What’s the best shower frequency?
In many parts of the world, taking a shower every day tends to be the norm. However, from a strictly medical perspective, it is not necessary for most people to shower this frequently.
Personal hygiene does provide health benefits, and most people do need to shower regularly. In addition to its use for routine washing and grooming, water offers benefits relating to pain relief and treatment in the form of hydrotherapy.
Baths, steam showers, saunas, and other bathing methods can:
- Improve immune function
- Ease muscle aches and pains
- Reduce swelling
- Increase blood flow
- Improve concentration
- Lessen fatigue
- Make it easier to breathe
To a lesser extent, spending time in the shower can have these same effects. Showering cleans the skin and removes dead skin cells to help clear the pores and allow the skin cells to function. It washes away bacteria and other irritants that could cause rashes and other skin problems.
However, the main reason why people shower as much as they do is that it helps them meet social standards of cleanliness and personal appearance. Meeting these standards helps people feel at home in their working and social environments and their bodies.
In the winter, cold temperatures and indoor heating both contribute to dry skin. Many dermatologists recommend that individuals change their bathing routines during the winter to protect themselves from dry skin.
The following techniques may help people reduce the likelihood of dry skin:
- Shortening shower time to no more than 5–10 minutes.
- Closing the door to the bathroom to capture the steam and increase the humidity.
- Replacing hot water and soap with warm water and gentle cleansers.
- Using the smallest amount of cleanser possible to clean the skin.
- Drying the skin gently after bathing.
- Applying plenty of an oil-based moisturizing cream or ointment within 3 minutes of showering to trap moisture in the skin.
Can you shower too much?!
Showering removes bacteria from the skin, which means that it also washes off the bacteria that help the body protect itself from infection.
The soaps and shampoos that people use when showering can dry out the skin and hair, leading to cracked skin and split ends. How rapidly this happens, which affects how often a person should shower, depends on the individual’s skin type, which could be oily or dry, and the climate in which they live.
If people find that their skin feels tight after they step out of the shower, this is not a sign of being clean. Instead, it indicates that the skin is too dry.
In studies focused on handwashing, researchers found that nurses with skin damage on their hands due to frequent washing and wearing gloves harbored more infectious agents than other nurses. The researchers concluded that when the frequency of washing leads to skin damage, it is counterproductive.
Showering also has a significant effect on the environment. Soaps and shampoos, not to mention added ingredients such as microbeads in some skin care products, can make their way into groundwater, lakes, streams, and oceans. The simple act of showering depletes the vital resources of freshwater.
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