Should you shower every day or skip a day here are there?
About two-thirds of American adults take a shower every day. Australians shower a bit more often, and Asians shower a bit less. There is no right frequency that fits everyone, but for most people, one shower per day is about right. The reason for a daily shower is to rinse away the allergens, irritants, bacteria, and viruses that accumulate on your skin over a day. If you have normal skin, you can wash your whole body in the shower. If you have sensitive skin, you should shower but use a gentle soap only on your underarms and groin areas.
Some people have oilier skin and produce more sweat. For those people, once a day may be more important. Activity level is another important factor. If you are working or exercising outside, you may need a shower afterwards. There may even be days when you need more than one shower but remember that you can overdo showering and wash away natural skin moisturizers, resulting in dry and itchy skin.
You don’t have to wash your hair every time you take a shower. How often to wash your hair depends on your hair length and ethnicity. Every other day is about right for most people, but for African Americans, once every two weeks may be enough because washing too often can make hair dry and brittle.
The oil in your hair comes from oil glands in your scalp. As you get older, you make less oil, so you may need to wash less. Length of hair is also a factor. People with long hair may have an oily scalp but dry ends, so it is important to shampoo the scalp every other day and use conditioner on the ends. You may be washing your hair too much if your hair is dry and brittle. Men with shorter hair can wash every day and don’t always need to use a conditioner.
A shower should not take more than five minutes. The water should not be too hot. It is not better to take a shower in the morning or at night. Both are fine. Not showering enough can cause problems including body odor, skin infections like acne, and flare ups of eczema or dandruff. You would think that eczema and dandruff are caused by dry hair, but yeast lives in oil glands of the hair on your scalp and body. Too much yeast from not showering can cause these conditions.
You may have heard that showering every day can be bad for your skin. Some theories are that washing away too much of your skin’s bacteria can upset the balance of healthy and harmful skin bacteria, called your skin microbiome. Another theory is that you can weaken your body’s immune system by showering too much. This should not be a problem unless you use too much soap, or you use an antibacterial soap.
The most obvious problem from not showering enough is body odor. Body odor is not unhealthy by itself, but most people will want to shower frequently enough to avoid it. There are also some health problems that can occur from infrequent showering. Natural oils in your skin can build up and increase your risk for acne. Yeast that lives in your hair glands can build up and cause dandruff or eczema. Eczema is dry, red, and itchy skin patches. If you have a history of eczema, you may need to shower every day to get rid of the bacteria and allergens that trigger an eczema flare.
Fragrance in soaps can pull moisture from your skin. Use shower products that are fragrance-free and labeled for sensitive skin. A good ingredient to look for is ceramide. Ceramides are natural skin moisteners found in hydrating skin cleansers. Use a fragrance-free moisturizer after your shower. Pat your skin dry quickly and put on the moisturizer within three minutes. Finally, remember that your skin needs may change with the seasons. Your skin is likely to be dryer in the winter and moister and oilier in the summer.
