How many times in a week do you shower?

[gravenewworld]

Why do people shower everyday? This is only a recent phenomena. People didn't shower everyday until the 1900s. I cut back from showering everyday to showering every other day and it has made my skin much better. I mean if I sweat or workout, I'll shower afterwords. But why is there such a dumb social stigma about not showering everyday? My one roommate in college would shower almost 15-20 times per week.

 

[turbo]

In the summer, every day. In the winter, every two days, usually. Never longer than two days, though.

 

[leoneri]

My record is one week without shower. And a friend of mine proudly said that he didn't had a shower for 20 days.. (and yes, he has soap, towel, and access to bathroom) LOL.

 

[Noxide]

14 times a week
and no I don't spread them out evenly
I treat my showers like my assignments
14 showers on sunday night

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Usually once a day. Occasionally if I am in a hurry and slept in I will skip on my shower and on my days off when I am just sitting at home by myself I usually don't worry about it much. My skin and hair both tend to get very oily though so I pretty much need a shower every day or I will look like a greasy bum.

 

[Sorry!]

I take one to two showers a day... I wash my hair once every other day though. The days I take two showers I'm probably going out somewhere or I just stand in the water for 30 minutes

 

[humanino]

My mother would shower the cats at least once a week. Some actually liked it. Most of them would eventually get used to it. Maybe once I grow up, I will hate showering.

 

[ideasrule]

Usually once or twice a week. I'm not athletic, so this is more than enough.

For people who play sports on a regular basis, I can't imagine not showering once every day.

 

[Sorry!]

Usually once or twice a week. I'm not athletic, so this is more than enough.

For people who play sports on a regular basis, I can't imagine not showering once every day.

Once or twice a week are you serious? I remember working with people who thought it was normal to shower this often they smelt so bad. It was rediculous.

 

[DaveC426913]

I am not athletic but I shower every day. (OK, while I'm doing reno, I may skip the occasional cleaning-up routine).

I am not sure I'd want to sit around a table with anyone who doesn't shower daily.

 

[mcknia07]

I shower, at least once a day. Sometimes more, depending on what I did that day.

 

[gravenewworld]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no2/larson.htm

Bathing or showering cleans the skin by mechanical removal of bacteria shed on corneocytes. Bacterial counts are at least as high or higher after bathing or showering with a regular soap than before. Frequent bathing has aesthetic and stress-relieving benefits but serves little microbiologic purpose. Mild, nonantimicrobial soap should suffice for routine bathing. Bathing with an antimicrobial product reduces rates of cutaneous infection and could be beneficial when skin infections are likely or before certain surgical procedures. With those exceptions, available data do not support a recommendation for bathing with antimicrobial products.



From the public health perspective, more frequent use of current hygiene practices may not necessarily be better (i.e., perhaps sometimes clean is "too clean"), and the same recommendations cannot be applied to all users or situations. Future investigation is likely to improve understanding of the interaction between skin physiology, microbiology, and ecology and the role of the skin in the transmission of infectious diseases.

 

[DaveC426913]

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol7no2/larson.htm

None of this addresses B.O.

 

[gravenewworld]

None of this addresses B.O.

Put on deodorant.

 

[Noxide]

put on deodorant.

pwned

 

[mcknia07]

pwned

Where's the "like" button when you need it??

 

[jtbell]

I usually shower once a day, or (usually on weekends) take a bath if I have time to soak and read a couple of magazines. In the winter I can get away with skipping one day, but my hair gets greasy. (I sometimes joke that I ought to join OPEC because of my facial and hair oil. ) If I'm going to wash my hair I might as well take a shower.

On days when I don't shower or bathe, I at least use soap and a washcloth on "crucial" areas.

 

[DaveC426913]

Put on deodorant.

Sure. And your socks will last for a few days' wearing if you spray them with Febreze instead of washing em.

I think the only smell worse than B.O. is that of B.O. covered with a slathering of deoderant.

 

[russ_watters]

Winter, once a day, summer, twice a day, typically.

Why do people shower everyday?

*12 hours after you shower, stick your nose into your armit and inhale. You'll know.

This is only a recent phenomena. People didn't shower everyday until the 1900s.

Nor did they live past 30, on average...

But why is there such a dumb social stigma about not showering everyday?

People dislike body odor. I don't consider that dumb. BO is one of the most disgusting odors there is.

Put on deodorant.

*Ok, make that 18 hours. Deodorant is a daily necessity, just like showering, but it doesn't last longer than a day, and it only covers normal body scents - it does nothing for BO itself. BO is the smell of bacteria decomposing your sweat, like a week of standing water in a gutter, or what's growing on that food you left in your sink all week.

 

[gravenewworld]

Winter, once a day, summer, twice a day, typically.
12 hours after you shower, stick your nose into your armit and inhale. You'll know. Nor did they live past 30, on average...
People dislike body odor. I don't consider that dumb. BO is one of the most disgusting odors there is.

Riiiiiiiiight, because discoveries of things like penicillin or the eradication of small pox played no role in increasing the average life expectancy. What does average life expectancy pre-1930s have to do with showering?

If you aren't sweating, BO is controllable with a daily application of deodorant. We aren't talking about going a week without a shower here. Maybe just 1 day.

 

[russ_watters]

Riiiiiiiiight, because discoveries of things like penicillin or the eradication of small pox played no role in increasing the average life expectancy. What's average life expectancy pre-1930s have to do with showering?

The doubling of life expectancy last century had much more to do with hygeine/sanitation than it did medicine.

If you aren't sweating, BO is controllable with a daily application of deodorant.

People do not ever stop sweating.

We aren't talking about going a week without a shower here. Maybe just 1 day.

You said two days in the OP and in any case, implied that even this might be more than necessary with your tone. In the winter, that might be ok, in the summer definitely not. Most people's armpits and feet sweat enough that they smell noticeably in just a few hours.

But the other reason I shower every day is I hate the feeling of being unclean. That sticky feeling stale sweat has on your armpits and feet, the grease from dying sweat on your forhead - it's disgusting.

 

[DaveC426913]

Riiiiiiiiight, because discoveries of things like penicillin or the eradication of small pox played no role in increasing the average life expectancy. What's average life expectancy pre-1930s have to do with showering?

I don't think he was suggesting a direct cause and effect. But there's definitely a correlation between health and hygiene.

If you aren't sweating, BO is controllable with a daily application of deodorant. We aren't talking about going a week without a shower here. Maybe just 1 day.

Everyone sweats several pounds every day. No exceptions.

And yes, it's controllable. And yes maybe here & there. But by habit??

Anyway, I say we just agree to disagree. It's not like you're going to hell over it.

 

[Zubin]

I don't see the big issue with showering daily... If you're efficient you can shower "properly" in just a few minutes. I usually shower in the morning and brush my teeth in the shower while the water washes off all the soap.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

Riiiiiiiiight, because discoveries of things like penicillin or the eradication of small pox played no role in increasing the average life expectancy. What's average life expectancy pre-1930s have to do with showering?

Might have been better to point out that pre 1900s in door plumbing was a luxury that not many people had. The plumbing that they did have was not very reliable and there was also the issue of making sure to have clean water to drink let alone bath in. I think most people from that era would be horrified at the quantity of water the average American puts down the drain taking a shower.

 

[DaveC426913]

I don't see the big issue with showering daily... If you're efficient you can shower "properly" in just a few minutes. I usually shower in the morning and brush my teeth in the shower while the water washes off all the soap.

While i am definitely on the "once a day" thing, there is a down-side to washing too often*; it's just a matter of where the sweet spot is between too little and too much.


*washing too often tends to strip the natural oils from the body and the hair. This will dry out the skin and hyperstimulate the oil glands.

 

[Sorry!]

While i am definitely on the "once a day" thing, there is a down-side to washing too often*; it's just a matter of where the sweet spot is between too little and too much.


*washing too often tends to strip the natural oils from the body and the hair. This will dry out the skin and hyperstimulate the oil glands.

That's why I only wash my hair once every other day.

 

[DaveC426913]

I think most people from that era would be horrified at the quantity of water the average American puts down the drain taking a shower.

Actually, I think most people from this era would be horrified at the quantity of water the average American puts down the drain.


Quick poll: do you shut off the tap while brushing your teeth?

 

[drankin]

Why do people shower everyday? This is only a recent phenomena. People didn't shower everyday until the 1900s. I cut back from showering everyday to showering every other day and it has made my skin much better. I mean if I sweat or workout, I'll shower afterwords. But why is there such a dumb social stigma about not showering everyday? My one roommate in college would shower almost 15-20 times per week.

Ever noticed how old 1900s era architecture had such high ceilings and wide open areas where people congregated? My hunch is that it was directly related to the lack of bathing in those days.

I bath every morning. The main reason is because I have an oily head. The rest of me could go a few days. If there was a bathing fixture that I could easily stuff my head into and wash it, I would shower a lot less. Sinks don't work for me.

 

[Proton Soup]

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/27/6/1261

 

[russ_watters]

I don't think he was suggesting a direct cause and effect. But there's definitely a correlation between health and hygiene.

Yes - it was half just pointing out the uselessness of a comment that people didn't shower as much pre-1900. So what if they didn't? That doesn't mean they shouldn't have. I could have also pointed out that they didn't drive cars either, but I wanted an example that had some relevance to the topic...

In any case, I certainly wouldn't say that bathing itself can be considered the key to the doubling of life expectancy, but sanitation in general was perhaps 2/3 and non-sanitation improvements in medicine 1/3. Bathing itself (including doctors washing their hands) was a significant, but unquantifiable part of a revolution that included running water, waste/trash management, cleaning, food preservation, etc.
Here's a good link, but there's tons available via google: http://www.haciendapub.com/faria5.html

In the Middle Ages, the average human life expectancy did not reach into the teen years, not only because of the extremely high perinatal mortality that heavily skewed the data, but also because Europeans (and much of the world during this time) lived in an unhealthy milieu of filth, poor hygiene, and nearly non-existent sanitation. Superstition and ignorance, along with pestilential diseases and vermin infestation, were rampant. Epidemic and endemic diseases such as the bubonic plague, typhus, variola (smallpox), and the White Death of tuberculosis (consumption) took a heavy toll on the population, both young and old.

During the Middle Ages until the mid-nineteenth century cleanliness was just not a priority. The streets in those days were dumping grounds for refuse, and domestic animals including hogs roamed the streets. According to medical historian Howard W. Haggard: "Refuse from the table was thrown on the floor to be eaten by the dog and cat or to rot among the rushes and draw swarms of flies from the stable. The smell of the open cesspool in the rear of the house would have spoiled your appetite, even if the sight of the dining room had not."(2)

There was little improvement in this dire, unhealthy milieu until the mid- to late nineteenth century when the advances of the aforementioned Industrial Revolution and the discovery of the germ theory of disease brought about public health measures that, building upon the importance of good hygiene and sanitation, culminated in the rise of the scientific era of medicine.

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

*washing too often tends to strip the natural oils from the body and the hair. This will dry out the skin and hyperstimulate the oil glands.

I used to have a pretty bad problem with acne. When I was living in my car for a bit I was not able to keep showering reliably. I found that when I was just rinsing my face off or wiping off the excess oils instead of washing and scrubbing it daily my acne cleared up. I've had virtually no problem with it since. I think I was over drying my skin with the soap.

 

[DaveC426913]

http://www.jneurosci.org/cgi/content/full/27/6/1261

Well, there's your answer!

See, I'm married. I've got to shower. If I ran around changing the cortisol levels of every woman I passed by, it'd be a nightmare!

 

[cronxeh]

If you don't want to smell, shave all your hair, armpit hair included. I shower once a day or every other day, and only because I feel like other people are dirty and their stench sticks to me. People sneeze, rub their face and spread all those germs all over door knobs, handles, coffee makers, etc. Truly disgusting.

 

[GeorginaS]

Put on deodorant.

pwned

Where's the "like" button when you need it??

Not sure I want to share an office with or dine next to any of you. That's like telling a woman to just apply more perfume. Oh, goody.

 

[GeorginaS]

If you don't want to smell, shave all your hair, armpit hair included.

Evidently you're not female. Because, if you were, you'd understand that the absence of underarm hair does not deter an unpleasant odour from accumulating there.