Both cold and hot showers have pros and cons for your health. You may want to go for cold showers to prevent dry skin. But hot showers are primed to deliver better outcomes to ensure muscle relaxation.
What works better for me, hot showers or cold showers?
In the morning, you are likely to have a yearning for a hot shower. There’s nothing unique about that, most people have this yearning.
However, it is possible to make room for cold showers as well in your routine. Irrespective of your preferences, it is best to be aware of the benefits that cold and hot showers have on our being. Let us first start with cold showers.
Benefits of cold showers
1. Calm itchy skin
For anyone with conditions that make him itch or itchy skin, cold showers work like nothing else to promote peace and calmness. The urge to scratch is overcome.
2. Help wake up
When your body comes in contact with cold water in the morning, oxygen intake enhances besides alertness and heart rate.
3. Increase circulation
One of the most important reasons why experts recommend cold showers is that it enhances circulation. Upon the contact of cold water with external limbs and the body, blood vessels are constricted right to the surface. So, in the deeper tissues, blood circulates quicker. Ideal body temperature becomes easier to maintain.
There are ways in which a cold shower affects a body in the exact opposite way as a hot shower would. This becomes more so the case if one is afflicted by cardiovascular conditions such as hypertension.
When exposed to colder temperatures, the circulatory system reduces inflammation, so cardiovascular diseases can be prevented.
4. After intense workouts, cold showers minimize muscle soreness
Besides, they also help overcome the associated fatigue involved.
5. Cold showers are known to promote weight loss
By taking cold showers, one improves insulin resistance and puts the body in a better position to burn fat.
6. A healthy glow for the hair and skin
By constricting and tightening blood flow, cold water renders a healthier glow for the skin. Besides, the sebum layer is a naturally lubricated barrier that safeguards your hair and skin. If you bathe using cold water, you prevent the sebum layer from drying out. Over time, this keeps your hair and skin healthier.
Cold showers have some cons as well
- If you are already cold, going for a cold shower might not be a great idea. This will cool your body further and increase the time taken to warm up.
- Similarly, when you are not keeping well, you may want to avoid cold showers altogether to make sure that the activity is not too hard on your immune system.
What makes hot showers fascinating?
If insomnia or any general sleeping troubles intrigue you, or if you face difficulties sleeping upon retiring for the night, taking a hot shower is the best way to overcome the daily work stress.
Many people prefer taking hot showers before they sleep at night as this relaxes their muscles. Hot showers activate the parasympathetic nervous system, which makes us tired.
Top benefits promoted by hot showers
1. Relieve respiratory and cold symptoms
When you stand in a hot shower as the steam surrounds you, it is one of the traditional remedies the overcome cough and cold symptoms. It not only opens airways but also loosens up phlegm and clears out nasal passages.
2. Ease blemishes
When hot showers open skin pores, it is one of the best ways to release the trapped oil and dirt.
3. Promote relaxation
Spending some time in hot water is one of the best ways to overcome body tension as muscle fatigue soothes. People frequently define this as a stress-releasing and pain-relieving activity that accounts for superior mental and emotional health.
Cons of hot showers
- It is possible for hot showers to irritate or dry out the skin. This happens because hot water could damage keratin cells on the epidermis, which is also the skin’s outermost layer. With the disruption of these cells, the skin becomes dry, and becomes difficult for cells to lock moisture.
- There are cases wherein hot showers worsen skin conditions. It becomes easier for the skin to dry out when exposed to higher temperatures, which in turn boosts the odds of contracting eczema.
- Hot showers are also known to make people itchy in some cases.
So, how does one decide between a hot shower and a cold shower?
It is best to take the middle path and go for lukewarm showers which are primed to deliver the best outcomes under all circumstances. Then, after you are through with your bath, apply moisturizer to damp skin.
Conclusion:
Overall, when deciding between hot and cold showers, your preferences are paramount, besides the weather. You should also consider your lifestyle and health conditions.
