5 Essential Bathing Rules to Follow Every Winter

If there’s any morning ritual that can freshen you up and get you ready to go about your day, it’s bathing. Bathing is an essential personal hygiene ritual that’s performed daily in most parts of the world, including in India. Studies suggest that bathing has many health benefits to impart apart from the obvious cleanliness it promotes.

According to a 2018 study published in Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, people who bathe with hot water every day tend to have good health status, are more likely to be stress-free, get more rest, sleep better and are happier. Many studies also show that bathing with hot water can help you control body weight, body mass index and waist circumference better.

But while bathing has so many benefits, many people tend not to bathe as often during the winter season. This practice can be both unhygienic and harmful for your health, so it’s best to stick with healthy bathing practices even during the colder months. The following are some essential bathing tips you absolutely need during winters.

1. Bathe every day

Even if it’s too cold or you feel lazy, bathe every day with hot water. Bathing with hot water has a hyperthermic effect on your body, which means it heats up your body. Isn’t that just what you need during winters? Studies suggest that this hyperthermic effect is especially important for heart health during winters because cold weather can slow down your heart rate. But simply because you must bathe every day during winters doesn’t mean you should overbathe, as that can make your skin dry and cause a cold too. Take 10 minutes to bathe at max.

2. The right temperature

There’s hot water and then there’s scalding hot water and the difference between the two matters a lot. Your skin has a natural microbiota and pH levels maintained by healthy microbes. Bathing in scalding hot water can destroy these healthy microbes, dry your skin, cause itching and rashes and even crack your skin. So, bathe with lukewarm water or slightly warm water only.

3. Be gentle

Your skin is likely to be dry and sensitive anyways during winters, so don’t make it worse by scrubbing too hard with a loofah while bathing. Even drying your skin with too much force can hurt it or cause excessive dryness. Winter is when your skin needs all the tender love and care it can get, so be gentle.

4. Moisturize

Nothing is perhaps as important during winters as moisturizing. Get a good moisturizer and make sure you apply it generously all over your body as soon as you dry off. Many people choose to apply glycerine during winters, which can also help lock the moisture in your skin. You can also apply herbal or natural moisturizers like ghee, olive oil, coconut oil, etc on your skin to moisturize it.

5. Clean up

No matter what the weather, cleaning the things that help you stay clean is very important to avoid infections. Cleaning your bathroom, especially the showerheads, taps and drains regularly is vital. What’s more, you should also keep your soap cases and bathroom shelves clean too. Most important of all is to keep the things that come in regular and direct contact with your skin clean. This means cleaning or replacing your loofah and regularly washing your towels and drying them out properly to avoid any fungus growth.

For more information, read our article on Is it better to bathe with hot or cold water?

Health articles on News18 are written by myUpchar.com, India’s first and biggest resource for verified medical information. At myUpchar, researchers and journalists work with doctors to bring you information on all things health.