How often should you wash it? Reminder: Rubbing these 3 parts more in the bath may save a lot of medical expenses

How often do you take a shower? Which parts do you pay more attention to when you take a shower?

In April this year, in an interview with the media, German Deputy Chancellor Robert Habeck called on everyone to reduce the frequency of bathing in order to save energy, and focus on cleaning the armpits, buttocks, groin and feet when bathing.

In addition, some media also quoted a dermatologist's statement when reporting, saying that " reducing bathing is not unsanitary, and it is even good for the skin. " Does that mean that the more times you take a shower, the worse it is?

1. Is taking a bath every day harmful to the body?

Generally speaking, everyone basically takes a bath once a day. Will taking a bath every day be harmful to the body?

In fact, bathing and washing are mainly metabolites on the body surface, excessive secretion of sebum, sweat, pollutants (such as dust, mud and haze, etc.), as well as various bacteria, viruses and fungi.

Is taking a shower every day really good for your skin? It depends on normal needs or excessive cleaning .

If the body surface is already dirty, it is necessary to clean it every day. However, if there is not so much dirt on the body surface, and you just take a bath for "bathing", you may over-clean and destroy the balance of the skin's flora.

For example, dry skin insists on bathing every day, it may make the skin more dry and sensitive . Therefore, it is necessary to grasp the correct frequency of bathing to benefit the skin health.

How often should you take a shower? This needs to vary from person to person and from situation to situation.

• elder

Because the body's metabolic activity is relatively low, the skin is relatively dry, and the frequency of bathing is not recommended. In summer, it is recommended to be once a day or every other day, and in winter, it is recommended to be once every 3-5 days.

• Child

For infants and toddlers, bathing too often can destroy the sebum on their skin's surface, causing their skin to dry out.

According to the recommendations of the "China Skin Cleaning Guidelines", it is recommended that infants (under 1 year old) take a bath twice a week before learning to crawl, and at most once every other day. If the weather is hot or the infants and young children are more active, the frequency of bathing can be appropriately increased.

• skin disease patients

For patients with dry skin or skin diseases such as hypolipidemia, pruritus, etc., the frequency of bathing should be appropriately reduced. At the same time, use relatively mild and moisturizing cleaning products, and apply a moisturizing agent after bathing to improve the problem of dry skin.

For patients with psoriasis, it is recommended to increase the number of baths appropriately, which will help soften and remove scales, and at the same time promote the absorption of topical drugs by the skin.

For healthy, normal young people, taking a bath once a day is not a big problem.

It should be noted that bathing is also in the correct order, washing face - washing body - washing hair , why?

Turning on the hot water when taking a bath will generate a lot of hot steam, and the pores will expand and contract, and the pores will open quickly when exposed to heat. Will take the opportunity to sneak into the pores . After the body is used to it, you can continue to wash the torso.

The last step in the bath is to wash your hair.

In this way, it can not only avoid the poor blood circulation of the brain caused by alternating hot and cold stimulation, and reduce the risk of cerebrovascular diseases, at the same time, the scalp and hair can be fully moisturized by steam after a period of hot water rinsing, which is more beneficial to the scalp cleaning and care for the health of the scalp.

2. What is the "mud" rubbed out in the bath?

In addition to the shed old keratinocytes on the skin surface, there are sebum secreted by sebaceous glands, sweat secreted by sweat glands, and dust attached to the skin surface. These substances will mix together and adhere to the skin to form fouling.

When the dirt accumulates to a certain extent, it is easy to rub off in the bath, which is the so-called "dead skin". Therefore, the "mud" rubbed off in the bath is mainly composed of dander, sebum, sweat and dust .

Why is there still "mud" in the shower every day?

This is because the skin is constantly undergoing metabolism, and will constantly produce dandruff and skin metabolic secretions . Even if you take a shower every day to wash off the dirt on your skin, the next day will still have new and old keratinocytes replaced.

Therefore, it is a normal physiological phenomenon to rub out "mud" when taking a bath.

It is recommended that when you take a bath, you may wish to rub the following parts more.

1. Underarm

There are more sweat glands distributed under the armpit, and there are more folds, so it is easy to hide dirt.

When taking a bath, remember to lift your arm, and then use your other hand to massage your armpits, in a circular motion with moderate intensity.

2. Groin

Thick skin folds in the groin, especially in obese people, are prone to accumulation of dirt . When taking a bath, it is recommended to gently rub the groin with the pulp of your fingers, from left to right, from top to bottom, and then rinse with warm water.

3. Private parts

Both the urethra and the anus are located in the perineum. If the bath is not clean, it will not only emit a foul odor, but may also bring harmful bacteria and pathogens into the vagina during sex, which will cause inflammation.

It is recommended that when cleaning the private parts, you should wash your hands first, then wash the private parts with your hands from front to back, and finally wash the anus and perianal area.

3. Take a shower in the morning vs. take a shower at night, which is better?

Scientifically speaking, the bath time does not have to be at a certain time, it mainly depends on the effect you want to achieve by bathing. For example, taking a shower in the morning can eliminate the drowsiness after waking up and make people feel refreshed.

It should be noted that the following 3 times are not recommended for bathing.

After drinking : After drinking alcohol, alcohol can inhibit the function and activity of the liver, causing the glycogen to not be released properly. When people take a bath, they will increase the consumption of glucose. At this time, if the blood sugar cannot be replenished in time, it is easy to experience symptoms such as dizziness, dizziness, physical weakness, and in severe cases, it can lead to hypoglycemia coma.

After meals : After meals, blood in the body pools in the digestive system to aid in the digestion of food. If you take a bath at this time, it will dilate the surrounding blood vessels, which will reduce the blood circulation of the digestive system and easily cause indigestion.

After strenuous exercise: If you take a hot bath immediately, it will cause rapid expansion of blood vessels, causing insufficient blood supply to the brain, making it easy to faint while bathing. And if you take a cold shower immediately after strenuous exercise, the change in the temperature difference of the body can easily cause a cold, and it will also cause the blood vessels to rapidly contract, increase the resistance of blood circulation, and easily lead to sudden death.

Sleep Medicine Reviews found that the "best time" to shower is around 90 minutes before bed .

Researchers analyzed more than 5,000 studies on the effect of body temperature on sleep quality and found that taking a 10-15 minute shower or bath in warm water (about 41°C) 1-2 hours before bedtime can help people fall asleep faster and improve sleep quality. Sleep quality.

Our body temperature naturally begins to drop according to the circadian rhythm 1-2 hours before bedtime. Taking a warm bath during this time can enhance the natural biological process of inducing sleep, thereby improving the latency to fall asleep and sleep. quality.

There is a certain emphasis on bathing. The time and frequency of bathing need to be different from person to person.

If you take a bath at the wrong time, the wrong state, the wrong water temperature, or the wrong method and order of bathing, it is likely to damage your health and even wash out diseases.

References:

[1] The more "mud" rubbed off in the bath, the cleaner the washing? It turns out that it has been wrong all these years. Popular science China. 2019-07-25

[2] It is also necessary to "pick" the right time to take a bath: 3 times it is best not to take a bath. Life Times. 2020-09-14

[3]Shahab Haghayegh， Sepideh Khoshnevis， Michael H. Smolensky， Kenneth R. Diller， Richard J. Castriotta. Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep： A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine Reviews， 2019; 46： 124 DOI： 10.1016/j.smrv.2019.04.008

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