Are You Taking Too Many Showers?

Is a daily shower actually good for your skin? Not necessarily.

According to Angela Palmer, an esthetician specializing in the treatment of acne and problem skin, a daily shower may actually be too much for your skin. Showering too often can strip your skin of natural oils such as sebum, the oil that protects the skin and keeps it moisturized. When that thin layer of sebum is removed through frequent showering, it can cause skin to become dry and flaky and can even exacerbate eczema.

In conversation with SELF magazine, Emily Newsom, MD, a dermatologist at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said that showering every day is more of a societal norm than a biological necessity. Both Mary L. Stevenson, MD, assistant professor at Ronald O. Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Langone Health, and Melissa Piliang, MD, a dermatologist at Cleveland Clinic, agree that a person should shower every two to three days depending on their lifestyle and their natural tendencies toward sweating, oiliness and body odor.

Showering too much can make skin more susceptible to bacteria by changing its pH through the removal of the acid mantle, the skin's natural, slightly acidic barrier. This removal brings about what Palmer calls the "hygiene hypothesis."

She said, "The idea is all the cleaning, washing and sanitizing we do today may be stunting young immune systems. Instead, allowing children to be exposed to an array of bacteria while they're young may help build a stronger immune system in the long run."

So even for adults who shower every day, it may be worth reconsidering how often young kids need to.

It's not just how many times a person showers that matters, though. The amount of time spent showering and how the shower happens are also factors in how it affects skin health.

Dr. Piliang conceded that a daily shower is fine as long as it isn't done aggressively. That means not showering for upward of 10 minutes and applying moisturizer afterward, especially for dry skin. She also suggested using warm water instead of hot, and opting for gentle soaps that don't have fragrances or sodium lauryl sulfate, a sudsing agent that can pull oil out of the skin.

It's also worth taking care of shower supplies, such as poufs, loofahs, or sea sponges. When these products are damp, they become a breeding ground for mold.

There is no exact science that definitively says how often anyone should shower. Every body is different and requires different regimens, so it's worth listening to your own and doing what's right for you.