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How often should you bathe/shower?
zamphir66
Posts: 582 Member
in Debate Club
This question is at the center of a recent NPR article: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/26/917019912/in-the-era-of-hygiene-clean-author-makes-the-case-for-showering-less
Dr. James Hamblin, the author of "Clean," argues that many of us are showering too often, possibly to the detriment of our skin's microbiome.
Me, I shower just about every day. In the summer, maybe twice some days. Even if I don't "feel" particularly dirty, I just enjoy the feeling of being naked with water flowing over me so much that I need it about every day. It's almost spiritual.
On days when I don't shower, it's either a) I'm mentally way down, or b) I'm completely exhausted, but then being that tired and skipping the shower causes me to feel mentally down, so I try super hard not to let b happen.
So what say you all?
Dr. James Hamblin, the author of "Clean," argues that many of us are showering too often, possibly to the detriment of our skin's microbiome.
Me, I shower just about every day. In the summer, maybe twice some days. Even if I don't "feel" particularly dirty, I just enjoy the feeling of being naked with water flowing over me so much that I need it about every day. It's almost spiritual.
On days when I don't shower, it's either a) I'm mentally way down, or b) I'm completely exhausted, but then being that tired and skipping the shower causes me to feel mentally down, so I try super hard not to let b happen.
So what say you all?
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Replies
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I run just about every day and I'm a heavy sweater. So I'm going to keep showering every day.6
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My bed sheets are white. I shower at least daily before bed.
If I've done a two-a-day training, then I shower at least twice.
Also, my best life affirming thoughts happen in the bathroom 🤷🏿♀️13 -
If you are obese and sweat a lot like me, showering at least once each day is mandatory.4
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Between working out (stink), going to the horse farm (stink or just dusty feeling), having to wash my hair if I actually want it to look nice, and having to shower when leaving certain labs at work, my record so far is 6 in 1 day. 1-3 is my norm, occasionally I am able to skip a day in the winter and still live with myself.
ETA: but I try to only wash my hair 1x a day or every other day.7 -
Jump in the shower and blow the stink off. Stinkin' Thinkin'. If you work in an office and sit next to someone in a tiny little cube, they want you to take a shower and wear deodorant.8
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Once a month whether I need it or not.
It is said that historically only Vikings were regular bathers. I have no idea if that is true or not.
My skin health already sucks from gaining and now losing a million pounds. The skin microbiome is out of luck and down the drain. I am sure there is an expensive pre/post biotic lotion to FIX it.
I shower daily and typically 3 days a week it is twice. I rarely shower 3 times in a day but it does happen in the warmer months. I typically only wash my hair once a day and during the last shower.7 -
People stink and that's a level playing field. My folkaronies always say that fish and company stink after 3 days.
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Twice a day. One will be a full shower, the other will be a quick freshen up.2
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The $600 water bill dictates how many showers I and family get a day or for how many minutes they are. It sucks.6
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Diatonic12 wrote: »People stink and that's a level playing field. My folkaronies always say that fish and company stink after 3 days.
Applause to Folkaronies.2 -
I shower every day that I get physical exercise (bike, yard work, etc). Sometimes more than once a day - say ride in the morning, shower, go be with people, do yard work (or something that makes me sweat) so a shower before bed is required. If I am loafing around the house, then I will skip the shower for that day.9
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L1zardQueen wrote: »The $600 water bill dictates how many showers I and family get a day or for how many minutes they are. It sucks.
A month?
Where are you and how many people in the place for a $600 water bill?0 -
Diatonic12 wrote: »People stink and that's a level playing field. My folkaronies always say that fish and company stink after 3 days.
Applause to Folkaronies.
ROFL. I'm just carrying on in the family tradition. I can't help myself.
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Theoldguy1 wrote: »L1zardQueen wrote: »The $600 water bill dictates how many showers I and family get a day or for how many minutes they are. It sucks.
A month?
Where are you and how many people in the place for a $600 water bill?
Two month bill, sorry I should’ve stated. It’s still a lot of money. There are only three of us in the house. Our new house came with a bunch of well established citrus trees. We are trying to keep the trees alive, but they ain’t looking too happy right now.
San Diego. The price of water keeps going up.
Water conservation is a real problem.
I happened across that article posted in the OP a few days ago and thought, “Oh hell yeah”, I have an excuse for not taking regular showers. Lol4 -
@s131951 The String Theory not to be confused with the Stink Theory. There's someone in my small corner of the world with their nose perpetually in the air. My grandpaw used to say, 'They smell the stink, kids. They smell the stink'. They figure they're a cut above everyone else. This person is still alive but Grandpaw is buried right next to their relatives. When I put flowers on his grave I say 'Look Grandpaw', it's a level playing field now.
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So what say you all?
I guess I say this: we probably should listen to the guy and figure out how to protect the skin's microbiome or we're going to regret it.
We have a gut micro-biome that we are still learning about. Originally, we didn't know about it, and then, we thought it was only important because of what 'bad' bacteria existed in it that we might need to kill off. And now, we know that it can impact weight gain, health, and we've started having problems like antibiotic-resistant bacteria because of how much we ignored the issue.
So...we also have a skin micro-biome, and we know approximately jack-all about it, except that it can be damaged or washed away by heat, soap, and chemicals, of which we get all three during showering. Not to mention the natural protective oils our skin makes are impacted by showers as well.
If someone is saying that maybe we need to be cautious about this part of our bodies that we are very ignorant about, then...honestly? Might be worth thinking of that.
Because in the end, what is healthy for us doesn't mean what we 'want' to be healthy for us, you know? My wanting to shower daily is about as relevant to my skin's health as my wanting to have cake for every meal is relevant to my physical health.
How much I want to do the thing is meaningless. How healthy the thing is FOR me? That's what matters.
And just like I think my eating cake for every meal isn't healthy for me, no matter how much I might like it, I probably should be considering what type of showering is healthy for me, too.
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Diatonic12 wrote: »@s131951 The String Theory not to be confused with the Stink Theory. There's someone in my small corner of the world with their nose perpetually in the air. My grandpaw used to say, 'They smell the stink, kids. They smell the stink'. They figure they're a cut above everyone else. This person is still alive but Grandpaw is buried right next to their relatives. When I put flowers on his grave I say 'Look Grandpaw', it's a level playing field now.
I've encountered that as well.1 -
My skin is dry. I hardly sweat, even if I work out hard and even when I do, I've asked friends if they detect any odor. I used to slather on lotion all the time, but then it would get all over my clothing or I couldn't grip anything well. So the balance I've found is that I shower at least every other day unless I'm particularly dirty (like working out in the yard or etc.) If I just did a moderate workout and walked around the gym, I'll just wipe myself down at night (usually with baby wipes). Again, it's not bad hygiene issue, it's having really sensitive skin and drying out.
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"You should shower every day." -- your coworkers7
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"You should shower every day." -- your coworkers4
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