We all know taking a shower is good for our health and mind. But, do you know is it good to take a shower everyday? Don’t be worried if you don’t know. Unfortunately, most of us don’t.
If you want a straight forward answer, I will tell you to take a shower with a gap of one or two days if you do a corporate type indoor job. Because too much shower makes your skin dry and damaged. And do shower regularly if the job keeps you in the outer environment where you need to fight with dirt, pollution, sweat, and so on.
But this is not enough. There are so many things that control shower frequency. You should know what forces you to shower, what would happen if you don’t shower regularly, and what should be the perfect shower frequency for you.
Feeling curious? Go through the post thoroughly.
Factors Responsible for Shower
There is no standard number of shower frequency. It can be changed depending on various factors. Here you will know the factors that will tell you what should be your shower frequency. It could be your skin type, work type, or something else. Let’s see in detail…
Personal Preference
It was built in our minds since we were kids. We were habituated to take bath or shower daily to stay clean and fresh. There is no big reason behind it. And we don’t even think is it OK or not.
That’s why most Americans, over two-third, used to take a shower daily. We are surprised when we heard someone didn’t shower for the last 3-4 days. Even he or she didn’t stink because of this less shower.
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Skin Type
You have to set your showering frequency on the type of your skin. If your skin has the tendency to sweat more and create odor, there is no other option except taking a bath or shower.
Moreover, a person with excessively oily skin could take shower more frequently than a person with dry skin. Because a short 5-10 minutes shower won’t make oily skin dry. But, if you have dry or sensitive skin, it is better to limit shower.
Work Type
It is one of the main reasons to determine whether you should take a shower everyday or not. Some type of work looks decent, some are dangerous, and some work definitely makes you dirty.
Here the demand for shower doesn’t care your skin type or personal choice except you are doing a decent job.
If you are working in a corporate office in a well-decorated indoor environment, naturally you are safe from dirt, pollution, and sweat. In this case, you don’t need to take a shower every day.
Some people are involved in dangerous work such as working in the chemical or medical industry. These types of people usually wear safety suit to protect them from danger. in spite of this, they should take a shower after each working shift. Here taking shower is also marked as a safety procedure.
And other people need to go through huge dust of garbage elements due to their work type. A miner, garbage collector, and butcher are the kind of people who need to take a shower before entering the living room.
Seasons
Almost every people in the world agree that there is a strong co-relation between shower frequency and seasons. I personally know only a few people who can maintain the same shower frequency and duration throughout the year.
In winter due to the lower temperature people tend to shower less often than summer. It is completely OK. In winter your body remains covered with a warm cloth and it also protects your body from dirt and impurities. And you also sweat less in this time period.
If you need to shower every day in winter, use warm water for it. Don’t use hot water, it will damage your skin and make dry.
Area You Live
If the air of the area you live in contains too much dust, it is not possible to stay without a shower for more than a day. On the contrary, a person in a comparatively clean area can limit shower once or twice a week.
You can imagine it on a large scale. The air of Asia is dustier than America due to geological location and unplanned industrialization. So, your living location plays an important role to decide when should you shower.
Problems Arise from Too Often Shower
You should know the standard shower frequency of yours. You already know it depends on various factors. If you feel any discomfort after a shower, consult with a dermatologist ASAP to find the actual reason behind it.
Excessive shower can create various skin problems if you aren’t aware of it. It starts with skin dryness then move to many other problems. Let see in detail…
Skin Dryness
This is the main problem of the excessive shower. Soap and water not only wash away impurities from your skin but also the skin moisturizing natural oils. Even if you take a shower with only water, your skin oil also gets washed off.
Too much shower makes your skin dry and flaky which gives you a dull look. You know dry skin is the mother of all skin problems. You should take care of it at the early stage otherwise it leads to many other problems.
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Itchy Skin
If you have extremely dry skin, surely you have experience of itching. Generally, itching is the way of communication of dry skin with you (source). By creating itch your skin wants to tell you they aren’t well.
Your skin gets dry due to the lacking of moisture and skin oil (sebum). In this situation, your skin cells cannot function well. As a result, they create itching. If your itching is serious, consult with a dermatologist to know the actual reason of that itching.
Worsen Skin Problems
If you live with skin problems like eczema and psoriasis, you should know what is the suitable shower frequency for you. The excessive shower makes your skin dry and if you don’t care at the beginning it will flareup your existing skin problems.
Washed Away Beneficial Bacteria
A shower not only washes off dirt and sweat from the body but also the bacteria. It includes both beneficial and harmful bacteria. That’s why too much shower makes your skin vulnerable by lacking beneficial bacteria to your skin.
Moreover, improper use of antibacterial soap may develop bacterial resistance.
Waste of Water and Environmental Pollution
Excess shower means the use of excess water. You might think, I just use little extra water, it doesn’t create that much harm.
Imagine, if 10% of the world population wastes 3-5 gallons of water per day for the shower that is not necessary, what is the amount of total wasted water. And the alarming news is the amount of total usable water is decreasing day by day.
Besides, a shower also responsible for environmental pollution because of soapy water, scrubbing beads, and the empty container of body wash. And more shower means more pollution.
Effects of Less Shower
Like an excessive shower, you will face some problems if you take less shower. It is not a problem if you skip the shower for one or two days. If the time range extends to over a week, definitely it’s a problem. It is completely unhygienic and creates lots of problems.
Make You Dirty
The best way to stay clean is to shower or bath. Your skin will cover with dirt, impurities, and pollutant if you don’t do it for a long time. Besides the dead skin cells cover your topmost skin layer. All these combined give you a dull and dirty look. Colored and patchy areas and scaly skin are common to the people who don’t take shower over a week.
Formation of Acne
Acne forms when our skin pores get clogged by dead skin cells and various foreign elements. Due to the clogged pores, the skin oil (sebum) cannot able to get out on the skin and results in acne.
Besides forming acne, inadequate shower also flares up the existing acne.
Exacerbate Skin Problems
Lack of shower makes your skin dirty and is responsible for various skin problems like ringworm, eczema, psoriasis, and dermatitis.
Dirty skin is a suitable habitat for bacteria and other micro-organisms. They colonize here and multiply their number. As a result, you will see various skin problems and infections. Additionally, taking less shower increase the intensity of those problems.
Make You Unsocial
You can stop shower but your body won’t stop sweat. Basically, sweat doesn’t create an odor until bacteria start working on it. I already mentioned, dirty skin is a favorite living place of bacteria.
When those bacterial get contacted with sweat, it produces odor. If you don’t take a shower for several days your body odor will turn into an unbearable smell. And in this situation, nobody will stay around you.
Showering Frequency at Different Ages
The different stage of our life has a slight correlation with shower frequency.
A newborn baby doesn’t need to take a shower every day. Even it may cause diseases like pneumonia. Showering once or twice a week is enough. Make sure the bathing water is warm. Wipe your baby’s body with a wet towel on the other day.
You can shower your baby daily when they start eating or crawling. Though, it is not mandatory. Bathing every alternative day to your baby and kid (6 months to 11years) is normal in all aspects.
You can follow this shower routine (putting a gap between two showers) throughout your entire life except for the puberty period.
Many people suggest to take shower daily at puberty. In this time several physical and hormonal changes occur inside the body. In puberty physical, social, and mental life goes through a turmoil condition. Here, a daily shower is necessary to keep their body calm and mind fresh.
Remember, this showering routine is for normal situations. It can be changed according to your daily activities.
Standard Shower Tips
We used to take a shower for personal hygiene and refreshment. You can do it as you want. But if you follow some tips you can make your daily shower meaningful and beneficial.
Here’s some standard shower tips for you. Let’s see.
- Take shower in every alternative day if you are doing a decent job. Wipe your body with a wet towel in the shower skipping days. Don’t be harsh while wiping the body. And wash your armpit, groin area, and feet with warm water.
- Make your regular bathing time short, 5-10 minutes.
- Use warm or plain water. Never use hot water even the weather is too cold.
- Use gentle soap, body wash, and shampoo to clean your body and hair. Avoid products with artificial fragrance. These may irritate your skin.
- Exfoliate your body at least once a week.
- And always use a moisturizer after shower.
The Last Words
Showering regularly is important for our life. But it is more important to do it in the right way. The target of this post is to give you a clear idea when should you take a shower. Hope you got the answer. Even after that, if you have a specific question about the shower. Fill free to ask me.