Skipping Showers Might Make You Stink, But It's Better For Your Health | HuffPost Life

This Is How Often You Should Be Showering...

Natasha Hinde— The Huffington Post UK

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If you love nothing more than having a shower - or five - on a daily basis then you could be putting your health at risk.

Following on from our previous article about the average Brit not washing for three months of the year, there is now evidence to suggest that this might actually be the best thing for your skin.

Dermatologists from New York have suggested that showering regularly - especially in hot water - could dry out skin. They added that it can also cause irritation and wash away any good bacteria that naturally exists on the skin resulting in a higher risk of infection.

While the act of showering is as etched into our daily routines as, say, brushing your teeth, specialists have said that we're "overbathing" due to "societal norms". In essence, everyone else is showering too much - and because of that you are too.

After all, nobody wants to be known as the "riffy one".

Dr. Joshua Zeichner, assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, told BuzzFeed that what we perceive as body odor is “really more of a cultural phenomenon.”

John Oxford, Professor of Virology at Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry told The Times: "A vigorous daily shower would disturb the natural bug flora of the skin as well as skin oils."

SEE ALSO:
Soap-Dodging Brits Go Three Months Of The Year Without Washing
REVEALED: Most Irritating (And Slightly Grim) Bad Bathroom Etiquette
How to Clean Your Face, Yes Really, You're Doing It Wrong

"As long as people wash their hands often enough and pay attention to the area of the body below the belt, showering or bathing every other day would do no harm," said Oxford.

"Even twice a week would not be a problem if people used a bidet daily as most infectious bugs hang around our lower halves. We pay too much attention to the body beautiful and smelling good - we should wash to stop cross-infection, not for grooming reasons."

And this theory applies to children too. Dermatologists suggest not to bathe babies and toddlers every day as early exposure to dirt and bacteria might help prevent allergies and eczema as they age.

Things You Didn't Know About Skin

You have A LOT of skin.(01 of12)

Your skin is your body's largest organ, with a surface area of approximately 22 square feet. (The second-largest organ in the body is the liver.) (credit:Gettystock)

Not all the skin on your body is of the same thickness.(02 of12)

The eyelids, for instance, have the thinnest skin -- at 0.05 millimeters -- while the palms and soles of the feet have the thickest skin, at 1.5 millimeters. (credit:Gettystock )

Your skin is heavy.(03 of12)

About 16 percent of your overall body weight is from your skin alone. (credit:Gettystock)

Your skin isn't made up of just one layer.(04 of12)

There are three layers of the skin: The epidermis, the dermis and the subcutis. The subcutis is the innermost layer and is made up of fat and collagen cells. The dermis is the middle layer and is responsible for 90 percent of skin's thickness. The epidermis is the outermost layer and serves as a protective barrier between the body and the environment. (credit:Gettystock)

You shed a shocking amount of skin cells every minute.(05 of12)

You lose 30,000 to 40,000 skin cells a minute! (credit:Gettystock)

Your skin helps your body maintain temperature control.(06 of12)

When you are over-heated blood vessels widen so that heat can be released easily through the skin. When your body is cold, the blood vessels in the skin constrict. (credit:Gettystock)

Your skin was a different color when you were born. (07 of12)

Healthy newborn baby skin is actually a deep red or purplish color and hands and feet are a blueish hue. (credit:Gettystock)

Acne is the most common skin condition in the U.S., affecting 40 to 50 million Americans.(08 of12)

More than 85 percent of people will experience it at least once in their lives. (credit:Gettystock)

Scars are caused by damage to the second layer of skin, the dermis.(09 of12)

Scar collagen is different from collagen in normal skin. As such, even when skin cells die and are replaced, scar collagen is not shed. Scar tissue does not grow hair. (credit:Gettystock )

The way you sleep can affect your skin.(10 of12)

Sleeping with your face buried in your pillow can lead to wrinkles. (credit:Gettystock)

Babies' skin is covered with a waxy substance called vernix.(11 of12)

Vernix is a film that protects the fetus's skin in the womb. It usually washes off with the baby's first bath. (credit:Gettystock)

And acne even affects babies (well, kind of).(12 of12)

The acne is not a result of raging baby hormones. Instead, this acne is caused by the mother’s hormones that are still in the baby's blood. (credit:Gettystock)

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