Hot or cold, long or short? Getting your showering right can leave you feeling not just fresh and clean but reaping health benefits too. Showering is often an unsung part of our daily routine, but something as simple as adjusting the heat of the water can be an effective way to boost wellbeing by, for example, easing muscle soreness, clearing congestion and helping us sleep better.
Neuroscientist Dr Rachel Taylor says: “You might have heard that a quick, cold shower a few times a week can reduce inflammation in the body, lower stress levels and improve concentration, but turning up the heat every once in a while can reap different benefits, anything from promoting muscle relaxation to helping with skin blemishes.”
So how do you gain the maximum benefit from a warm shower?
The optimum daily dose
If you like a daily shower, lukewarm (38C) is usually considered the best temperature, unless you are elderly or showering young children. Then, it’s a good idea to stick to about 37C, as the skin is more sensitive at these ages. Lifestyle-medicine physician Dr Alka Patel says that 38C is “most kind to our skin and prevents excessive dryness and irritation while still being effective for removing unwanted oil and dirt”. Just five to 10 minutes a day is sufficient to cleanse the body and enjoy the therapeutic benefits of a shower, without overexposure to heat or excessive water use.
While there’s no ideal time to shower – with many people opting for the morning – if you’ve always thought that showering in the evening might be too stimulating and disrupt your ability to get to sleep, think again. “Having a lukewarm shower before bedtime causes peripheral blood vessels to dilate, reducing our core body temperature, which is key for triggering sleep and aiding a restful night,” says Patel.
For those with sensitive skin, it isn’t just the temperature of your shower that matters, it’s the spray setting too, with gentler being kinder. The latest electric showers make it easy to adjust both temperature and spray mode to suit your needs, so take a look, for example, at the range produced by Mira Showers. Among them is the Mira Sport Max, which features four spray modes, including a “soothing spray” option that’s gentle on more sensitive skins.
The longer warmer wash
If you fancy turning it up a notch every now and then, warmer showers can relax tense muscles and soothe aches and pains, so they are especially beneficial after physical activity. “The warmth from a slightly longer, warmer wash improves blood flow, which can help with muscle recovery,” says Patel. “It can also boost your skin’s brightness by enabling the skin to cleanse itself of impurities.”
From a psychological perspective, a warmer shower can feel comforting, as we associate warmth with safety and cosiness. “Allowing yourself a little more time in a warmer shower a couple of times a week can be especially useful for those suffering from anxiety or feeling overwhelmed, as it helps to evoke feelings of security,” says psychotherapist Eloise Skinner. “Set aside 10-15 minutes when you know you don’t have to rush, and then enjoy the calming effect of warmer water on your body.”
The hot and heavy one
The steam generated from a hotter shower can help in clearing nasal passages and can be especially beneficial for individuals suffering from colds or respiratory issues. “If you’re feeling bunged up, a hot, steamy shower can act as a brilliant natural decongestant to relieve sinus and lung congestion,” says Patel, who adds that you should take care not to scald yourself.
To soothe achy muscles caused by colds and flu, the Mira Sport Max shower has an option to create a massage effect – you can boost the water flow by up to 30% and use the “focused spray” setting to achieve maximum pressure.
Plentiful hot water is a luxury, so there can be a sense of personal indulgence and self-care in the occasional hotter shower, especially if you sometimes use one to mark a transitional time in your day. “If we take a hot, powerful shower upon arriving home from work, we might associate it with creating a break between our working and personal lives,” says Skinner. “It can also provide a grounding sensation as the heat reminds us that we’re fully alive and perceptive of our environment, bringing our attention back into our body.”
But be careful not to turn the dial up too high. When running a hotter shower, stick to about 41C and always test the temperature before getting underneath it, to avoid scalding your skin.
Being able to run the shower exactly as you want it – an even flow, steady temperature – is a blissful experience. So if your controls are getting old and tricky, it might be time for an upgrade. With a company such as Mira Showers, it has never been easier. It will help you work out exactly which shower is right for you and also offers expert installation.
The quick, cold blast
More and more people are saying they feel the health benefits of a quick blast of cold water at the end of their daily shower. This triggers a hormone release in the body which can leave us happier, more alert and more able to fight off illness. “We have a high density of cold receptors in the skin, so standing under a short blast of cold water sends a huge amount of electrical impulses rushing to the brain,” says Taylor. “This switches our body into survival mode; speeding up our metabolism, increasing blood circulation and stimulating leukocytes – a type of blood cell which are part of the immune system.”
Cold showers, long advocated by the wellbeing influencer Wim Hof, are thought to be most effective when the water temperature is below 21C but start as you would normally, in warm water, then flick down to as cold as you can handle for the last 30 seconds. The Mira Sport Max has an easy-to-use temperature control knob that allows you to try going a bit cooler each day.
Whether you’re a militant morning person, or use your shower to relax and unwind for bed, your shower can do more for your health and wellbeing than just keep you clean. So be mindful of the temperature, pressure and time you spend in there to make sure you enjoy the most life-enhancing experience.
Find out more about installing the Mira Sport Max and how it could elevate your day. Mira Showers offers a shower replacement service, using Mira approved engineers to give you complete peace of mind
