If your body craves a hot shower in the morning, you’re not alone. Most people crank the knob up to feel the rush of warm water in the morning. But did you know that cold showers should also have a place in your routine? That’s right—cold showers. That’s the kind of thing you hate to do when you’re the last person up in the morning. But if you give them a fair chance, you might find that you like the way they feel after a cold shower. No matter how you feel about either type of shower, research shows that both hot and cold showers have health benefits that you should know about.
How is taking a warm shower good for your health?
1. Helps relieve cold and respiratory symptoms. Standing in a warm shower, allowing the steam to envelop your body, is a long-standing natural way to relieve cold and cough symptoms. The heat from the water and steam can help:
- Open the airway: Helps to make breathing easier.
- Makes phlegm easier to clear: Helps relieve nasal congestion.
- Helps cleanse the nasal cavity: Helps reduce nasal congestion.
2. Helps reduce acne problems. Taking a warm shower can help open the pores, allowing dirt and oil to come out.
3. Helps to relax. Soaking in warm water helps to relieve muscle tension and reduce fatigue very well. The study found that those who took a warm bath felt less stressed, less aches and pains, and had better mental health.
Taking hot showers can be harmful to your skin.
- Dry skin: Dr. Jacqueline Shaffer says hot water damages the keratin cells in the epidermis, the outermost layer of the ufabet https://ufabet999.app skin. This damage causes the skin to dry out and prevents it from retaining moisture.
- May worsen certain skin conditions: Higher temperatures cause the skin to become drier and can worsen skin conditions such as psoriasis.
- It can cause itching: Heat can trigger mast cells (which contain histamine) to release chemicals into the skin, causing itching, says Dr. Adam Friedman.
- May increase blood pressure: If you have high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease, taking a hot shower can make these conditions worse.
How is taking a cold shower good for your health?
Helps relieve itching. If you have itchy skin or an allergy that causes itching, taking a cold shower may help you resist the urge to scratch, says Dr. Adam Friedman.
Helps you wake up in the morning When the cold water hits your body, you may feel a slight jolt, which helps increase:
Improves circulation. Taking a cold shower is one way to improve circulation. When cold water comes into contact with your skin and external organs, it causes the blood vessels on your skin to constrict. This allows the blood to circulate faster in your deeper tissues and helps you maintain a proper body temperature. In that sense, cold showers have the opposite effect of hot showers for people with high blood pressure or cardiovascular disease. This is because exposure to cold temperatures stimulates the circulatory system to reduce inflammation and can help prevent cardiovascular disease.
Helps reduce muscle soreness after strenuous exercise. A 2023 study found that exposure to cold water can help reduce muscle soreness and fatigue after strenuous exercise.
Helps accelerate weight loss. Some research supports that taking cold showers may help with weight loss by helping the body burn fat more efficiently and improving insulin sensitivity.
Helps Skin and Hair Look Healthy Although scientific research on the effects of cold water on skin and hair is limited, anecdotal evidence suggests that cold showers can be beneficial. According to health expert Dr. Jacqueline Shaffer, cold water helps constrict and tighten blood vessels, which gives skin a brighter, healthier look.
Unlike hot water, cold water does not dry out the sebum, a natural protective layer of fat that your skin and hair produces, keeping your skin and hair healthier in the long run.
Cold showers may not be appropriate in some cases.
- When you’re already cold: If you’re already cold, taking a cold shower will make your body even colder. It may make you shiver and take longer to warm up.
- While you’re sick: Taking a cold shower while your body is weakened by an illness can affect your immune system, so be careful and lower your temperature gradually.
- If you don’t like cold water: Since research on the benefits of cold showers is limited, if you don’t like the cold sensation of water, forcing yourself to suffer through cold showers may not be worth it.
Which one is better?
Both hot and cold showers have benefits, so which one should you choose?
Ideally, Dr. Friedman says, you should take a moderately warm shower and apply lotion to damp skin afterward.
Another method to try is alternating hot and cold showers, which Keiferstein explains is an ancient technique developed by Dr. Sebastian Knipp. Set the water temperature to the coldest you can tolerate and then take a cold shower for 1 minute. After 1 minute, switch to the hottest you can tolerate for another minute. Alternate between cold and hot water for 1 minute for 3 to 5 cycles.
Keferstein says the health benefits come from the fact that cold water constricts blood vessels, meaning all the blood flows to the center of the body. Hot water dilates the blood vessels, so your body can pump blood more efficiently through your muscles and organs.