When the sneezes and sniffles strike, arm yourself with a box of tissues and a steaming bowl of soup, not a towel and a sauna key. The idea of a sauna-as-a-cold-cure is as laughably shaky as your grandma's secret squirrel soup recipe, according to John Mafi, MD, MPH, associate professor of medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

A visit to the sauna during a cold might do more harm than good. If you’re blessed with the special effects of a fever or a cough, it's best to avoid the sauna, especially if you're a card-carrying member of the heart condition club. Treating the public sauna as your personal quarantine zone? Not cool. It may transform you into the patient zero of your local gym. As the saying goes, sharing is caring, but not when it comes to germs.

But don't trash your sauna membership just yet. Before you pledge loyalty to team sauna, get some straight talk from your healthcare provider especially if you're living with chronic conditions. Generally, saunas and conditions like heart problems, asthma, low blood pressure don't mix well; shaken, not stirred.

Itching to replicate the warmth of a sauna at home during your cold? You could play mad scientist and whip up a home sauna concoction with boiled water and a towel. You can even go for a hot shower; just remember to dry off quickly to avoid a cold shock. But tread carefully, these steam-filled remedies are not for those with fever or nasty coughs and definitely off limits if you're dehydrated.

Sadly, there's no magic potion for the common cold. Sorry to burst your bubble, but trying to sweat out the cold through saunas or any other means is about as effective as drinking unicorn tears to cure baldness. You just risk dehydration and complicate recovery. Your best bet? Old-school remedies like rest, fluids, plenty of sleep, and maybe even Netflix.

If you start morphing into the zombie version of yourself with worsening symptoms, make a beeline for your healthcare provider's office. Because when it comes to your health, the stakes are higher than a late-night sauna session.