How Long Can You Stay In A Hot Tub Before You Die?

How long can you stay in a hot tub before you die? This may seem like a bit of a weird question, but there have been quite a few people who have asked about the maximum time one can spend in a hot tub in a safe manner.

Many people who buy a hot tub for the first time are often looking for such answers. Hot tubs generally work like egg poachers, so you have to understand that the poaching times are likely to vary.

Obviously, you are not going to turn into a hard-boiled egg, but it’s still important to understand the maximum time limits.

How Long Can You Stay In A Hot Tub Before You Die?

Ideally, you should sit in the hot tub for a period of 15 to 30 minutes. At most, you should not go above 45 to 60 minutes. Sitting in the hot tub for more than an hour is definitely not a wise idea.

You should know that sitting in a hot tub has an adverse impact on male fertility. The hot water affects sperm motility by a considerable margin and it’s important that you avoid spending too much time in the tub.

More importantly, you should know that there are quite a few other factors that come into play here. Many people might be at an increased risk of bodily and physiological harm if they spend more time in the hot tub, without ever realizing it.

Essentially, when you are sitting in a hot tub, you are cooking your body slowly. That is one of the reasons why most hot tubs have a maximum temperature of 104°F, and it doesn’t go higher than that.

The human body is not designed to spend long hours in a hot tub, and it’s a bad idea to spend longer periods in the hot tub.

How to Personalize Your Timing in the Hot Tub

As mentioned above, the maximum amount of time that you should spend in the hot tub varies based on a number of factors. Here are a few important factors that you need to take into account.

Your Overall Health

The physical health of a person plays a very important role in the maximum time they should spend in the hot tub. If you are in good physical shape, then you can easily stay in the hot tub for a longer period of time, up to 30 or even 45 minutes.

But, for women who are pregnant, or those who suffer from blood pressure problems or heart conditions, it might not be a wise idea to sit in the hot tub for longer periods of time.

In fact, most doctors will recommend that people with such conditions should avoid hot tubs altogether. Even if you are going to sit in the hot tub, it would be a wise idea to bring the temperature down.

Ideally, it’s best to seek advice from your doctor before you decide. More importantly, if you are going to sit in the hot tub with children, you should avoid sitting for any longer than 10 minutes.

The reason for that is because children’s bodies are not as capable as adults are in adapting to different temperatures. As a result, it would not be a wise idea to spend more time with kids in the hot tub.

Physical Makeup

Another major factor that affects the amount of time you can spend in the hot tub is your physical makeup. According to a few studies, women are able to withstand more heat as compared to men.

This is primarily because of the muscle mass and the physical makeup of a person’s body. In line with that logic, it’s easy to say that people with slimmer and more petite bodies would be able to spend more time in the hot tub as compared to people with more fat on their bodies.

Depth of the Water

If you immerse yourself totally in the water, such as all the way to the neck, the overall bodily area available for allowing heat to be released is going to be less.

More importantly, the amount of steam surrounding your face is also likely to be greater, which will just increase the added amount of heat in your body.

If you only immerse yourself up to your waist, there’s quite a bit of skin area available around which ensures that your organs and the core remains cool. This area helps in dissipating the heat around the body easily.

Temperature of the Water

Finally, the temperature of the water also affects the maximum time you can spend in the tub. If you want to extend the time that you would like to spend in the hot tub, you will want to make sure that you keep the temperature low.

Ideally, most people prefer keeping the temperature around 36 to 39 degrees Celsius. This is around the resting temperature of your body. Most people don’t take the temperature any higher than 40 degrees Celsius.

What About Overexposure?

Heat exhaustion is a very real thing and you need to understand the physiological changes that take place when you immerse yourself in a hot tub.

As the temperature of your body begins to rise, the smaller blood vessels start dilating at a very fast rate. You might have seen how quickly people turn red when they start feeling increasingly hot.

That’s simply because there’s more blood under the skin. This can cause a person’s blood pressure to drop rapidly because the heart has to compensate for the additional space available in the vessels.

Keep in mind that all of these changes take place in an instant, so your heart is constantly working to ensure that the circulation remains consistent.

As you continue spending time in the hot water, the heat will eventually begin to transfer inward, and this will ultimately result in an increase of your body’s core temperature.

The warmth may feel wonderful and calming, and as the core temperature starts to increase and the blood vessels stop dilating, your blood pressure will slowly begin to fall.

This is great for relieving headaches or other problems. Even though you are essentially poaching your body gradually, it just feels so good!

While your mood will improve dramatically and it’s a great way to pass the time, you should know that spending more time in a hot tub than necessary is not recommended. There are some good things associated with spending more time in the hot tub.

Not only does it relieve stress and makes you feel calmer, it also helps in treating different kinds of pains and body aches. People who suffer from rheumatic problems will feel quite relieved after spending time in the hot tub.

In fact, according to one study, the number of calories that you lose with spending some time in the hot tub is equal to a brisk walk around the block.

How Do You Figure Out When You Have Had Enough?

The human body is a wonderful thing that automatically gives signals when something is not according to its liking. There are actually quite a few symptoms that you are likely to experience, which indicate that you need to get out of the hot tub.

For starters, pay attention to your heart rate. As mentioned, the excessive dilation of the blood vessels will increase your heart rate, so that’s the first thing you need to check.

Your heart will pump strongly and you will notice feeling a lack of breath as the heart starts to demand more oxygen. If you begin to feel a burning sensation on your skin, this could be an indication that your skin is breaking.

Skin irritation and excessive itching are also clear signs that there is a problem. Ideally, you should just bring down the temperature in your hot tub to avoid this problem. It may alleviate the irritation and the itching. Let’s talk about some other symptoms.

Light-Headedness

People who start feeling a bit light-headed should immediately climb out of the hot tub. This usually happens when your blood pressure decreases quickly.

When getting out of the hot tub, be careful not to rise up too quickly. You may end up losing your balance and falling over as a result.

Dehydration

If your body heats up too much, you will start feeling thirsty. As a sense of dehydration takes over you, it would be highly recommended that you get out of the hot tub.

There are several signs that your body is dehydrated, such as mild nausea, confusion, irritability, and headaches. You may want to get out of the hot tub and drink some water.

Nausea and Vomiting

Two major symptoms that you need to pay attention to are nausea and vomiting. If you start feeling nauseous or puke in the hot tub, it’s best to leave right away.

This is simply your body reacting to the hot environment and asking you to change the circumstances. These are just a few signs that indicate overexposure to heat.