After drinking, do not soak in a hot spring or take a sauna, and do not take a hot bath at home either

In Finland, half of the people who died in a sauna had been drinking. In Tokyo, about a quarter of the bathing deaths that were autopsied had a blood alcohol level that was not low, and in a set of bathtub-drowning records drunkenness was the most common trigger. Japanese officials list "do not take a bath after drinking" as a key point for preventing drowning. If a companion has drunk too much, do not let that person go in and soak alone.

Cost

No cost. If you have been drinking, go soak another day, and at home just take a simple shower. The hard part is that a hot spring or a sauna is often the next stop after a group meal. The whole table goes, and you have to say out loud that you are not going.

Benefit

Finland checked, case by case, the people who died in a sauna from 1990 to 2002, using police and forensic reports. Deaths of this kind are fewer than 2 per 100000 each year. The original text says "overall, 50% of the people were under the influence of alcohol." The authors say this alcohol risk is growing, and the focus of prevention is to drink less and not to leave a drunk person alone in the sauna. From 2009 to 2011, Tokyo forensic doctors handled 3289 deaths during bathing. Among the 550 that were autopsied, 140 had blood alcohol above 0.5 milligrams per milliliter, about 1/4. Another Tokyo autopsy series had 77 bathtub drownings. Among the factors that led to the drowning, drunkenness was the most common (25 cases), then heart disease (22 cases). A December 2025 notice from the Japan Consumer Affairs Agency says that in 2024, 7776 people in Japan drowned in a bathtub, of whom 7363 were aged 65 or older. The accident-prevention points say: do not take a bath right after a meal, after drinking, or after taking medicine. The Chinese embassy in Japan warns that "it is unwise to bathe after drinking," because "bathing after drinking can easily trigger an acute illness of the heart or the blood vessels." A public-education note from the Shaanxi health commission says that soaking in a hot spring after drinking, with the water that hot, dilates the blood vessels and can bring low blood pressure, low blood sugar, or even fainting.

Notes

The grade is set at B because these studies looked only at people who had died. Nobody has calculated how many of the people who soak after drinking come to harm, so it is not possible to say how many times higher the risk is. The benefit is set at "medium" by judgment: people who die in a sauna or a bathtub are not many to begin with, but among those who died, those who had been drinking account for 1/4 to 1/2. Most bathtub drownings in Japan are older people. A young person who has been drinking can come to harm in a sauna just the same. For the benefits of a usual bath, and the reminders on water temperature and how long to stay in, see section 2, item 36 (take a bath when you can). For how to look after a companion who is drunk, see section 13, item 46 (someone is drunk).

Sources · 6

1. Kenttämies A, Karkola K (2008). Death in sauna. Journal of Forensic Sciences, 53(3), 724-729. doi.org/10.1111/j.1556-4029.2008.00703.x
2. Suzuki H, Hikiji W, Tanifuji T, Abe N, Fukunaga T (2015). Characteristics of sudden bath-related death investigated by medical examiners in Tokyo, Japan. Journal of Epidemiology, 25(2), 126-132. doi.org/10.2188/jea.JE20140068
3. Mishima S, Suzuki H, Fukunaga T, Nishitani Y (2018). Postmortem computed tomography findings in cases of bath-related death: applicability and limitation in forensic practice. Forensic Science International, 282, 195-203. doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2017.11.030
4. 消費者庁 (2025). 年末年始、高齢者の事故に注意しましょう!：「食後すぐの入浴や、飲酒後、医薬品服用後の入浴は避けましょう」. caa.go.jp/policies/policy/consumer_safety/cau…
5. 中华人民共和国驻日本国大使馆 (2015). 领事提醒之十七：「空腹、满腹、酒后不宜入浴。酒后入浴易引发心脏或血管系统急病」. jp.china-embassy.gov.cn/chn/jbwzlmnew/lszcnew…
6. 陕西省卫生健康委员会 (2021). 温泉泡对了才养生：「切忌酒后或空腹泡温泉，在高水温的刺激下容易引起外周血管扩张出现低血压、低血糖、甚至晕厥」. sxwjw.shaanxi.gov.cn/ywgz/gbbj/202101/t202101…