How Often Should You Shower

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People who work with corrosive materials, dangerous chemicals, disease agents, and radioactive materials need to shower at the end of each of their shifts.

How Often Should You Shower?

William Truswell, MD, is board-certified in otolaryngology and facial plastic and reconstructive surgery. He is president of the American Board of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

How often you shower should be based on not only your personal preference, but your lifestyle. If you’re physically active, daily showering may be needed. If not, a few times a week may be sufficient.

But there’s a fine balance: Showering too often can disrupt the barrier function of the skin, stripping away oils and healthy bacteria. This can lead to dry, cracked skin. On the flip side, not showering or bathing enough can cause body odor, acne, and even skin infections.

This article discusses how often should you shower compared to how often most people in the United States shower or bathe. It also looks at what happens if you don’t shower enough and how to protect the barrier function of your skin by showering wisely.

How Often Adults Should Shower

People in the United States shower a lot. By way of example, a 2013 study in Environmental Health reported that 76% of females in the U.S. shower at least once daily, and 28% take a bath at least once daily.

While showering daily is not necessarily “unhealthy,” it also may not be necessary. For most people, a full-body shower every other day or every third day is likely enough.

Healthy skin has a natural layer of oil and bacteria that help keep it from drying out. Excessive exposure to soap and water, especially hot water, can strip away this protective layer, which can cause the skin to become dry, flaky, and itchy. This can be particularly problematic for people with skin conditions such as psoriasis or eczema.

On days when you don’t shower, you can use a clean washcloth to wipe yourself down. It’s also a good idea to wash your face every night to remove dirt, makeup, and sunscreen, which can all clog pores.

It’s important to wash your hands. Wash more frequently when you’re sick or are around others who are sick to help prevent the spread of infection.

Who Needs to Shower Every Day

Shower daily if you get dirty, sweaty, or are exposed to allergens or dangerous chemicals at work or in your activities. Examples of those who may consider showering every day include:

Farm workers
Animal rescue volunteers and staff
Landscapers
People who garden
Construction workers
Funeral directors
Athletes
Fitness instructors
People who do intense workouts

Avoid showering twice a day unless it is really necessary.

Bathing needs can change throughout the year. If you live in a region that is very hot in the summer and cold in the winter, a daily shower may be necessary only during the summer months.

How Long Can You Go Without Showering?

How long you can go between showers depends on your day-to-day activities, how dirty or sweaty you get, and what types of allergens or chemicals you may be exposed to.

Going too long without bathing can lead to body odor. Dead skin cells, sweat, and oil also tend to build up, which can clog pores. This may trigger acne breakouts in people who are prone to them.

After exercising or working up a sweat, be sure to shower and change as soon as possible. Wearing sweaty, moist clothes for long periods can increase the risk of bacterial or fungal infections, such as jock itch.

What Happens If You Go Months Without Showering?

Going months without bathing can lead to dermatitis neglecta (DN), a condition where brown patches of dead cells, dirt, sweat, and grime form on the skin. This condition tends to impact people who are unable to adequately clean their bodies.

It can also develop after surgery if a patient is afraid to clean the area around the incision or finds it painful to do so.

Whatever the cause, DN is easily treated simply by washing the affected skin regularly.

Healthy Showering Tips

No matter how often you shower, there are things you can do to keep your skin as healthy as possible.

Use warm water. Hot water can strip the skin of protective oils, like sebum.
Keep it short. Five to 10 minutes is ideal.
Use a non-drying soap. Whether you prefer a bar or liquid body cleanser, choose one labeled as moisturizing.
Use soap only on select areas of the body. Limit lather to spots prone to odor—armpits, groin, buttocks, and feet.
Be gentle. If you use a body scrub or loofah, don’t scrub too hard. When using a towel, pat your skin dry instead of rubbing.
Moisturize after showering. If your skin tends to be dry or sensitive, slather your body with a fragrance-free moisturizing cream, body lotion, or oil while your skin is still damp.
Keep poufs and loofahs clean. Damp sponges, loofahs, and shower poufs are breeding grounds for bacteria and mildew. Let them air dry outside of the shower and replace or sanitize them in a dishwasher at least every other month.

Summary

Each person’s bathing needs will differ depending on a variety of factors including the weather, their job environment, and hobbies. In general, showering every other day or every few days is typically sufficient.

Keep in mind that showering twice a day or frequently taking hot or long showers can strip your skin of important oils. This can lead to dry, itchy skin. Skipping showers for long periods of time can also cause issues including infections, acne, and dermatitis neglecta.

Frequently Asked Questions

How often should I shower if I have eczema?

Ideally, shower once a day for five to 10 minutes. This will add moisture to your skin. To lock it in, pat skin gently with a towel, apply medication to affected areas of skin, and apply moisturizer to your entire body within the first few minutes of exiting the shower.

How often should I change my bath towel?

At least once a week. More importantly, allow towels to dry completely between uses, as dampness can breed bacteria. Spread towels out to dry on a towel bar rather than hanging them on a hook to speed up the process.

How often should my teenager shower?

If they’ve hit puberty, a daily shower is ideal. Kids this age should especially shower after swimming, playing sports, or sweating a lot. They also should wash their face because excess oil and dirt can contribute to acne.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Agopian AJ, Waller K, Lupo PJ, Canfield MA, Mitchell LE. A case–control study of maternal bathing habits and risk for birth defects in offspring. Environ Health. 2013;12:88. doi:10.1186/1476-069X-12-88
National Eczema Association. Eczema and bathing.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Handwashing: clean hands save lives.
American Academy of Dermatology Association. Acne: who gets and causes.
MedlinePlus. Jock itch.
Saha A, Seth J, Sharma A, Biswas D. Dermatitis neglecta — a dirty dermatosis: report of three cases. Indian J Dermatol. 2015;60(2):185-187. doi:10.4103/0019-5154.152525
National Eczema Association. Eczema and bathing.
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American Academy of Dermatology. Bathing: how often do children need to take a bath?

By Angela Palmer
Angela Palmer is a licensed esthetician specializing in acne treatment.

What’s the best shower frequency?

In many parts of the world, taking a shower every day tends to be the norm. However, from a strictly medical perspective, it is not necessary for most people to shower this frequently.

Personal hygiene does provide health benefits, and most people do need to shower regularly. In addition to its use for routine washing and grooming, water offers benefits relating to pain relief and treatment in the form of hydrotherapy.

Baths, steam showers, saunas, and other bathing methods can:

improve immune function
ease muscle aches and pains
reduce swelling
increase blood flow
improve concentration
lessen fatigue
make it easier to breathe

To a lesser extent, spending time in the shower can have these same effects. Showering cleans the skin and removes dead skin cells to help clear the pores and allow the skin cells to function. It washes away bacteria and other irritants that could cause rashes and other skin problems.

However, the main reason why people shower as much as they do is that it helps them meet social standards of cleanliness and personal appearance. Meeting these standards helps people feel at home in their working and social environments and their bodies.

In most parts of the United States, winters are colder and dryer, while the summer is hotter and more humid.

These changing environmental conditions affect the ideal showering frequency.

In the winter, cold temperatures and indoor heating both contribute to dry skin. Many dermatologists recommend that individuals change their bathing routines during the winter to protect themselves from dry skin.

The following techniques may help people reduce the likelihood of dry skin:

Shortening shower time to no more than 5–10 minutes.
Closing the door to the bathroom to capture the steam and increase the humidity.
Replacing hot water and soap with warm water and gentle cleansers.
Using the smallest amount of cleanser possible to clean the skin.
Drying the skin gently after bathing.
Applying plenty of an oil-based moisturizing cream or ointment within 3 minutes of showering to trap moisture in the skin.

A person’s bathing needs change throughout their life.

Babies

The American Academy of Pediatrics say that the common practice of bathing babies daily is not really necessary. They suggest that the time to start regular full body washes is when infants are crawling around and beginning to eat food.

Children

According to the American Academy of Dermatologists, although daily bathing is safe for children aged 6–11 years, they only need to take a shower every few days.

Once young people hit puberty, how often they need to shower will vary from person to person. Many people suggest that daily showering is necessary at this time.

Teenagers

Many teenagers are very physically active, and showers are a good idea after strenuous sports events or practices, including swimming, working out, and other physical activities.

Older adults

The previously simple act of taking a shower can sometimes become more challenging for older adults.

Older adults may not require a shower every day to maintain the level of cleanliness necessary to protect their skin, ward off infection, and meet general standards of grooming. Taking a shower once or twice a week can often be sufficient to meet these criteria, and people can use warm washcloths in between to stay feeling fresh.

Older adults who can no longer bathe themselves can still maintain their independence by getting help with their daily activities from caregivers.

Share on Pinterest People who work in unhygienic conditions need to shower at the end of each of their shifts.

The type of work that people do affects how often they need to shower.

People who work at desk jobs and spend most of their time indoors do not have the same bathing needs as those who work with dangerous substances, animals, or in any jobs that people consider to be unhygienic.

Occupations that people may think of as involving “dirty work” include:

butcher
janitor
exterminator
miner
garbage collector

People who work with corrosive materials, dangerous chemicals, disease agents, and radioactive materials need to shower at the end of each of their shifts.

Horticulturalists, arborists, amateur gardeners, and anyone who spends a significant amount of time outdoors around a variety of plants can reduce their risk of rashes and other skin injuries by showering as soon as they come indoors. Doing this will help limit their exposure to plant sap, pollens, and other potential allergens, thus reducing the risk of a reaction.

A Dutch study found that showers can reduce sick days at work, but only if they are cold showers. The researchers reported that individuals who ended their showers with at least a 30-second blast of cold water were absent 29 percent less of the time than people who did not do so.

Showering removes bacteria from the skin, which means that it also washes off the bacteria that help the body protect itself from infection.

The soaps and shampoos that people use when showering can dry out the skin and hair, leading to cracked skin and split ends. How rapidly this happens, which affects how often a person should shower, depends on the individual’s skin type, which could be oily or dry, and the climate in which they live.

If people find that their skin feels tight after they step out of the shower, this is not a sign of being clean. Instead, it indicates that the skin is too dry.

In studies focused on handwashing, researchers found that nurses with skin damage on their hands due to frequent washing and wearing gloves harbored more infectious agents than other nurses. The researchers concluded that when the frequency of washing leads to skin damage, it is counterproductive.

Showering also has a significant effect on the environment. Soaps and shampoos, not to mention added ingredients such as microbeads in some skin care products, can make their way into groundwater, lakes, streams, and oceans. The simple act of showering depletes the vital resources of freshwater.

Although showering offers physical, mental, and emotional benefits, the daily shower that many people in the U.S. are in the habit of taking is probably more than most people need. Showering dries out the skin and hair, uses natural resources, and creates an additional source of water pollution.

Trying to determine how often to shower depends on finding the right balance between using natural resources respectfully and what makes a person feel good and clean and fits with their schedule.

The medical recommendation to meet basic physical and health needs is to shower once or twice a week. People working in certain types of job and those who do lots of exercise are likely to need to shower more often.

Last medically reviewed on March 12, 2019

Dermatology
Public Health
Atopic Dermatitis / Eczema
Immune System / Vaccines

How we reviewed this article:

Medical News Today has strict sourcing guidelines and draws only from peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We avoid using tertiary references. We link primary sources — including studies, scientific references, and statistics — within each article and also list them in the resources section at the bottom of our articles. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Ashforth, B. E., & Kreiner, G. E. (1999). “How can you do it?”: Dirty work and the challenge of constructing a positive identity.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/271956622_How_Can_You_Do_It_Dirty_Work_and_the_Challenge_of_Constructing_a_Positive_Identity
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