Fact: Your Showers Are Probably Way Too Long, Experts Say
I used to loathe showering just as much as I loathe anyone who unnecessarily takes up two subway seats during morning rush hour. I am well aware that this shower-averse sentiment may seem, well, gross. But I just always found showering to be so … boring. This all changed when I got a portable speaker that I could bring with me into the bathroom. Cue a bangin’ Bruno Mars soundtrack (call me embarrassing, I don’t care) and daily dance-party showers that last, oh, somewhere around 25 minutes. So when I, in all my newfound shower-loving glory, stumbled onto this post on Furthermore this morning, outlining the shower mistakes athletes make, I nearly let out a shriek of disappointment.
You probably already knew that you shouldn’t shower every day, so as not to irritate and dry out your skin and get rid of good bacteria that live on your body. But bet you didn’t know that, if your showers last too long, you run the same risk — drying out and irritating skin — as if you simply showered too often. And showering too long is really easy to do. In fact, as dermatologist Melissa Levin told Furthermore, hot showers should be kept to under — wait for it — a measly five minutes to avoid the same over-drying that would happen if you were showering way too often.
Excuse me?!?! Five minutes is only ONE Bruno Mars song. What kind of life is that?
That probably isn’t the only mistake you’re making either. Hop on over here to see what other bathing mistakes dermatologists say athletes make. But it’s not all bad news: We’ve got plenty of ways to upgrade your showers, once you come to terms with their much shorter length.
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