Hyperbaric Chamber vs Infrared Sauna: Pressure Versus Radiant Heat
Researched and scored by Alex Evans. Last reviewed August 2026. Corrections are dated and public. See corrections
[ Infrared sauna cabin ] Reference imagery; final photography in production
Both get sold for the same home wellness room, and both are cabins you sit or lie in. They work on different physics. This page describes what each device does, how US regulators treat it, and which hazards public bodies have named for each. It makes no claim that either one does anything for your health, and it does not compare brands.
What a hyperbaric chamber does
A hyperbaric chamber raises the air pressure around your whole body. The federal rule, 21 CFR 868.5470, identifies it as a device intended to increase the environmental oxygen pressure by pressurization greater than atmospheric pressure, and places it in Class II. The FDA's August 25, 2025 letter to health care providers describes hyperbaric oxygen therapy as breathing 100% oxygen in a special chamber.
Heat plays no part in how it works. Cleveland Clinic says sessions usually last one to two hours, most often on an outpatient basis, and that the chamber delivers oxygen at two to three times normal air pressure. A monoplace chamber holds one person; a multiplace chamber holds several at once. Home chambers run lower: soft shells near 1.3 ATA and hard shells near 1.5 ATA, as our pressure guide explains. For the ear popping and the rest of the experience, see what a hyperbaric session feels like.
What an infrared sauna does
An infrared sauna heats you at normal air pressure. In its guide to infrared saunas, Cleveland Clinic says they use infrared lamps or panels to make radiant heat, and that instead of mainly heating the air around you, they warm your body more directly. A traditional sauna heats the air in the whole room with a wood, gas or electric heater, and the hot air warms you.
That difference shows up on the thermometer. Cleveland Clinic gives infrared saunas a range of 110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit (43 to 57 degrees Celsius), and traditional saunas 150 to 195 degrees Fahrenheit (66 to 91 Celsius). Northwestern Medicine puts the air in an infrared sauna at usually around 120 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit, with the same 150 to 195 for a traditional sauna. It puts it this way: a traditional sauna heats the room and the room heats you, while an infrared sauna skips that step.
Sessions are short. Northwestern Medicine says most people use an infrared sauna two to four times a week for 15 to 30 minutes a session, and that new users should start at about five minutes. Cleveland Clinic quotes a physician who suggests starting at about 110 degrees for five to 10 minutes, and keeping sessions to about 20 to 30 minutes even for experienced users. A hyperbaric session runs several times longer.
Near, mid and far infrared
Infrared covers a wide band of light. The federal rule for infrared lamps, 21 CFR 890.5500, defines infrared as roughly 700 to 50,000 nanometers. Sauna sellers split that band into near, mid and far infrared. Northwestern Medicine says some systems use full-spectrum infrared, which combines all three wavelengths, and that the heaters often give off a faint red glow even though infrared light itself is invisible.
The heater is usually described as a panel. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission recall notice discussed below refers to the heating parts only as infrared panels. Sellers also describe their heaters as carbon or ceramic, but we found no government or hospital source that defines those types or compares them, so we do not.
The two devices side by side
The table puts the sourced facts on the same rows. Every cell comes from a source linked on this page.
| Question | Hyperbaric chamber | Infrared sauna |
|---|---|---|
| What it does physically | Raises the pressure around the body above atmospheric | Warms the body with radiant heat from infrared lamps or panels, at normal pressure |
| Temperature | Not a defining feature | About 110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit (Cleveland Clinic); around 120 to 140 (Northwestern Medicine) |
| Session length | Usually one to two hours (Cleveland Clinic) | 15 to 30 minutes for most users (Northwestern Medicine) |
| Federal rule for the device type | 21 CFR 868.5470, Class II | No sauna category found; infrared lamps for a medical purpose fall under 21 CFR 890.5500, Class II |
| Premarket review | Cleared through 510(k), product code CBF (FDA) | Infrared heating lamps exempt from 510(k) within the limits of 21 CFR 890.9; no 510(k) record named for a sauna found |
| Main hazard named by public bodies | Fire, with oxygen at high concentration (FDA, 2025) | Dehydration, dizziness, overheating, skin rash from chronic exposure (Northwestern Medicine); fire and burns from faulty heaters (CPSC) |
| Where used | Mostly outpatient, in an accredited medical facility (Cleveland Clinic); also home chambers | Wellness spaces, fitness centers and homes (Northwestern Medicine) |
Sources: 21 CFR 868.5470 and 890.5500; FDA letter to health care providers, August 25, 2025; Cleveland Clinic; Northwestern Medicine HealthBeat (July 2026); US Consumer Product Safety Commission recall 26-784; openFDA, queried 26 October 2026.
How the FDA treats a hyperbaric chamber
The hyperbaric side has a clear federal home. The 2025 FDA letter says hyperbaric devices are Class II medical devices cleared through the 510(k) process, and that cleared devices can be found by searching product code CBF in the 510(k) database. When we queried openFDA on 26 October 2026, CBF had 69 510(k) records on file. What a clearance does and does not cover is set out in our guide to FDA cleared vs FDA registered, including the point that zippered soft chambers are cleared for acute mountain sickness only.
How the FDA treats an infrared sauna
The sauna side has no category of its own that we could find. We searched the FDA's classification and 510(k) data through openFDA on 26 October 2026. No classification name and no 510(k) device name contained the word sauna.
The nearest rule is the one for infrared lamps. 21 CFR 890.5500 covers a device intended for medical purposes that emits energy at infrared frequencies to provide topical heating. It is Class II, and an infrared therapeutic heating lamp is exempt from premarket notification, subject to the limits in 21 CFR 890.9. Those limits say a maker must still file a 510(k) when the device is intended for a different use from legally marketed devices of that type. The openFDA classification record for that lamp, product code ILY, names it Lamp, Infrared, Therapeutic Heating, and openFDA held 229 510(k) records under ILY when we looked.
Saunas do turn up in the FDA's registration and listing data. Through openFDA, 46 listings had sauna in a product name. The most common product codes on them were IRT (Pad, Heating, Powered, 21 CFR 890.5740), ILY, and IMB (Cabinet, Moist Steam, 21 CFR 890.5250). A listing is the maker's own filing. It is not an FDA review of the product, which is the same gap our registered vs cleared guide describes for chambers.
The FDA's general wellness guidance, reissued January 6, 2026, lists claims to promote relaxation or manage stress as general wellness claims, for products that also present a low risk. It does not mention saunas, and we have not seen the FDA say whether a sauna sold only for relaxation fits that policy. The guidance also says that being covered by the policy does not show a product is safe or effective.
What regulators have said about sauna claims
The FDA acts when a sauna is sold to treat disease. In a July 5, 2022 warning letter to Living Foods LLC of Lawrence, Kansas, the FDA said the firm's Relax Far Infrared Ray Sauna was a device because of claims tied to disease on its website, among them that the sauna enhances oxygen delivery including to cancerous areas. The letter said the sauna was cleared as an infrared lamp under 21 CFR 890.5500, but that the website claims were major changes to its cleared intended use. It found the sauna adulterated and misbranded.
Older cases point the same way. An FDA recall record shows a Class 2 recall, started December 23, 2014, of a three-person far infrared home sauna sold by Therasage of Boca Raton, Florida. The stated reason was distribution without 510(k) clearance, and the firm told its customers to discard the labeling. In 2016, STAT reported that saunas need no approval before sale, and that an FDA spokesperson named claims such as reducing muscle soreness or increasing blood circulation as ones that could draw FDA action.
The Federal Trade Commission polices the advertising. In March 2009 the FTC announced a $3 million settlement with Roex, Inc. and two individuals whose challenged products included an infrared sauna sold to treat cancer. In December 2020 FTC staff sent a warning letter to Celebration Saunas of Colorado, saying the company was unlawfully advertising that infrared sauna products treat or prevent COVID-19, and telling it to stop. We report these as positions of the FDA and FTC. This page does not weigh the research on either device; for what home chambers can and cannot claim, see our hyperbaric chamber benefits guide.
The hazards public bodies name
For hyperbaric chambers, the named hazard is fire. The 2025 FDA letter says there is a heightened risk of fire with oxygen at high concentration, and that the FDA knew of recent fires with these devices that caused serious injuries and deaths. It also says the FDA believes serious adverse events are rare. Cleveland Clinic tells patients to leave metal objects and electronics outside, because sparks could start a fire in the high-oxygen space. Our hyperbaric chamber safety guide covers grounding, clothing and the prohibited list.
For infrared saunas, the named hazards are heat and the heater. Northwestern Medicine lists dehydration, dizziness and overheating as side effects. It also quotes a physician who says chronic infrared exposure can cause erythema ab igne, a net-like rash also called toasted skin syndrome. Cleveland Clinic says to leave the sauna at once if you feel dizzy or nauseated. It names multiple sclerosis, pregnancy and trying to conceive as reasons for caution, citing the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists on sauna use early in pregnancy. Northwestern Medicine adds heart conditions and high blood pressure.
The heater itself can fail. On September 17, 2026 the US Consumer Product Safety Commission announced recall 26-784 of about 41,580 infrared and hybrid saunas and kits sold in the US by Sauna360. It says the infrared panels can short circuit and overheat, posing fire and burn hazards, and that the firm had 67 reports of overheating, melting, charring or burning, with no injuries reported. An earlier 2008 CPSC recall covered about 225 wooden infrared sauna rooms whose heating unit and fuse could fail, after four reports of fires with property damage.
So the fire risk sits in a different place in each. In a hyperbaric chamber the worry is oxygen near a spark. In the infrared saunas the CPSC recalled, it was a heater that could overheat.
Who uses each one, and where
Hyperbaric sessions in hospitals have staff in the room. Cleveland Clinic says a healthcare provider is in the room throughout, and that treatment should be given in an accredited medical facility. The FDA letter asks providers to make sure the patient is monitored and supervised for the whole treatment. Home chambers are a different setting; our home chamber pros and cons page covers the trade-offs of owning one.
Infrared saunas are mostly used without a clinician present. Northwestern Medicine says they are found in wellness spaces, fitness centers and homes. The 2026 CPSC recall says the recalled units were sold at Costco, at pool and spa dealers and online, from May 2013 to July 2026, which places many of them in homes. We found no federal rule on who must supervise a sauna session.
What to ask before you buy or book either one
Start with what the device does. A pressure gauge and a sealed door mean hyperbaric. A heated wooden cabin with panels on the walls means sauna. Then ask for the paperwork that fits.
- Hyperbaric: what is the 510(k) number, and what uses does the clearance cover?
- Hyperbaric: what pressure does it run at, is oxygen used, and is the chamber grounded?
- Hyperbaric: who stays with the chamber for the whole session?
- Sauna: what temperature range does the cabin reach, and is there a timer and a thermometer inside?
- Sauna: has this model been in a CPSC recall? Check the model number on cpsc.gov.
- Sauna: if the seller says the sauna treats a condition, ask for the FDA clearance that covers that use.
- Either: if the seller says FDA registered, ask whether that means a listing or a clearance.
If you are shopping for a chamber to own, our hyperbaric chamber scorecard covers the models we track on the points we can verify. We do not review saunas. For other comparisons, see hyperbaric vs cryotherapy and hyperbaric vs isolation tank.
What we have not verified
Our openFDA searches used device names, classification names and listed product names; a sauna sold under another name could be missed, and listing counts change. We have not seen the FDA say how it classifies a sauna sold only for relaxation. We found no government or hospital source on carbon versus ceramic heaters, or on the electric and magnetic fields that sauna heaters give off; the figures we saw came from sellers, so we leave them out. We found no federal rule on sauna temperature, session time or supervision, and we did not survey state or local codes. The temperature and session ranges here are what two hospital systems tell the public, not limits set by a regulator. We give no prices for either device. If you hold a source that settles any of these points, send it and we will check it.
Frequently asked
Is an infrared sauna a type of hyperbaric chamber?
No. A hyperbaric chamber is defined by pressure: the federal rule, 21 CFR 868.5470, describes a device that pressurizes above atmospheric pressure. An infrared sauna is defined by heat. Cleveland Clinic describes infrared lamps or panels that make radiant heat, with the cabin at about 110 to 135 degrees Fahrenheit. None of the sauna sources we read describes raising the pressure inside the cabin.
Are infrared saunas FDA cleared?
Most are not cleared as saunas. When we searched the FDA's 510(k) and classification data through openFDA on 26 October 2026, no 510(k) record and no classification name contained the word sauna. Infrared heating lamps sold for a medical purpose fall under 21 CFR 890.5500, which is Class II and exempt from 510(k) within the limits of 21 CFR 890.9. An FDA registration or listing is not a clearance.
Can a sauna seller say the sauna treats a disease?
Not without FDA clearance or approval for that use. In a July 2022 warning letter, the FDA told a Kansas seller that disease claims on its website made its far infrared sauna a device that needed premarket review, and found it adulterated and misbranded. The FTC has also warned sauna sellers over COVID-19 claims and, in 2009, settled a case over an infrared sauna sold to treat cancer.
What hazards do hospitals name for infrared saunas?
Northwestern Medicine lists dehydration, dizziness and overheating, and says chronic infrared exposure can cause erythema ab igne, a net-like rash also called toasted skin syndrome. Cleveland Clinic says to leave the sauna at once if you feel dizzy or nauseated, and names multiple sclerosis, pregnancy and trying to conceive as reasons for caution. The CPSC has also recalled infrared saunas over fire and burn hazards.
What is the main hazard in a hyperbaric chamber?
Fire. The FDA told health care providers in August 2025 that there is a heightened risk of fire with oxygen at high concentration, and that it was aware of recent reports of fires with hyperbaric devices that resulted in serious injuries and deaths. It also said it believes serious adverse events with these devices are rare.
How long is a session in each one?
Cleveland Clinic says hyperbaric oxygen sessions usually last one to two hours. For infrared saunas, Northwestern Medicine says most people use them for 15 to 30 minutes per session, and Cleveland Clinic suggests a new user start at about 110 degrees Fahrenheit for five to 10 minutes.
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