Short answer: neither a steam room nor a sauna is a treatment for a cold.
A hot shower’s steam is on the CDC’s cold care list and may ease a stuffy nose, while dry heat suits people who dislike humid air. The CDC says to wait until you have gone 24 hours without a fever or fever medicine and feel better overall.
NOLA Chill has a private infrared sauna and no steam room. When you’re ready, 30 minutes of dry heat at 6045 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans is $30 on your own or $48 for two, and you can pay after your visit.
Sauna, steam room or neither: a quick guide
| Where you are | What fits |
|---|---|
| Fever, chills or body aches | Neither. Rest at home and drink plenty of fluids. |
| A new cold that is still getting worse | Neither. Stay home and away from others so you do not pass it on, which rules out a shared gym steam room too. |
| Stuffed up at home | Steam from a hot shower or a bowl of hot water, which the CDC lists, with no trip out. |
| 24 hours without a fever, with no fever medicine, and better overall | Either one, if it sounds good. Keep it short and drink water. |
| You find humid air heavy | Dry heat, such as an infrared sauna, may feel more comfortable. |
| The 5 days after you are back to normal | The CDC suggests added care around other people, such as good hygiene, cleaner air and a well-fitted mask. |
| Trouble breathing, a fever past 4 days, or symptoms past 10 days without getting better | See a doctor. |
How a steam room and an infrared sauna differ
A steam room and a sauna are both heat, and the big difference is moisture. A steam room is humid heat, with the air full of water vapor, and at a gym, spa or hotel it is usually shared with other people. An infrared sauna warms you with dry heat, so you get warmth without moist air, and you will sweat. At NOLA Chill the infrared sauna is a private room for one to four people, set to about 175 F (80 C), with the room air usually in the 150s and a lower setting on request, which helps on a first visit back after a cold.
Some people find steam soothing when their head is stuffed up, while others find humid air heavy and prefer dry heat. The CDC’s list for a cold includes steam and a clean humidifier but no dry heat, so a sauna is a pick for how it feels, not for a stuffy nose. The better pick is the one you find comfortable once you are well. Our page on steam rooms, float tanks and what we offer instead sets the two side by side.
Does steam help a stuffy nose?
Steam may ease a stuffy nose, though trials have not shown it clearly. The CDC’s list of ways to feel better with a cold includes breathing in steam from a bowl of hot water or a shower, using a clean humidifier or cool mist vaporizer, and using saline nasal spray or drops (CDC). That advice is about steam at home, not a steam room, so you can follow it without going out while you could still pass the cold on.
The CDC also says that in most cases cold symptoms get better on their own with time, and that antibiotics do not work against viruses. Our page on a sauna for a stuffy nose or cold lists the rest of the CDC’s comfort steps.
Where the 24 hours comes from
The CDC’s guidance for respiratory viruses says to stay home and away from others while you are sick. You can go back to normal activities when, for at least 24 hours, your symptoms are getting better overall and you have not had a fever without using fever-reducing medicine. For the 5 days after that, it suggests added care around other people, such as cleaner air, good hygiene, a well-fitted mask, distance or testing (CDC). We count a steam room or sauna visit as a normal activity, so the same wait applies to both.
See a doctor for trouble breathing or fast breathing, a fever that lasts longer than 4 days, or symptoms that last more than 10 days without getting better, which are the CDC’s three signs that a cold needs medical care. If you think it might be the flu or COVID rather than a cold, check with your doctor. Our flu season page tracks flu, COVID and RSV in New Orleans-area emergency rooms each week, and our page on how soon you can use a sauna after being sick also covers the wait after a stomach bug.
When you’re ready to come back
- Start with 30 minutes rather than 45. A 30-minute session is $30 on your own or $48 for two, and you can ask for a lower setting.
- Drink water before and after. You will sweat, and drinking plenty of fluids is on the CDC’s list for a cold too.
- Step out early if you feel dizzy, lightheaded or worse. Staff would rather you leave early.
- Prefer no heat? NuCalm ($40, 30 minutes) is guided audio through headphones with an eye mask while you recline fully dressed, and NormaTec compression ($30, 30 minutes) means resting seated while sleeves inflate and release in sequence. If you want something warm but gentler than a sauna, hydromassage ($30, 30 minutes) is warm water pressure under a dry bed surface while you stay fully clothed.
Coming often costs less with a package. A 10-visit pack of 30-minute sauna sessions is $200, and one pack visit covers one or two people, so two friends sharing a visit pay $10 each. A package can also be shared with a friend or family member who comes on their own, and packages expire 12 months after purchase. The Chill membership is $85 a month for 2 sessions, the 30-minute sauna among them, with 20% off anything extra. Every price is on the pricing page.
NOLA Chill is open 7 days: Mon to Fri 9am to 7pm, Sat 9am to 4pm, Sun 10am to 3pm, with off-street parking in front of the studio.
What the research says
The trials on steam are less sure than the advice. A Cochrane review of six trials with 387 people found it uncertain whether heated, humidified air relieves cold symptoms. Some of the studies reported minor discomfort or irritation of the nose, and the authors concluded that the evidence showed no benefit or harm from the heated, humidified air those trials gave through a device (Cochrane review). A 2016 trial in 72 primary care practices in the United Kingdom included 871 adults whose sinus symptoms kept coming back or would not clear. Advice to breathe in steam each day eased headaches but made no clear difference to the other outcomes measured, and the authors judged that advice not effective (2016 trial). That trial was about sinus symptoms, not colds.
On dry heat, a 2010 trial in Berlin had 157 people with a new cold sit in a hot sauna on three days: 80 breathed the hot, dry sauna air and 77 breathed dry air at room temperature. Overall symptom severity across the week did not differ significantly between the groups, though a few single-day measures did, and the authors concluded that breathing the hot sauna air had no significant effect on how bad the cold was overall (2010 trial).
On regular sauna use, a small 1990 study followed 25 people who took saunas and 25 who did not for six months. The sauna group had fewer colds, but the colds they did get were not significantly shorter or milder, and the authors said more studies were needed to prove a benefit (1990 study). A study of 1,935 men aged 42 to 61 in Finland, followed for a median of 25.6 years, linked two or more sauna sessions a week with a lower risk of respiratory diseases, pneumonia among them, which is a link, not proof (2017 study). Both looked at regular sauna use over months or years, not a session during a cold you already have.
We found no trial that compares a steam room with a sauna for a cold, and neither has been shown to make a cold end sooner. Our evidence library covers what sauna studies do and do not show.
Who should skip the heat or ask a doctor first
- Anyone with a fever or an illness that is still getting worse: wait, as above.
- Pregnancy: ask your doctor or midwife first.
- High blood pressure that is not under control, or heart disease that is not stable: ask your doctor first.
- After drinking alcohol, or when you are dehydrated: skip it that day.
- Heat sensitivity, such as with multiple sclerosis: ask your doctor first.
- Medicines that change sweating, blood pressure or heart rate: ask your pharmacist or doctor first, and keep taking what you have been prescribed.
- A fresh sunburn or a new tattoo: wait until the skin has settled.
- NormaTec compression: new or unusual swelling on one side, redness or pain you cannot explain needs a doctor’s advice before you book.
More for cold and flu season
- Sauna for a stuffy nose or cold: what helps
- How soon after being sick can you use a sauna?
- Sauna when sick or with a fever: the 24-hour rule
- Flu and cold season in New Orleans: this week’s numbers
- Cryotherapy when you’re sick
- Sauna with a sinus infection or sinus pressure
- Sauna with a sore throat?: when to wait and when a short session is fine
- Does sweating help a cold?: what a sauna does and does not do
- After the flu or a cold: easy ways back to normal
Sources
- CDC, Preventing Spread of Respiratory Viruses When You’re Sick
- CDC, Manage Common Cold
- Singh and others, Heated, humidified air for the common cold, Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, 2017
- Little and others, steam inhalation and nasal irrigation for chronic or recurrent sinus symptoms, CMAJ, 2016
- Pach and others, Visiting a sauna: does inhaling hot dry air reduce common cold symptoms?, Medical Journal of Australia, 2010
- Ernst and others, Regular sauna bathing and the incidence of common colds, Annals of Medicine, 1990
- Kunutsor and others, sauna bathing and respiratory diseases, European Journal of Epidemiology, 2017
Frequently asked questions
Is a steam room or sauna better for a cold?
Neither is a treatment for a cold. Moist heat may feel better for a stuffy nose, and dry heat may feel more comfortable if you dislike humid air. Either way, wait until you have gone 24 hours without a fever and feel better overall.
Does a steam room help with a cold?
It may ease a stuffy nose, but a Cochrane review of six trials found it uncertain whether heated, humidified air relieves cold symptoms. The CDC’s steam advice is a hot shower or a bowl of hot water at home, which keeps you away from others while you could pass the cold on.
How long should you stay in a steam room for congestion?
We found no study that sets a time. The CDC’s advice is steam from a hot shower or a bowl of hot water at home, and it gives no time either. If you use a steam room or a sauna once you are well, keep it short and step out if you feel dizzy or worse.
Can you use a sauna or steam room when you are sick?
Not while you have a fever or the illness is getting worse. The CDC says to stay home and away from others until, for at least 24 hours, your symptoms are getting better overall and you have not had a fever without fever-reducing medicine.
Is a steam room or sauna better for the flu?
Neither, and not while you are sick. The same CDC rule applies to the flu: stay home and away from others until, for at least 24 hours, your symptoms are getting better overall and you have not had a fever without fever-reducing medicine. If you think it is the flu rather than a cold, check with your doctor.
Does NOLA Chill have a steam room?
No. NOLA Chill has a private infrared sauna with dry heat for one to four people at 6045 Magazine Street in Uptown New Orleans. It is set to about 175 F (80 C), with the room air usually in the 150s and a lower setting on request. A 30-minute session is $30 on your own or $48 for two.
I booked a sauna and now I have a cold. What should I do?
Text us at (504) 381-4207 and we will help you move your visit.
NOLA Chill is a wellness studio at 6045 Magazine Street in New Orleans, not a medical clinic. The sauna is a wellness amenity, not a treatment for illness.