Norway prescribes sauna baths
Norway is the first country I know of to prescribe sauna baths.
Articles & news
Here we collect interesting articles and links about saunas and sauna bathing.
News
2026
- Become a member and join the 29th National Sauna Day
- A new member is welcomed
2025
- Norway becomes the first country I know of to prescribe sauna bathing
- Build a safe sauna
- Annual meeting 2025
- The gilded sauna ladle awarded to the band KAJRead more
- The Stockholmer from Tornedalen: how to sauna properly
- “Research shows: sauna bathers are happier”
- “Sauna bathing could prevent both physical and mental ill-health”
2024
- The Town Where Everyone Owns a Sauna
2023
- Thousands of Stockholmers queue for the sauna
From the archive
In sauna veritas
Notices, features and research the academy has collected over the years. The links lead on to the source.
Sauna in Norway
Sauna in Norway – registration and programme.
The Sorselestugan sauna gift
At the end of May the sauna cabin Uddskär DL, 8 sqm, a gift from Sorselestugan, was assembled on the Sauna Academy's sauna grounds. A pleasant addition that will deliver many lovely sauna baths for our members in the future. Fittingly, its premiere fell on the National Sauna Day.
Own postage stamp
Tuula has been given her own postage stamp. Read more in the picture or in Haparandabladet. On 2 November there was a stamp release, and among this year's issues is Sauna and Winter Bathing. "The Sauna Doctor" Hans Hägglund gave a talk in connection with the release at the SFF and Sfu office in Älvsjö.
Building a sauna – step by step
Step-by-step instructions and inspiration for a freestanding wood-fired sauna. Have you also dreamed of building your own sauna but not quite known where to start? A practical handbook that guides you through the whole process, from the first hammer blow to the first scoop of water on the stones.
Reply from the Public Health Agency on sauna bathing during covid-19
The Public Health Agency does not consider that the new coronavirus can spread more easily in sauna environments than in other settings. The high temperatures have a negative effect on the virus's survival. The most important thing for avoiding the spread of infection is not to visit a public sauna if you have symptoms that could be signs of covid-19, and to keep your distance from other visitors. The inactivation of a virus is a combination of factors, above all time and temperature. Anything above 50 degrees is probably clearly negative for the virus, and the warmer it is the faster the inactivation. The most important point to emphasise is still distance, since a sneeze or cough can reach another person before the virus is inactivated, regardless of temperature. In a new assessment on 17 December 2020 the agency emphasised the national general advice that one should preferably not visit public premises such as bathhouses or facilities with spa and sauna where one meets other people. Kind regards, the Public Health Agency.
Lars Spolander honorary member
In 2020 the board of the Swedish Sauna Academy appointed Lars Spolander an honorary member. The diploma was presented by chairman Sven-Erik Bucht.
22nd National Sauna Day completed
At the Annual Meeting Sven-Erik Bucht was elected the new chairman of the Swedish Sauna Academy. At the same time Göran Honkamaa was thanked, after 17 years as chairman, by being made an honorary member. Sven-Erik Bucht, from Karungi in the Torne Valley, is himself a great sauna enthusiast with no fewer than four saunas on his property. "Everyone in the Sauna Academy enjoys sauna bathing. By the association spreading information, about health and architecture for example, it becomes easier for each member to become an ambassador and spread good sauna culture." After the meeting, the 22nd National Sauna Day was celebrated with bathing in all of Kukkolaforsen's sauna facilities and dips in the rapids' 15-degree water. Interest was at a record high with 96 participants from all over Sweden and even Norway.
The sauna minister: "We are all equal in the sauna"
Reporter Katarina Lindmark takes a sauna together with former Minister for Rural Affairs Sven-Erik Bucht, the new chairman of the Sauna Academy.
The Emerging Science of Saunas
Sweat houses have been used by cultures for centuries. Now research is supporting claims that they're good for health.
Effects of sauna bath on heart failure
A systematic review and meta-analysis. Miikka Källström, Inga Soveri, Jonas Oldgren, Jari Laukkanen, Tomoko Ichiki, Chuwa Tei, Mark Timmerman, Lars Berglund, Hans Hägglund. Published in Clinical Cardiology, doi: 10.1111/clc.23077.
Sauna bathing can prevent stroke
A study from the University of Eastern Finland. Bathe four to seven times a week to achieve an effect. Hear Hans Hägglund, professor of haematology.
The Swedish Sauna Academy hosts the 2018 congress
It is now decided that the Swedish Sauna Academy will host the XVII International Sauna Congress 2018, held in Haparanda/Tornio and Kukkolaforsen on 7–10 June. We hope for many visitors and that this becomes the best congress ever.
From the picture archive
Glimpses of the academy's life: sauna baths, National Sauna Days and gatherings over the years.
Explore further
Books, links, newsletters and sister organisations. Collections that grow over time.
Sauna Promoter of the Year
The Swedish Sauna Academy presents the Sauna Promoter of the Year award to people and venues that have raised and spread knowledge of sauna culture.
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Books about the sauna
Here are suggestions for books about saunas and sauna bathing.
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Links
A collection of links, tips and research about saunas, sauna bathing and sauna culture.
Newsletter
Here are newsletters from the Swedish Sauna Academy, written in English by Hans Hägglund, as well as a translation of the Japanese newsletter written after the congress.
Sauna Letters
Here are the Sauna Letters from ISA (the International Sauna Association), written in English by ISA's chairman.
Old news
An archive of older news, articles and links about saunas, health and the Sauna Academy's activities.
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Sauna baths on prescription
More and more doctors and researchers are raising the idea of prescribing sauna baths as part of healthcare.
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Sauna and health
Hot facts about sauna and health. "A sauna a day keeps the doctor away." Here we collect articles, podcasts and book tips about the sauna's positive effects on health.
ISA – International Sauna Association
The Swedish Sauna Academy is a member of ISA, the International Sauna Association. Here you find news and links from ISA.
ASBA – The Australian Sweat Bathing Association
ASBA is a new not-for-profit association that aims to promote sauna culture in Australia, established in 2016 and Australia's representative in the International Sauna Association.