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Personally, I have always been a fan of a nice warm shower when I get up in the morning or when I get home from practice. A couple of my friends were talking and they said that they prefer to take cold showers. Dumbfounded, I wanted to see if there were any benefits to either of the two shower temperature preferences.
Taking a warm shower has always felt more comfortable to me. This may be due to the fact that taking a warm shower can relieve tension and soothe muscles. A study even showed that taking a hot shower can increase your oxytocin levels which helps deal with anxiety. Adding to this, a hot shower can cause steam to go into your nasal passages and clear them out and can even help break a fever ().
On the other hand, cold showers have never been my favorite but do have benefits as well. Turning the shower to cold for four to five minutes in the morning can help increase alertness and help combat fatigue, perfect for that eight A.M. class!! Also, cold showers are better for helping with dry skin as well as the split ends in your hair ().
After exercise, people question whether again to take a cold or a hot shower. Dr. Mercola says that taking a cold shower after working out will decrease your heart rate and increase circulation and blood flow throughout your body. This helps with recovering muscles and in a study, researchers found that cold showers were more effective in reducing the amount of soreness in the body ().
Hot showers also have added benefits to a person’s health. The hot water from a shower can help relieve pains in the muscles, tendons and tissues throughout the body. Hot water can also help clean a person’s skin and pores but shouldn’t be too hot for too long ().
So all together, both cold showers and hot showers have their positives. It is too difficult to tell which is better, but personal preference is a key factor for me when it comes to taking a shower. So maybe next time try a different shower temperature!!
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