Everybody has a different temperature they enjoy when taking a shower. Some folks like them extra hot because they find the heat is deeply relaxing and great at soothing muscles and easing tension. Others may enjoy how the steam clears their airways and opens up pores.
Unfortunately, for those who love extra hot showers, Dr. Mahyar Maddahali, a medical practitioner who focuses on vascular surgery and is known as Dr. Max on TikTok, says they can be bad for your health.
His video was in response to a man complaining he couldn’t shower with his wife because she likes the water to be too hot.
“If you’re taking excessively too-hot showers, this is for you,” Dr. Max opens his video before explaining that scalding showers can wash off our bodies’ natural oils necessary for healthy skin. He adds that they can also lead to damaged hair.
Extremely hot showers can even cause people to pass out.
For those of you looking for a second opinion, New York dermatologist Robert Anolik agrees with Dr. Max. He told Vogue that the best temperature for your shower should be “lukewarm” or somewhere between 98º and 105º F.
Anolik says people should abstain from extremely hot showers mainly because of potential skin damage. “The skin barrier is made up of skin proteins and oils that prevent water from evaporating out of the skin, protecting it from the outside world,” explains Anolik. “It is one of our first lines of defense against infection and pollution.”
