Are You Showering More Often than You Need?

If you're one of those people who gets out of bed every morning and jumps straight in the shower, then you might want to reconsider how much time you spend cleaning yourself.

While most people in your immediate vicinity will appreciate the fact that you take the time to wash yourself in the morning so that you smell acceptable for human interaction, it turns out that you're just like, doing that because society, like tells you to maaan, and that you're showering too much.

Speaking to BuzzFeed, Dr. Joshua Zeichner, assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, said that showering as frequently as we tend to these days is "really more of a cultural phenomenon", and that we're a bit too touchy when it comes to bodily odour.

He's not the only one either, as Boston dermatologist Dr. Ranella Hirsch also said that Americans in particular overbathe and clean themselves too much and "a lot of the reason we do it is because of societal norms".

The reason for all this comes from advertising, which it turns out easily convinces us to do something that otherwise we shouldn't. Between campaigns that promised us that we'd be more beautiful if we cleaned ourselves more often, and influential books like Dale Carnegie's How to Win Friends and Influence People telling us that the more attractive we are the more successful we'll be, we all got suckered in to showering regularly.

Why is this a bad thing? Well, Dr. Hirsch reckons that we're doing our skin damage. And sure if we showered less that would also save water and, what with all the charges, it would also save us some dosh.

And both Zeichner and Hirsch say that regularly using hot water to clean ourselves irritates our skin, and washes away "the good bacteria that naturally exists on your skin, and introduces small cracks that put you at a higher risk of infection".

So, how often should we be showering? Well, depending on your level of activity and the weather, you can probably just shower every two to three days. If you're working out every day, then maybe up that, but if you're worried about the key areas ("face, underarms, under the breasts, genitals, and rear end") developing a funk that even Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars would consider excessive, then you can wash those areas with a soapy washcloth to remove the bacteria that causes the odour.

Now, there's a New Year's resolution for you...

So tell us, do you shower ever day? Or do you agree with the good doctors and try to limit your skin's exposure to the horrible H2O? And maybe more importantly, what do your co-workers believe? To the comments!