Awareness of well-being and health issues have contributed to increased popularity of sauna bathing. However, little is known about potential risks and injuries. The aim of this study was to identify the causes for injuries, the affected body regions, and to define recommendations for prevention.
Researchers from Austria conducted a retrospective chart analysis looking at patients treated for an injury related to sauna bathing at the local trauma center of the Medical University of Innsbruck between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2021. Patients’ demographics, the cause for the injury, the diagnosis, the body region of the trauma and the treatment methods were collected.
They identified 209 patients with injuries related to sauna bathing (83 female [39.7%] and 126 male [60.3%]). Fifty-one patients showed more than one injuries leading to a total of 274 diagnoses:
- contusions/distorsions (113; 41.2%)
- wounds (79; 28.8%)
- fractures (42; 15.3%)
- ligament injuries (17; 6.2%)
- concussions (15; 5.5%)
- burns (4; 1.5%)
- brain bleeding (3; 1.1%).
The most common cause for an injury was a slip/fall (157; 57.5%) followed by dizziness/syncope (82; 30.0%). Interestingly, head and face injuries were mostly caused by dizziness/syncope, whereas slip/fall was the leading cause for injuries of foot, hand, forearm, and wrist. Nine patients (4.3%) needed surgical treatment mainly due to fractures. Eight patients got injured by wood splinters. One patient sustained grade IIB-III burns lying unconscious with an alcohol intoxication of 3.6% in the sauna.
While the head accounted for 28% of all injuries, the lower extremity accounted for 20%: foot 10%, knee 6%, and ankle 4%.
The authors concluded that key injury prevention would involve improved personal behavior (e.g. drink enough water before and after each sauna bathing), whereas slip/falls might be prevented by the revision of safety regulations, particularly the obligation to wear slip resistant slippers.
Source: Kaiser P, Seeher U, Krasniqi A, Keiler A, Crazzolara R, Meryk A. Injuries related to sauna bathing. Injury. 2023;54(7):110825. doi: 10.1016/j.injury.2023.05.056.
