Do I really need to shower/bath EVERY day??

Sarahsaver

I went to glastonbury in 1990 and got mud on me then got a suntan I was speckled when the mud came off. I was there a whole week!
Now If i am going to the gym or yoga i have as shower there, and at home we have 2 showers, one electric and one comes off the existing hot water in the tank. I dont know which is more power efficient. We are not on a meter for water. I have to wash my hair every day and it's waist length so getting int he shower is the easiest option, rather than doing my back in bending over.

brigittejohn

In my modest opinion, this is what daily or more frequent showering causes.
All protective oils are removed. Replacing it with various body lotions can never be the same: actually, the chemicals in those may cause more problems (thrush, etc...).

The simplest way to avoid dry flaky skin, (and for many women, thrush problems) is to stop excessive, in my view obsessive, showering.

Try it!
Is your mind open or closed...

[Deleted User]

The reason for washing/showering is to remove yeasts and bacteria from skin. If skin is clean then bacteria is less likely to enter the body to cause illness

I would not like anyone who has not washed properly, with soap, to handle my food, or even to shake my hand.

Yuk!!!

krishna

kittie wrote:

The reason for washing/showering is to remove yeasts and bacteria from skin. If skin is clean then bacteria is less likely to enter the body to cause illness

I would not like anyone who has not washed properly, with soap, to handle my food, or even to shake my hand.

Yuk!!!

WRONG!! Millions of bacteria live on our skin and in our bodies. We need them to maintain good health. They prevent other more nasty bacteria from gaining a foothold and prevent fungal infections. Internally they are also essential for full digestion of food.

Bacteria also provide us with vitamin B12, riboflavin, and vitamin C.

Do you eat yogurt or cheese. How do you think these are produced? Bacteria of course.

I could go on, but hopefully you get the picture.

jackieb

kittie wrote:

I would not like anyone who has not washed properly, with soap, to handle my food, or even to shake my hand.

Yuk!!!

I do wash my hands regularly throughout the day. Just because I don't shower everyday it doesn't make me dirty. I do top and tail inbetween showers. I'm quite methodical about handwashing after visiting the loo and before and after handling food.

[Deleted User]

I am afraid that we don`t live in isolation. Very unfriendly bacteria also live on the skin eg MRSA. It only needs to find a cut to enter another persons body, bacteria can also enter via the mouth and eyes.

You are teaching granny to suck eggs here re gut bacteria, however I am sure that the public in general don`t wish to share each other`s `good` bacteria

Washing with water alone just will not do. This is how soap cleans http://chemistry.about.com/library/weekly/aa081301a.htm

For those that need more moisturisation, I suggest taking in the correct combination of omega 3 and 6 on a daily basis

Showers or all over body wash, both are good with soap, except that showers provide a final rinse in clean water

krishna

MRSA is primarily a problem in certain settings. Usually hospitals, but could also be a problem for others in a week state (?care homes?). It is not a problem for the general public. In hospitals, of course you should scrub/use antimicrobial handrub etc before entering and after leaving wards. In day to day life we can't separate ourselves off from bacteria.

Staphylococcus aureus is commensal on our skin. That doesn't make it MRSA. Actually, on our skin it serves a function. If you have a cut, cover it when you are out and about; you don't need to touch someone to come into contact with microbes.

Washing hands with soap? Of course! If you go to the toilet, of course you should wash hands, with soap. Before you eat, of course you should wash hands, with soap. If you have grimey hands or a grimey body, of course use soap. But most people don't need to shower once, twice, three times a day as has been suggested in this thread and likewise don't need to use soap every time.

[Deleted User]

I shower everyday as I can't get in and out of the bath very easily .I have osteo-arthritis and my joints won't bend as they used to.
But thinking back to when I was young back in the 1940-50s it was usually a tin bath in front of the fire every Friday night. I had two older mucky brothers so my Mum always made sure that I had the first water.In those days hot water was obtained by boiling up umpteen kettles and saucepans full. My hair was washed once a week, and it was washed with finely grated Fairy soap. Bottles of shampoo and hair conditioners were almost unheard of .Our teeth were cleaned with salt or a round tin of Dentifrice which looked like a hard pink cake of soap and tasted horrible Friday night was also syrup of figs or castor oil night . All children seemed to have gone through this ritual where I lived and we never thought to ask why.I suppose because there was so few oranges around it was a way of making sure that you 'went' as Mums used to say.
It sounds a bit barbaric but it was just the norm in those days. There used to be an advert that went
'Friday night is Amarmi Night' Amarmi was a hair product in those days .

RichyRich

black-saturn wrote:

Similar thing here. If anyone here has ever been to one of those summer festival like Glastonbury or Reading they will know the 'joys' of not bathing for ages and going in stinky wash rooms. Yuk!!

Wash Rooms? You must've been to some posh festivals! All there was at Leeds was a long metal sink near the awful toilets I'm sure.

4 days without a shower is far, far too long

Rich

oldtractor

Hands up, I admit, I dont shower every day. infact I dont like showers at all. I prefer a bath. I bath and wash my hair once a week, like in the old days, Anyone else do this?