical masks are just as effective and have not been selling out yet, but you may scare children.

Just don’t hoard surgical n95 masks unnecessarily, because there’s a shortage for health care workers.

An infected person can sneeze or cough and spew out coronavirus droplets to just about anything in a 5-8 feet radius. Thus, the virus would be hanging out on top of counters, surfaces, chairs, toys, and whatever or whoever is in its way.

Similarly if an infected person uses a tissue to blow his nose into, the ‘snot’ would be contaminated with coronaviruses. If he leaves the tissue in the room and someone else comes in to throw it out, she touches the infected tissue and now can spread it to herself or others she touches. If she touches her own eyes or mouth, lips, or tongue, viruses have gained entry to the body. On the other hand, if she washes her hands immediately after removing the tissue, she most likely will not infect others.

It’s possible to transmit the coronavirus before you have symptoms, and thus, if you go to the gym, whatever equipment you touch will be contaminated with the virus. This means anyone can become a superspreader, someone who infects dozens of people. This is likely because the incubation time period is up to two weeks. 

Medical Treatment Lacking

Medical treatment for coronavirus is making sure the patient is well hydrated and sometimes using a ventilator to get oxygen into the lungs if needed. Sometimes an antiviral medication is used (Remdesivir).  According to WHO, Remdesiver “may be the best shot for treating Coronavirus.”

But really, the bottom line is that the medical profession has not been able to control viruses as a whole – and the approach is generally to wait it out and try to support the body’s immune system during the waiting period. The harsh part is that sometimes in the waiting period, the patient dies.

This sends many looking for other options, and unproven treatments. While some many treatments you’ll find on the internet are completely unfounded, there are good reasons to believe heat exposure may slow down or disable the virus in certain stages.

What is it that the virus needs to flourish? What is it that kills it? Many of these questions have already been answered in the medical literature.

What Does the Medical Literature Say?

Let’s go to some of that medical literature now.

Background Information on Coronavirus

• Viruses die out when herd immunity – immunity of the population against the infection because a certain percentage of the population is immune to it – is found.  Sometimes like in the case of influenza viruses, the viruses cross over to other reservoir hosts such as animals, birds, etc.
• The immune response to coronavirus infection causes heat shock proteins to be produced. Several pathways in the infected person will be activated in order to eliminate the coronavirus. (Saunas also cause heat shock proteins to be created in the body, thus contributing to the immune system process.)  Learn more about heat shock proteins in the sauna here.
• The coronavirus uses the endoplasmic reticulum in the cell as a site for synthesis and processing of viral proteins. (Thus, if you can strengthen this part of the cell, you can conceivably prevent the infection.)
• The mitochondria play an important role in antiviral immunity against SARS and the coronaviruses.
• Frequently touched surfaces of a university classroom cleaned daily contained viable human coronaviruses.  (The virus lives in rooms…)

Is Sauna Temperature Enough to Kill Coronavirus?

• Coronaviruses (MERS-CoV) died when under environmental circumstances of 56 degrees Celsius (132 degrees F) for 25 minutes. Increasing the temperature to 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees F) was even better and only one minute was needed to kill viruses. No killing was observed after 2 hours at 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees F).
• The dried virus on smooth surfaces retained viability for over 5 days at temperatures of 22-25 degrees Celsius (72-77 degrees F) and relative humidity of 40-50%, typical of air-conditioned environments. However, viruses died quickly at higher temperatures and higher relative humidity (38 degrees Celsius – 100 degrees F – and relative humidity greater than 95%). This explains why Malaysia, Indonesia or Thailand with high temperature and high relative humidity environments do not have major community outbreaks of SARS.
• At a relative humidity of 75%, infectivity of the coronavirus was very sensitive to temperature, decreasing two orders of magnitude between 19 and 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees F).
• At 4 degrees Celsius (39 degrees F), coronaviruses live up to 28 days but they can be inactivated at low levels of 20% relative humidity. The inactivation was more rapid at 20 degrees Celsius (68 degrees F) at all humidity levels. The viruses were inactivated more rapidly at 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees F) than at 20 degrees Celsius. When high numbers of viruses are deposited on surfaces, coronaviruses causing both GI symptoms and respiratory symptoms may survive for days on surfaces.
• SARS-coronaviruses may be shed into the environment and transferred from environmental surfaces to hands of patients and healthcare providers. Once contaminated, hands can then initiate self-inoculation of mucous membrane of the nose, eyes, or mouth.
• Coronavirus infectivity was completely lost after 14 days of incubation at 22 degrees Celsius (72 degrees F), 33 degrees Celsius (91.4 degrees F), or 37 degrees Celsius (98.6 degrees F) but remained constant at 4 degrees Celsius (39.2 degrees F) for the same length of time.
• SARS coronavirus is inactivated at 56 degrees Celsius (132.8 degrees F), reducing the titer to below detection.

Thus, if an infected person with coronavirus went into your sauna, could theoretically kill the virus by the heat.

If you have been exposed to coronavirus, no doubt the virus is on your skin. It could be killed by the temperatures in the sauna. The more virus particles you kill, the quicker your recovery because the virus isn’t reproducing.

However, if the virus has infected your lungs, it’s unlikely the sauna will help treat the virus. By the time the hot air reaches your lungs, it is much cooler. Surely, it’s warmer than normal and might help, but it’s unlikely to cure the virus in one sitting.

There are additional benefits to regular sauna use that will promote good health and could offer additional defense against sickness.

Saunas also increase heat shock protein production, which contribute to protection of cells and survival against environmental stress (such as virus attack).

They participate in protein assembly, turnover and regulation and protect the cell by stabilizing unfolded proteins. This then allows the cell time to repair itself or remake any proteins that have been damaged.

So does the sauna kill coronavirus? Yes, a sauna can kill and deactivate the coronavirus. However, once the virus has infected the lungs it’s unlikely to help.

Important Things To Consider

A sauna is great to prevent sickness, but there are two important caveats of treating any illness with a sauna.

The first is hydration, which should always be an essential part of the sauna routine, and is even more important when you are sick. If you are dehydrated and not maintaining enough fluids, you are probably not ready for a sauna.

The first is that you should not be in a public space when have the flu, especially a potential coronavirus! Never go to a public sauna or gym if you have flu symptoms.

A home sauna with supervision is the only way to safely battle a virus with a sauna. Consult your doctor about any heard conditions, or medical issues first.

SUMMARY:

Sauna can likely reach temperatures capable of killing Coronavirus, but it is not a cure for Covid-19 as the heat will not reach an infected persons lungs.

People who sauna frequently MAY have some protection, as saunas have been shown to decrease all-cause mortality, common colds, and decrease pneumonia risk.

There are no sauna coronavirus studies at this time, but we know how we’ll be passing the time.

Click Here To Learn More About Sauna Health Benefits and How It May Protect Against Coronavirus.

As we take the time to reset, meditate, and reflect on these difficult times, we wish you and yours the best through these difficult times.