It’s essentially an infrared sauna — which uses infrared rays to heat the body directly — but in blanket form. So instead of having four walls and a bench for sitting, an infrared sauna blanket wraps around your body as if it’s a sleeping bag that plugs into a wall and heats up.
Other than those differences, the two — blanket and physical sauna — are pretty similar. As their names imply, both products use infrared light to heat the body directly, thereby warming you up but not the area around you. You can buy a far infrared sauna blanket in the UK online.
This also means that while the blanket will be toasty on the inside, it shouldn’t be hot to the touch on the outside.
While there are a variety of infrared sauna blankets on the market, they’re all generally the same in that they offer a range of heat settings so you can ease into higher temperatures.
So, if you’re an infrared sauna (blanket, or otherwise) newbie, you can start at, say, 60 degrees Fahrenheit and gradually work your way up to the max (which is typically 160 degrees Fahrenheit). Believe it or not, these temps aren’t as high as those that you’d experience in a regular ole sauna — and that’s the point.
The more tolerable the temp, the more time you’ll be able to spend sweating it out or the higher you might turn the dial, and, in turn, reap the supposed benefits.
So, should you buy an infrared sauna blanket?
If you’re not a fan of heat and find it hard to breathe in rising temps, an infrared sauna blanket might not be worth trying. As for everyone else? If you’re okay with giving a new gadget backed by minimal research a try, then just proceed with caution, and be sure to follow the instructions.
Most blankets cost well over $100 and many are even closer to $500, so it is somewhat of an investment. And while again, it may help improve your health, science doesn’t say it’s a definite do-gooder. So, weigh the cost with what you’re looking to improve.