SHARES
A shower gives the body a desirable caressing feeling, especially after a long and tiring day. It seems as though we have all been programmed to instinctively know when to shower. However, a typical person’s body temperature and feeling determines his or her preferred water temperature for showering. What should you choose – hot or cold shower? Let’s find out…
From time immemorial, two natural water temperatures have been used for shower baths; beyond the peculiar feeling each of them give, they have been recommended for centuries under the field of hydrotherapy as the antidote to certain body and skin conditions.
The legacy of hydrotherapy lingers on till today but has been split between two schools of thought battling for supremacy; the bone of contention for decades now has centered on which water temperature is best for showering; while the proponents of the hot shower school of thought hold that hot water shower promises more skin health benefit, the opposing school of thought thinks otherwise suggesting that cold shower is more skin-friendly and refreshing. Whichever school of thought you belong, let’s run through the pros and cons of each.
Hot Shower
On a cold day, you want to think of how to warm up; if you cannot lay by a fire to generate some body heat, the other option is to have a hot shower; you will immediately revive your system and get these other benefits:
Pros
Mitigate Cold and Catarrh Symptoms
The steam inhaled from taking hot showers renders the bacteria responsible for cold and catarrh symptoms like secretion of mucus, jerking of the body, shivering and nasal cavity sterile.
Protects the Skin
Taking a shower with steamy hot water gets rid of dirt that has clogged up the pores of the skin thereby giving you a fresher feel and a softer skin.
Heals wounds
A shower stimulates the rapid flow of blood throughout the entire body; so if you have cuts or any injury on your skin, the flow of blood to the area allows for the blood clot to easily form over the surface of the wound. Having regular hot showers makes blood clot form layers of grid over the surface of the wound till it heals up.
Eases up Tension & Stress
One way to relieve stress is to get the stress relieving hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) up and pumping in your system; you won’t trigger its release with a warm shower; you’ve just got to awaken it with a steamy shower bath and you will experience untold calm and a sharp drop in anxiety level.
Hot Shower or Cold Shower
Cons
Aggravates cardiac-related symptoms
For those suffering from cardiac-related illness, taking a hot shower bath can trigger the symptoms as blood flow level rises.
Leads to Depressive Tendencies
The heat so generated can result in having mixed feelings that can dampen a bright countenance and an outgoing disposition.
Leads to breaking of the hair
When you take a hot shower bath, your hair becomes extraordinarily tender and soft so that just combing through it likely can make it break.
Cold Shower
Taking a cold shower offers something different; you’ll get its full regulative effect on a hot day. It just revamps you with a somewhat sensational moisturizing feeling; in addition, it offers the following benefits:
Pros
Antidote to Depression
Whenever you feel this dejection after an uneventful disappointing day, a cold shower helps you ease off and bounce back fresher the morning after.
Regulates body heat
On those very hot days where you are perspiring profusely, taking a cold shower can help drastically reduce your body’s temperature. In addition to the cooling effect of sweating, you would get a rejuvenating feel.
Mild on the skin:
Cold shower gives your skin a caressing cleansing while at the same time getting rid of the skin’s oily content and straitening the hair follicle.
Contributes to better cardiac health
As you beam jets of chilly water on your head and as they flush down your body, your heartbeat suddenly races momentarily, a clear indication of an extensive circulation of blood through the arteries and veins from and to other parts of the bodies; in this process, previously blocked or inactive blood streams open up owing to the temporary pump pressure of blood that normalizes just after having shower.
Contributes to a better immune system and aids weight loss
As blood pressure is jacked up, the temperature in the internal environment rises; this helps burn-out excess body fats and trigger the activities of antibodies.
Cons
May heighten symptoms of cold and catarrh
If you are showing feverish symptoms, taking a cold shower may worsen the condition.
On a final analysis, while the question of the better type of shower may bore down to personal preference, there is evidence to support that striking a golden mean and getting the best of both worlds in having a lukewarm shower bath or you could also try to do this – start off with a hot shower and end up with a cold shower, taking a hot-cold shower!
by Hridya
A biochemist by education who could never put what she studied to good use, finally found GetDoc as a medium to do what she loved - bring information to people using a forum that is dedicated to all things medical. View all articles by Hridya.
