Are Long, Hot Showers Good For Your Skin?

Maybe you just got out of your cozy bed and need a way to welcome your body to a new morning; or perhaps you’re gearing up to go to sleep and are looking for a way to soothe yourself into slumber mode. No matter what time of the day it is, nothing like a long, hot shower calms your nerves and indulges your muscles. However, before you propel that shower faucet too deeply into the red zone, you might want to learn the answer to a question that many body care enthusiasts have been asking since the advent of those addictive massaging showerheads: Are long, hot showers actually good for your skin?

If you ask Santo Criscuolo, owner of Kirkland, Washington’s Ambrosia Medspa, the answer might be one that you’d rather not hear. According to Criscuolo, long, hot showers can dry out your skin instead of actually soothing it. By stripping your skin of its natural oils, you could up having to tackle rough patches, flakes, and a general dull appearance — problems that even the best moisturizers in the world might not be enough to handle in the long run. Even worse, skin that is constantly dry tends to develop more wrinkles, which can accumulate over time. Of course, the term “dry skin” is often synonymous with coarse, itchy skin – the kind that makes you want to claw off your own outer layer just to make the irritation stop. Even in less extreme circumstances, dry skin is hardly fun to deal with, and since local water supplies and domestic air environments can make some people susceptible to dry skin from the get-go, it makes little sense to perpetuate a habit that can only worsen the problem.

So there you have it. A long, hot shower might feel good, but it can actually have quite the damaging effect on your skin. Add in a high pressured showerhead, and you’ve got the makings of an oil-stripping session that could leave your skin feeling completely parched. Don’t want to believe it? Imagine a baking pan with grease remnants stuck to its bottom. The best way to clean it out is to pour in some dish soap and run a hot, heavy stream of water right onto its surface, right? As soon as that water hits the pan, you’ll notice how the oil starts to magically float right off. Well, the same thing happens to your skin when you take an intense, hot shower. Only in your case, those oils are a good thing, and not something that you should strive to remove.

In fact, more and more people in the medical and skin care field are beginning to declare the benefits of – gasp – cold showers, and for a number of reasons. First of all, cold water is said to push blood towards the capillaries, thereby increasing circulation throughout the body. Second, cold water is actually thought to have the ability to help strengthen your immune system. Finally, since few people actually enjoy the feeling of streaming cold water, those who decide to go cold are less likely to spend extra time in the shower, thereby reducing the amount of time in which their skin is subjected to pounding water.

Of course, even on the hottest of days, most people can’t bear the brunt of an icy cold shower for an extended period of time. As a compromise, you could always try turning the water from warm to cold during the last minute or so of your shower. For morning bathers, there’s no better way to jolt yourself into alertness, and for nighttime bathers, just think about how nice and warm your blankets will feel after an icy cold blast.

If a cold shower – even a 10-second one – is not in the cards for you, then at the very least, try to keep the overall temperature of your shower in check. While you don’t have to bring yourself to the edge of frostbite, you also don’t need to scald yourself to the point where your entire body turns red. Try the middle ground approach by using lukewarm to moderately hot water the next time you take a shower, and make an effort to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Oh, and don’t worry; you can’t be expected to forego those long, hot showers forever. But instead of incorporating them into your daily routine, try limiting yourself to one or two ultra-indulgent sessions per week. After all, sometimes it’s the simple pleasures in life that help get us through the day, and even the most vigilant of skin care advocates would be hard-pressed to deny you your occasional share of hot water.

The information in the article is not intended to substitute for the medical expertise and advice of your healthcare provider. We encourage you to discuss any decisions about treatment or care with an appropriate healthcare provider.