7 Reasons to Stop Taking Hot Showers

Are hot showers good for you?

What’s the deal with stepping into the shower
every morning and jacking the temperature
up?
We shower in hot water because it feels good,
right? We shower in hot water because we live
in a time where it’s easy accessible, and we
don’t have to pummel ourselves with freezing
cold water like cave men.
However, whether or not hot showers are
good for our body is a different question
altogether. We recently wrote an article that
highlights the benefits of cold showers; and
now we’re looking at the flip-side of the
argument.

If cold showers are so good for us, that must
make us question the pros and cons of hot
showers. Is comfort the only thing hot
showers have going for them, or is there more
to it than that?
This article outlines all the reasons why you
should stop taking hot showers every morning,
and maybe switch to cold showers or
something in-between.

1. They’ll Damage Your Skin
Cells
Whilst your skin consists of 3 separate layers,
hot showers affect the very most outer layer
of your skin, the epidermis. Taking hot
showers often damages your keratin cells,
which are the cells that make up this layer of
the skin.
They exist to keep the moisture inside your
skin, but exposure to heat can often damage
the epidermis, and worsen the condition of
your skin.
2. They’ll Cause Dry Skin
For the same reason in which hot showers
damage your skin; the layer of the skin
responsible for keeping the moisture inside
your skin is damaged. Which ends up leaving
you with dry, cracked, rough skin.
Hot water strips oils from the skin faster than
warm water. Long showers can actually dry
out your skin. Limit yourself to a single 5-10
minute warm shower a day, or take cold
showers and improve the condition of your
skin!
3. They’re Bad for Fertility/
Testes Health
Studies have shown that men who regularly
take hot showers and baths are at higher risk
of infertility. One particular study showed that
when men with fertility problems stopped
taking baths, 5 out of 11 noticed a dramatic
increase in sperm count.
Overheating your testes can be very bad for
your sperm count and overall fertility. Actually,
taking ice cold showers/baths can benefit
fertility significantly.
Sperm are known to develop best within a
cool environment, which is why the difference
between taking hot showers and taking cold
showers, can make a huge difference to sperm
health.
4. They Might Damage Your
Hair Cuticles
Those keratin cells we were talking about
earlier?
They’re also responsible for protecting your
hair. Hot water damages those cells, and can
damage your hair cuticles. Which essentially
means worse looking hair, and even hair loss if
taken to a certain extent!
Most people don’t wash their hair in hot
enough water to damage their scalp and cause
their hair follicles to weaken. However,
sometimes people do, and this could
potentially make your hair thinner down the
line.
5. They Often Aggravate
Acne
From what you’ve read above, you would have
probably thought that hot showers might
actually help acne. Since they dry your skin
out a little, it could have potentially stopped
your pores from containing so much oily
bacteria.
Well, the opposite is actually true. Warm water
is a yes, but hot water is a no. If your showers
are too hot, this can often aggravate acne and
cause it to spread!
6. Hot Showers Are too
Comfortable
Other than dangers to your physical health,
one of the main reasons to stop taking hot
showers, is simply because they are too
comfortable.
You’ve landed on this page because you want
to become better, whether you know it yet or
not. Hot showers are too comfortable, and if
you get used to this comfort, it’ll be tougher
for you to go after your goals.
Much like the reasons to stop watching
television, or stop eating sugar ; these are all
addictions. And when you rely on an easy
addiction that keeps you comfortable, you’ll
find it much harder to live to your fullest
potential.
Your success starts with your daily routine,
and if your routine is full of habits that are
easy, and don’t benefit you in any way, you
have a problem.
7. You’re Productivity Might
Be Suffering
Here’s the thing, you love to take hot showers
right?
And when you love to do something, you want
to do more of it. Which means that your time
spent in the shower increases. Instead of
having a 2 minute cold shower, you’re having a
15 minute hot shower.
13 minutes, gone… just like that. Now imagine
if you’re doing this for more than just one
activity throughout the day. How many
minutes are you really wasting here?
You’d be surprised at how much time you can
claw back from taking the hard way.