There are two kinds of people in this world:
Those who shower on a daily basis – sometimes more – and who enjoy the squeaky clean feeling right after a good rub-a-dub-dub…
And those who avoid showers like the plague…
If you belong to the shower-avoiding category of people, then you’re not alone! Guess who’s a notorious dry shampoo user? Hint: he’s British, and pretty cute.
No not him… another Harry.
Yes, Prince Harry once admitted that he hasn’t washed his hair in two years!
And in other news… one family conducted an experiment where they took baths without using soap/shampoo for six months. The results? No body odor, less acne, and a reported “significant reduction in groin smell”. The savings must have been pretty nice too.
So let’s settle this once and for all… how often do we really need to shower?
The answer: not as often as you think.
Two dermatologists say that most Americans shower way more than necessary. According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, how frequently we shower and what we perceive as body odor is “really more of a cultural phenomenon.”
Boston dermatologist Dr. Ranella Hirsch agrees wholeheartedly. “We overbathe in this country and that’s really important to realize. A lot of the reason we do it is because of societal norms.”
“We don’t need to wash the way we did when we were farmers,” said Katherine Ashenburg, 65, the author of “The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History.” Since the advent of cars and labor-saving machines, she continued, “we have never needed to wash less, and we have never done it more.”
Dr. Sanjay Jain, an MD and author of Optimal Living 360, said, “There’s no cookie-cutter thinking or hard-and-fast rule … when it comes to showering,” he said. But to be specific, showers don’t need to be too hot, or too long, and you should always pat dry, rather than rub, to avoid irritating your skin.
But here’s the thing: Frequent showering may actually be doing more harm than good. Zeichner and Hirsch say that showering too often (particularly in hot water) can dry out and irritate skin, wash away the good bacteria that naturally exists on your skin, and introduce small cracks that put you at a higher risk of infection.
They also both say that parents should not bathe babies and toddlers daily, and that early exposure to dirt and bacteria may make the skin less sensitive as you age, and prevent allergies and conditions like eczema.
And are the water-only showerers risking their health by doing the shortcut method?
Interestingly, no they don’t. Of course, as long as critical hygiene is adhered to. “Most of the body is covered in clothing, so there’s not a lot of direct contact with the environment,” Dr. Jain said. “We wash our hands more frequently than the body because of all that contact – we touch food, we touch our keyboard, we touch so many surfaces with bacteria and viruses on them.”
Dr. Jain mentioned that when it comes to the notion that we need to use soap and shampoo in showers or baths every day, consider who is delivering the message.
“If you wash your hair every day and shower every day, you’ll use up that bottle more quickly,” he said.
Some of us may be too busy, too lazy, or just simply want to ‘stick it to the man’ and only shower a few times a week. But rather than going cold turkey, you can just clean the grossest parts of your body with a soapy washcloth or cleansing towelette to remove odor-causing bacteria on non-shower days.
As if we need a definition, Zeichner says the grossest parts of your body are “face, underarms, under the breasts, genitals, and rear end.”
The verdict? It’s a personal choice, but you might want to keep a set of wet wipes handy.