Turkish bath is a type of bath that involves exposure to dry heat, moist heat, massage, and cold. Bathers wear only bathing clothes, or none at all. They first enter a sweating room that has dry heat of about 160 °F (71 °C). They then move to a room in which wet steam reaches about 128 °F (53 °C). The wet steam causes the bathers to perspire freely. The skin is then washed with warm water and soap or salve, and an attendant massages the muscles. After being scrubbed and rubbed, the bathers dry off with a rough cloth or towel. Sometimes the hard skin of the feet is rubbed off with pumice stone. The bathers next take a cold shower or a swim, and then rest until their body temperature returns to normal.
The Turkish bath is refreshing and relaxing. However, people who have heart trouble or a kidney disease should never take a Turkish bath.
The Turks of medieval times believed in taking hot-air baths to preserve health, and their warriors spread this custom to most of the Middle East and parts of Europe. Many people in the Western world greatly enjoyed taking these baths, and they called them Turkish baths. The Russian bath is similar to the Turkish bath, except that only steam is used. The Finns have a sauna, a system of dry-heat bathing (see Sauna ).
