While taking hot showers feels really good, it does have some harmful effects on your health. We all love taking showers with hot water, especially in the winter days. We enjoy staying under the steam as it soothes our body muscles and leaves us relaxed. While hot showers also offer some benefits including relieving stress, clearing nasal congestion, promoting sleep and more, it actually does more harm than good in the long-term effects. Damages skin cells: Hot showers affect the epidermis (the outermost layer of the skin) directly and ruin its texture. The layer is made of keratin cells which get damaged by the hot water. If taken regularly, it finally spoils the overall skin health. Dries out the skin: When you take hot showers, it damages the outermost layer of your skin and strips natural oils as well as moisture from it. Thus, it makes the skin excessively dry and dehydrated. Causes itchy skin: As hot showers make your skin dry; it naturally leads to causing itchiness in the skin. The heat of the water irritates the skin, leaves it inflamed and promotes the release of histamine, all of which ultimately encourage itchy skin. As a result, you start scratching the skin more often. Develops acne: While most people believe that hot showers actually help prevent acne as it dries out the skin, the fact is actually the complete opposite. If you take long showers using too hot water, it causes bacteria to spread, thus aggravates acne and even promotes their outbreaks. Damages hair cuticles: Just like the skin, your hair also gets ruined by hot showers. Your hair contains keratin cells which protect the hair from damage and various other issues. While taking showers with hot water, the heat damages those cells as well as hair cuticles. This worsens the hair quality and leads you to baldness. Causes dry hair: Hot showers possess negative effects to the hair similarly to the skin. It removes all the natural oils from the scalp, leaving it dry and itchy. This further results in causing inflammation on the scalp which leads to baldness. Makes you dizzy: While hot showers make you feel relaxed temporarily, standing there for a long time might cause dizziness in your body. It happens as your blood pressure gets reduced due to the heat of the water. Causes allergy & infection: Hot showers disrupt the natural barriers of your skin. As a result, the skin gets exposed to various chemicals and allergens of the outside world. Therefore, it might lead you to allergies and infections. Taking hot showers regularly can also reduce moisture level of the eyes, worsen skin issues like psoriasis, eczema etc., cause infertility and more. So, try to avoid hot showers, use lukewarm water instead.
