Celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Sabrina Carpenter are posing in fashionable infrared saunas - which claim to ease anxiety and help with high blood pressure

If you think a trip to the steam bath is the pinnacle of luxury, you might want to think again because there's a newer and supposedly more effective version - the infrared sauna.

It's a device that's quickly garnered support from celebrities across the globe, with the likes of health-fad queen Gwyneth Paltrow and singer Rita Ora raving about its benefits.

Unlike a typical sauna that warms the air to heat the body, the infrared sauna uses red light to heat the body directly without warming the air, bringing about similar effects but at a lower temperature.

Because users can experience a sweat for longer given the reduced temperature, it allows for a more intense effect, which, in turn, is said to help ease mental health issues like anxiety, muscle pain and conditions including high blood pressure and chronic headaches. 

Individual sessions typically start at £40 per 30 minutes in the UK's capital, but the health-conscious can get their infrared fix with high-end gym memberships, such as Soho House, and those wanting to buy one outright can expect to pay anything from £1,500 to £10,000.

Infrared sauna use is on the rise among celebrities, including with Espresso singer Sabrina Carpenter (pictured)

Infrared saunas use electromagnetic radiation to warm the body directly at a lower temperature, usually between 49°C and 60°C, compared to between 66°C and 82°C of a traditional sauna, according to Healthline.

Alleged benefits include improved sleep, weight loss, detoxification, sore muscles relief, improved circulation, and clear skin.

It's a list of potential benefits that has lured Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow to hop in the infrared sauna multiple times a week to promote healing and benefit her skin.

Writing on Goop, the 51-year-old said when discussing infrared saunas: 'Everything I'm doing feels good, like a gift to my body.

'I have energy, I'm working out in the mornings, and I'm doing an infrared sauna as often as I can, all in service of healing.

'A side benefit is my skin, which makes me happy—and makes me want to double down on skin care even more.'   

Last year, television presenter Cat Deeley opened up about the long-term COVID symptoms she suffered and how she combated them by using an infrared sauna and a -118-degree cryochamber.

Speaking to Women's Health UK about her ill health before her breakfast television gig, Cat said: 'After I had Covid, I was left with aches and pains in my hands, and doctors couldn't help, so I started looking for other things.

Goop founder Gwyneth Paltrow has incorporated infrared sauna sessions into her wellness regime 

33-year-old Hot Right Now singer Rita Ora visits the the infrared sauna to reduce anxiety symptoms

Unlike traditional saunas, the treatment use electromagnetic radiation to warm the body directly

'The symptoms that I had were a bit like MS, achy joints, no strength in my hands, and a weird thing that happened when I looked down – there's a nerve at the back of your neck – and it almost felt fizzy, electric.

'I saw that they often treat MS patients with oxygen tanks as it helps with rejuvenation. I found a place locally that has one, and they also have a red light sauna and a cryochamber, and I was like 'in for a penny in for a pound'!'

The former Stars In Their Eyes presenter will spend 45 minutes in the sauna, so she has to do things to keep herself entertained.

She explained: 'I have to read a magazine. So, I've got my glasses on, and at the same time, I try and put my legs up the wall. Completely naked. I mean…thank God, no one can see me.

'And then I sit there for 45 minutes, get incredibly sweaty, have a shower, wash my hair and then jump in the cryo tank.'

Sabrina Carpenter, 25, took time out of her burgeoning music career to relax in an infrared sauna 

Television presenter Cat Deeley discovered the infrared sauna after suffering from long Covid symptoms

More recently, Daisy Ridley revealed she uses infrared saunas following her diagnosis with Graves' disease last year - an autoimmune disorder that includes overactivity of the thyroid, causing issues like increased anxiety and difficulty sleeping.

Talking to Women's Health, the Star Wars actress revealed that she had integrated infrared saunas to ease symptoms, among other physical therapies, including massages and acupuncture.

'I do a fair amount of the holistic stuff, but I also understand that it is a privilege to be able to do those things,' she told the publication.

Meanwhile, stars including Sabrina Carpenter and Rita Ora have revealed their infrared sauna use by posing in the fluorescent red lighting in photographs shared on Instagram. 

Earlier this year, Rita detailed her mental health struggles in an interview with Evgeny Lebedev on his Brave New World podcast, as well as the various methods she uses to manage her wellbeing.

Crediting the well-publicised methods of The Ice Man Wim Hof, Rita said she regularly partakes in 40-minute infrared saunas, followed by a cold plunge or shower.

The Hot Right Now hitmaker added that panic attacks 'used to feel foreign' when they occurred, but now, she uses acupuncture and other methods of Chinese medicine to control her symptoms.

Rita explained: 'I have really bad anxiety, I think anyone in my industry has anxiety to be honest, it is I think now really cool that it's become a conversation and there are days that are better than other days.'

However, Healthline warned that there are - as to be expected with anything - potential risks involved. Pictured, a stock image of a sauna

Meanwhile, professionals seem to think that while infrared saunas are generally beneficial, not enough is known about them yet.

'Many studies have looked at using infrared saunas in the treatment of long-lasting health problems and found some proof that saunas may help,' a post on Mayo Clinic said.

'Conditions studied include high blood pressure, heart failure, dementia and Alzheimer's disease, headache, type 2 diabetes, and arthritis.

'But larger and more-exact studies are needed to prove these results. Some of these studies were also performed with people using a regular sauna.'

However, Healthline warned that there are - as to be expected with anything - potential risks involved. 

The outlet cited that negative side effects could include heat discomfort, low blood pressure, light-headedness, leg pain, airway irritation and claustrophobia.

They also said medical reports have seen sauna users accrue burns, faint, or fall - although it doesn't appear that these are specifically linked to infrared options.

Experts added there are also groups of people who may want to avoid using saunas, or exercise caution when doing so - including people with nerve and motor function conditions, those who are pregnant, people with compromised immune systems and/or unhealed wounds, people with heart conditions, older individuals and young children.

Speaking to the outlet, Dr Ashish Sharma of the Yuma Regional Medical Center also warned that the 'dry heat generated in an infrared sauna can cause you to become overheated, and if used for a prolonged session, it can also cause dehydration and even heat exhaustion or heat stroke'.