The Benefits Of Hot And Cold Showers

Do you like to take a cold or a hot shower? A shower heater is considered a must item to have in every household which will come in handy during the winter. Back in the day, our ancestors would boil the water first and pour them into a barrel or tub to fill them before taking a bath.

We all can agree that taking a hot shower in the morning is a relieving sensation. However, does this mean that taking a cold shower is not beneficial for us?

The fact is that both of them bring benefits to us overall and here we would like to share with you the distinct benefits of taking cold and hot showers.

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Benefits of Cold Showers

1. Improve Blood Flow

Exposure to cold water will make our blood vessels constrict and become less visible on our skin. This will divert the blood vessels far apart from our skin.

This will also help in repairing blood circulation in the deeper tissues. One research that was conducted in 2019 shows that taking cold showers after an exercise will help increase overall hydration by cooling the body.

However, further research might be needed to prove this matter.

2. Reduce Cortisol Levels

Cortisol is a hormone that is released when our body responds to stress. Reducing the cortisol levels in the blood will help reduce the stress level of the body.

Researchers believed that when someone takes a cold shower, their cortisol level will decrease and ultimately reducing the person's stress level.

3. Ease The Pain

Based on a review that was done in 2014, exposure to cold water will initiate an automatic pain response known as stress-induced analgesia(SIA).

SIA is a type of automatic pain response that occurred after exposure to stress such as taking a cold shower.

Drawbacks Of Cold Showers

Taking cold showers might not be a good choice especially if you are living in a cold environment. This is because taking a cold shower will make your body even colder and make it hard for you to warm back your body to normal temperature.
If you fell ill, taking a cold shower will be unsuitable for you. The cold temperature will make it hard for your body's immune system to fight off infection.
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Benefits of Hot Showers

1. Increase Cardiovascular Health

One research in 2014 showed that hot showers can help improve blood flow for those who have chronic heart failure. This is because of the vasodilation of the blood vessels that occur when exposed to high temperature.

Aside from that, research also showed that individuals who dip their legs in warm water for at least 30 minutes will show less stiffness in their arteries. Those who did not take warm showers did not experience such an effect.

2. Repairs The Muscle and Joint Health

Organization like National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends that an individual take warm shower before going to bed to improve their sleep quality.

Warm water is capable of improving your sleep due to the combination of how our body relaxes during the shower and the reduction of body temperature after the shower.

3. Relieves Our Breathing and Flu Symptoms

Taking a hot shower with all the hot steam in the air is considered one natural remedy to reduce our flu symptoms and also cough.

The hot temperature from the shower and steam will help us to:

Open our airways
Ease the phlegm to be removed
Clean our nasal pathway

4. Improve The Brain's Health

A study in 2018 investigated the effects of how water on the neurotrophic factor that originated from the brain(BDNF).

BDNF is a type of protein that consists of several functions in the brain and nervous system which include:

Encouraging the formation of nerve cells.
Promote the development and maturing of nerve cells.
Promote learning and also memory.

In that study, one group of participants was in hot water at the temperature of 42 °C(107.6 °F). Another group had to use water at 35 °C(95 °F). Both these groups took the shower for 20 minutes.

The result is that the group that took the hot shower had a higher BDNF level compared to the group that took the cold shower.

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Cons Of Taking Hot Showers

With all the benefits of taking hot showers, there are some disadvantages of being in hot water.

A hot shower can cause the skin to become dry and even irritated. Hot water destroys the keratin cells that layer the outermost part of our skin, the epidermis. When these cells are compromised, our skin will become dryer and will prevent the cells from absorbing moisture.
The condition of the skin will become much worse making it look similar to eczema.
Taking a hot shower can also cause itchiness as the hot temperature cause the mast cells to release histamine which is responsible for the redness and itchiness.
Increase our blood pressure. If you have hypertension or cardiovascular issues, then taking a hot shower will only make things worst. That is if it is too long!

What Is Your Choice?

Both types of showers whether it is hot or cold will have their own benefits and drawbacks to our health. It all depends on your situation which can make certain conditions much better or worst.

The key is always moderation and tries not to take a hot shower too frequently as this can cause damage to your skin in the long term.

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