Everybody enjoys a warm water shower. It has many health benefits, but do you know that it is not the best if you have acne problems? Instead, a cold shower helps in acne prevention. It soothes your skin, reduces inflammation, swelling and makes your skin condition better.
Cold showers are known for relaxing your mood, which often helps in acne(we have the explanation, keep on reading).
Acne-prone skin is the last thing you ever want for yourself. Many skincare products are available to treat acne, but most are useless, and all are expensive. There is one simple solution to cure your acne – cold showers.
This article will discuss everything about cold showers and acne. Continue reading to find out how cold showers help acne and breakouts.
Related Article: Does A Cold Shower Before Bed Help You Sleep?
Cold showers and skin
There is a lot of confusion among people about whether cold showers are beneficial for acne or hot showers. Both are equally good for your skin. However, they both have different uses and benefits for acne-prone skin.
Hot showers are more pleasant than cold showers, but it is not the best choice to help your acne. Hot showers remove sebum (oil) from your skin, which does all the wrong things for your acne. Removal of sebum from your skin triggers more production of it from your sebaceous glands. This eventually increases the pimples and breakouts on your skin.
This is the main reason why your skin has more pimples in winter as compared to summer days. During winter, we bathe with hot water, making our skin with more sebum production and thus more breakouts on the face, back, or chest.
On the other hand, cold showers help reduce the pimples on your skin. It closes the pores of your skin, making it easier for your skin to remove oil and germs. It is in no way increases sebum production, making it a good alternative to hot showers. Taking a cold shower twice a day could end all of your skin problems and acne.
Do cold showers help acne?
A cold shower with a water temperature at or below 70 °F (21 °C) helps you with acne. In general, both hot and cold showers impact your skin and overall health positively. But cold showers are way more effective in treating acne as compared to hot showers.
There are many ways in which cold showers could make a difference in your acne. Below we are explaining a few of them:
1. Less sebum production
We have mentioned earlier that cold showers close your pores and make your skin less oily. A cold shower does not trigger sebaceous glands in producing more sebum, as in the case with hot showers. The closing of skin pores prevents them from accumulating bacteria and germs, leading to less acne and breakouts.
2. Reduce stress
Studies show that cold showers or hydrotherapy helps reduce stress and anxiety. Acne is not directly caused by stress, but stress can make it worse if you already have acne. Too much stress makes your immunity weaker. It makes the healing process slow, which directly affects your acne. Lower immunity also causes increased inflammation and swelling in your acne.
Cold showers help improve blood circulation, causing your body to cool down. In contrast, stress or anxiety may cause an increase in blood pressure. Thus overall cold showers do help reduce stress, leading to less acne.
Related Article: Is It Bad To Take A Shower After Eating?
3. Better immunity
Cold showers are extremely beneficial in improving your immunity. Researchers have found that a cold shower makes you more resistant to illness. It helps your body in fighting acne induced by bacterial and yeast infections.
4. Anti-inflammatory
Coldwater showers have anti-inflammatory properties. It is scientifically proven to help damaged tissue by reducing temperature and constricts the blood vessels. This results in reduced swelling and inflammation in your acne. Cold showers do also numb your nerve endings and give you immediate relief from painful acne.
5. Better blood circulation
Free radicals from pollution are one of the biggest reasons for skin conditions like acne. Cold showers increase blood flow in your body. It nourishes your skin cells and tissues. Increased blood circulation is beneficial as it carries more oxygen and vital nutrients to your skin cells.
This increase in blood circulation plays a key role in carrying out the waste products such as free radicals from your skin. An increase in blood flow works as a detoxifier at the cellular level and flushes out any cellular debris from your skin. This natural cleaning of your skin from the inside helps reduce acne and breakouts. It soothes your skin, making it much glowing and acne-free.
6. Protects against pillow bacteria
We spend 7-8 hours resting our heads on the pillow. Bacteria from your skin, hair, and surroundings get stuck on your pillow. It keeps on transferring to your face while you are sleeping. You might try hundreds of acne products, but if you are not changing your pillow frequently, you cannot reduce the acne.
Here comes the cold shower in rescue. Taking a cold shower before sleeping can actually help you restrict the piling up of bacteria on your pillow and so on your skin.
According to a study published by NCBI, acne mechanica is a form of acne that develops when an object constantly contacts your face. Friction and pressure is the key player in developing these types of acne.
If you haven’t washed your pillow covers recently, it might have many bacteria and germs in there. These on contact with your face could cause acne and breakouts. A cold shower before sleep is the most effective way to reduce bacteria on your skin and on your pillow too.
7. Increased endorphins and reduced cortisol levels
Cold showers not only reduce bacterial growth on your skin but also helps your body with increased levels of endorphins. It is also called the feel-good hormone. Endorphins are responsible for making you feel good and happy.
With an increased level of endorphins after cold showers, your body starts to feel much more relaxed and stress-free. This makes it easy for your body to fight against acne. Cold showers may also impact stress by reducing cortisol levels in your body, a stress-inducing hormone.
Conclusion
While hot showers are more comfortable to enjoy, cold showers are much more helpful in preventing acne. Regular cold showers could help reduce the severity of your acne. It not only improves blood circulation but also improves immunity to fight against bacterial infections.
Ensure you are using decent cold water (at least 70 °F or below) for your shower. It is recommended to shower twice a day, one in the daytime and one before going to bed. It will help reduce bacterial growth on your skin.
