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20 Health Benefits of Taking a Bath or Shower

Why should I bother bathing regularly? Are there benefits to my health if I bath? Can I improve my look and appearance if I dunk in a bathtub filled with bubble bath soaps?

Such questions creep up the minds of many people when they think about bathing. Some even see it as a waste of time compared to a snappy shower while others feels bathing is for “gross” people. Overall, people are generally confused about the idea.

Fortunately, baths are ideal for everyone, including you for several reasons. Not only do they serve as a great time to unwind, but they also have various benefits to the body and mind.

In this article, we will reveal to you 20 health benefits of taking a bath with its effects on the body. Read on to get this Fantastic health benefit on bath.

Bath and Shower Health Benefits

1. Baths is great for Your Breathing

If you relax in a bathtub filled with water up to your neck, your lung capacity and oxygen will improve. However, it depends on the water pressure on your body. The hotness or coldness of the water also matters.

For instance, when warm water makes your heart beat faster, your body takes in more oxygen. It also helps clear your chest and sinuses, which comes as one benefits of hot water.

Apart from hot baths, cold water also has its positive effects on the body. For instance, taking dips in lukewarm water can reduce the chances of infection in people with COPD (a form of lung disease)

When it comes to enhancing your lung capacity and growth, bathing comes as an ideal option. According to research on teenage girls, breathing techniques help in making the lungs perform better.

Overall, to enhance the performance level of your lungs, take longer and deeper breaths when you are under water.

2. Takes Care of Your Brain and Nervous System

Takes Care of Your Brain and Nervous System

Resting in a bathtub filled with water can also do great things for your nervous system. For instance, it can calm your nerves, especially after a stressful day. It also helps lighten your mood when you are stuck in the blues.

Special baths can ease the pain linked with multiple sclerosis as the water soothes the spine. Furthermore, the water helps to support weak muscles of the limb thereby making it an ideal soothing agent for Parkinson’s disease.

3. Gives Your Muscles a Thorough but Painless Workout

If you perform stretches and move into a bath filled with water, this will help relieve your muscles. This is because the water offers resistance and makes the workout have a low impact on your body.

Are you thinking of a simple exercise for the elderly? Bathtime are also ideal for the senior citizen because falls, trips, and slips are almost non-existent during this activity. Also, spa bathing helps reduce pains linked with osteoarthritis, which worsens with age.

4. Soothes Hemorrhoids

Soothes Haemoriods

Medications might help relieve the pain of an anal fissure or hemorrhoid. However, taking a warm bath will also make you feel better as the heat lessens the pain. Take a warm 20-minute bath after a long workout and you can add Epsom salt for more relief.

Experts also recommend that you use as chamomile, witch hazel, arnica, oak bark or tea tree oil. However, avoid soap because it irritates the lining of the anus.

5. Makes Birthing Easier and Heals Fissures

According to studies, when combined with breathing exercises, massage and hot baths can help alleviate labor pains. Furthermore, bathing does not harm mothers during labor or birth. Some cultures even recommend bathing in natural ingredients for quick recovery.

Although baths are known for increasing the risk of UTI’s, a warm bath plays a significant role in soothing labor-related pain. It even speeds up the healing of fissures linked with the birth process.

6. Improves You Immunity and Blood Levels

Improves You Immunity and Blood Levels

A dip in a hot bath helps handle bacteria and improves your body’s immunity. It also deals with symptoms that come with cold and flu.

One of the 20 health benefits of taking a cold bath is its cancer-fighting abilities. According to studies, spending some time in a bathtub filled with cold water can improve cell damage and cut your chances of suffering some types of cancer.

7. Help Your Hormones

Submerging in cold water can help with health issues linked with hormonal imbalance. These include chronic fatigue syndrome and some fertility problems. It also enables glands to secrete hormones such as cortisol, beta-endorphin, or ACTH in balanced form.

Serotonin is noted for giving us feelings of happiness and wellbeing. One of the 20 health benefits of bathing with hot water mixed with cold water is that it increases the flow of the “feelgood” brain chemical.

8. Cleanses and Hydrates Your Eyes, Hair, and Skin

Cleanses and Hydrates Your Eyes, Hair, and Skin

Everyone is attracted to supple skin, healthy hair, and bright eyes. You can have these natural features by hydrating your skin by drinking water. However, bathing also has a similar effect because the human body has high water content.

Bathing with special salts or oils can further improve your natural features. You can even take a dip in a pool or the natural body of water to get the same results.

Hot water baths cleanse the skin because it opens the pores which cause sweating. Alternatively, your skin constricts during cold showers, thereby closing pores and moisturizing your skin.

Although your skin might become clean, its pores might need cleansing. Air pollution, toxins, and dirt clog these tiny holes, which result in acne and blackheads. First, to have healthy pores, you need to wash with hot water to open them and remove dirt.

Sadly, open pores clogged easily. But you can open them (as mentioned above) by washing your skin with cold water.

9. Regulates Your Core Body Temperature

Handling your body temperature might be confusing. But with a simple bath, you can easily get the optimal body temperature required by your body.

For instance, relaxing in cold water on a hot day can make you less sweaty and comfortable. Next, a short period in a hot bathtub on a cold day can take the chills away.

Overall, research has shown that bathing in either cold or hot water bathtub or water bodies can give you the ideal temperature you deserve. However, if you have preexisting health condition, you should seek advice from your doctor before going into the water.

10. Relieves Headaches and Migraines

Relieves Headaches and Migraines

Headaches and Migraines can be blamed on narrow blood vessels and can make anyone feel miserable for most parts of the day. However, take a hot shower to stop the pain because the water reduces the pressure that causes the pain.

This serves as one of the best remedies that might reduce your need for aspirin. It’s also a safe and natural way to handle pain without bothering about dosage.

11. Ideal for Your Heart Health

Are you looking for a simple way to keep your heart in good health? Then consider bathing in warm water because it makes your heart beat faster.

Warm baths enhance blood circulation in all parts of your body as it reduces blood thickness and helps the vessels perform better. However, if you have a heart condition, we recommend you seek your doctor’s counsel before taking a warm bath.

Apart from helping you with blood circulation, bathing plays a significant role in tackling heart-related conditions. According to research, hot water baths can help lower high blood pressure.

However, you should consult your doctor before spending time in a hot water tub. If he gives you a pass, ensure that you use only hot water baths and not showers for medical reasons.

12. Soothes Sports-Related Aches

Soothes Sports-Related Aches

It’s normal to feel muscle aches and pain, especially after a workout or sports event. After the physical activity, you can erase the discomfort by stepping into a hot water bath which is ideal for aches and pain.

Do your muscles feel tight and sore? Ditch the shower and spend some time in a hot tub to loosen the muscles. You will feel better because hot water increases blood circulation to release the muscles.

Also, the heat increases the metabolic rate, thereby assisting your muscle’s recovery. If this rate is reasonable, the chemical processes in your body will work well, which leads to optimum recovery.

13. Treats Menstrual Cramps

Popping pain killers during the duration of your period can be frustrating. Fortunately, one of the hot water bath advantages is that warm water can help with this issue.

You can take a long steamy bath to ease the period pains without reaching for painkillers. This is because the heat relaxes the cramp causing muscles by bringing blood to your pelvic area.

14. Helps You Sleep Better

Helps You Sleep Better

One of the benefits of taking a bath at night is that it makes you fall asleep quickly. According to studies, warm baths help us to relax and drop our body temperature. Furthermore, the resulting drop in temperature leads to better sleep.

It’s recommended that you take a bath within 1 – 2 hours of your bedtime. Finally, your bath time does not need to exceed 10 minutes before you can experience better sleep.

15. Helps Heal Wounds

There’s no need to cover your open wounds in the shower because hot water speeds up the healing process. Surprisingly, the hot water also comes as an antibiotic for your skin. However, use this measure for smaller, superficial wounds while your doctor checks larger wounds.

16. Tackles Flu and Coughs

Tackles Flu and Coughs

One of the advantages of taking a bath in the morning is that it helps against colds and coughs. During the flu, taking your bath helps to weaken the mucus that blocks your cavities.

Furthermore, this treatment lessens the accompanying cough, which is linked to this mucus. To feel better after a bout of sneezes and coughs; take a regular 5 -10-minute shower.

17. Makes You Fit

Diets and exercise are some of the popular ways to shed some pounds, but you can also become lighter by taking a bath. According to a study, people who had a full hour bath lost the same amount of calories when compared to people who walked for 30 minutes.

These results show that baths are ideal for losing weight. Also, lying in a bathtub can help handle diabetes by lowering glucose and sugar levels in the body. But do not replace workouts with baths, instead, combine both activities.

One of the common health benefits of taking a bath is that it enables you to relax after a hectic schedule. You can enhance the experience by adding oils, setting the water to the right temperature, and dimming the lights.

18. Gives You a Proper Warm Up Before a Workout

Gives You a Proper Warm Up Before a Workout

Apart from handling pain and health conditions, you can enjoy the health benefits of taking a bath through your daily workouts. Before hitting the gym, take a 10 – 20-minute soak in your tub to free your muscles and keeps your blood flowing.

At the gym, you can spend at least 10 minutes to stretch your limbs before the workout. You can also perform some light stretches during your hot water bath.

19. Enables Your Cells to Create Stress Fighting Chemicals

When you expose your body to warm water, your cells will produce Heat Stress Proteins which protect you from stress. Regular baths ensure their constant production, which enables them to perform better, especially after a stressful day.

20. Soothes Itchy Skin and Rashes

Soothes Itchy Skin and Rashes

Itchy skin can make you spend hours scratching wildly, thereby resulting in bruises which may get infected. You can ease the itch feeling by bathing in cold water. If a rash causes the itch, hot water can also relieve your skin.

Final Word on the Health Benefits of Taking a Bath

Baths are ideal for our hygiene and health. After all, they affect various parts of our bodies from the way the cells perform to fight coughs and colds. They even serve as ideal parts of an effective weight loss plan.

Although this article shows the pros and cons of hot water baths, but there are some precautions you should take.

  • First, consult your doctor before using any of the tips mentioned above, especially if you have a previous health condition.
  • Next, limit your bath to 10 – 15 minute because longer periods can irritate your skin and thereby exposing it to infection. Finally, if you want to take a hot water bath, use warm water and avoid scalding water because of burns.
  • Ensure you use cold water baths if you feel hot. But if you feel cold, avoid a lukewarm water bath because it lowers your body temperature, which will take a longer time to heat up.

You should also avoid replacing workouts and diet with baths. Even if there are studies that see baths as weight loss measures, use all three ideas for better results.

Now is the time to enjoy the benefits of a nice bath. Fill up that bathtub and experience the positive effects of cold and warm water baths.