New research suggests your bathing ritual could be bad for your skin and your health. Maybe the investigation is recent, but I've believed this for years. Of course, you are interested in finding out how often we should you lather up. You don't want to smell. How could you turn up at work in a fresh shirt over a dirty body?
Source: The Times.
A Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, told The Times: "As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm.
"Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves.
"We pay too much attention to the body beautiful and smelling good, with perfumes for men and women," he added.
Of course, you shouldn't shun a wash after a sweaty run. The every-other-day rule is flexible depending on your lifestyle.
Take me, for example. I don't sweat any more, partly due to lack of exercise in my advancing years, but also because of a healthy diet. For ten years of so, I've showered on alternate days prompted by reading similar advice. My skin is dry already, particularly the lower legs, and I don't need to make it worse.
It seems over-bathing can dry out and irritate skin, washing away the good bacteria and even heightening risk of infection by causing small cracks in the skin. (Love that. Good bacteria, not sweat and oils.)
Source: The Times.
A Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, told The Times: "As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm.
"Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves.
"We pay too much attention to the body beautiful and smelling good, with perfumes for men and women," he added.
Of course, you shouldn't shun a wash after a sweaty run. The every-other-day rule is flexible depending on your lifestyle.
Take me, for example. I don't sweat any more, partly due to lack of exercise in my advancing years, but also because of a healthy diet. For ten years of so, I've showered on alternate days prompted by reading similar advice. My skin is dry already, particularly the lower legs, and I don't need to make it worse.
It seems over-bathing can dry out and irritate skin, washing away the good bacteria and even heightening risk of infection by causing small cracks in the skin. (Love that. Good bacteria, not sweat and oils.)
I looked up advice for bathing dry skin. One skincare website said: Bathe daily. A daily bath or shower can add much-needed moisture to the skin. (Huh! That's the opposite.) HowStuffWorks advised: If you suffer from habitually dry skin, one of the best skin moisturizing tips we can give you is to stop bathing. Not entirely, of course, but enough to let your sebaceous glands replenish your skin's natural layer of oil that's stripped away during washing. Both hot water and regular soap rob your body of its moisturizing oil, so basically, the more you bathe, the harder it is for your skin to keep itself moisturized. Don't soak in a bath. If this sounds too extreme, try using warm water instead of hot when washing, and limit your bathing time to 15 minutes or less. Also, use soap only on the critical areas like the armpits and genitals. Pat yourself dry with a towel, and apply moisturizer while your skin is still slightly damp. This will help your epidermis retain extra water.
On the whole, advice from dermatologists shows we're bathing a lot more than we need to. Would you skip the daily shower to improve your skin?
On the whole, advice from dermatologists shows we're bathing a lot more than we need to. Would you skip the daily shower to improve your skin?
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