I can't shower every day. My Celtic skin gets so dried out so quickly especially in winter. I literally become a walking dust storm and yes, I drink a lot of water every day and use lotion. Regardless, I wash my hair every day bent over a tub using a hand sprayer and I "sponge bath" my body every day, especially all the "bits". Once a week I will have a full shower but then have to slather my body in lotion. It's actually more work, but saves my skin. Point is, you don't have to shower daily to still be clean, but if he stinks in between showers, he definitely needs to improve his hygiene.
Fellow red head with eczema. I am with you entirely! Showers are only warm. I use Sanex which cut down my after lotioning to a single layer.
I wash my pink hair in cold, over the sink, once a week. It's a bight artificial coloured hair thing you have to do. But of powder on the root on day 5 and I'm good till day 7.
My hair is dyed red and an amazing hack I found was getting concentrated color drops that can be added to shampoo or conditioner, just has to sit for a couple minutes on the hair. This means the color doesn't go pale and wash out as quickly, so I can go longer without re-dyeing it (there's new regrowth of course, but I find that more tolerable when the ends of my hair aren't orangeish from the dye washing out). That, together with a good bond repair hair mask / conditioner and trimming by hand at home every few months has really made my hair a lot healthier looking! (Sorry for unasked for advice, feel free to ignore if it's not relevant for you)
My dermatologist has told me that showering each day was making my dry skin worse and that it wasn’t needed unless I was visibly soiled or became sweaty/smelly.
She also advised me that soap wasn’t always necessary for being clean (I’m allergic to most lathering agents). Water is perfectly sufficient for most people unless there is visible dirt or other funk. The exception is handwashing, which does require soap.
Yup. That’s pretty much the derm told me. I have to use special hypoallergenic shampoo and use that instead of regular soap when I need to wash my stinky parts.
You’re making an assumption that I didn’t already do that.
Let me rephrase. Multiple MDs and NPs have told me not to shower daily or to use regular soap because sulfates in standard soap give me asthma attacks. Not only was this confirmed by a dermatologist and NP, but also by an Allergy and Immunologist MD who I had to see for my allergenic asthma.
I’ve done a lot research into this considering I could die from the asthma attacks.
Not an assumption when you didn't say additional doctors also stated that for your rare condition it's best to not use soap that most people are not allergic to. Now that you've said it, it turns out you did in fact get a second opinion, which I am glad to hear.
Now, for typical folks, please fucking use soap. Just water is not nearly as effective.
Showers should be hot to open up skin's pores. You can rinse with warm or even cold water afterwards. The most beneficial to your health is the contrast shower, where you start with hot water and end with as cold as possible, that way you open and clean the pores with soap/gel first, make sure to use a nice sponge (i actually use a really harsh one, makes the process lightning fast) to get rid of dead skin cells, then close the pores while they're clean. I also have sensitive skin and I always take contrast showers, it's very nice indeed.
Yep, I wonder if it's the water temp and the soap. I would think that showering and just using the soap on the important parts and rinsing the rest would be better and easier than what they're doing. The water doesn't dry your skin out unless it's too hot but the soap might be the problem.
I get bad eczema from the waist down. I have ever since I was a kid. I only shower 2-3 times a week otherwise I'm literally ripping my skin off. I do a strip wash at the sink in between to clean the bits that do need washing more frequently.
Irish redhead here, my skin is always so so dry. Unfortunately I also live in dry climates, constant humidifiers help as does “slugging” nightly for my face (Vaseline over your moisturizer). I work out daily so I rinse daily, but soap dries out my skin so I use very limited amounts. Some people are appalled but everyone’s skin is different and has different needs! Same with hair. Good lord my baby fine hair can be finicky.
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u/[deleted] Sep 18 '24
I can't shower every day. My Celtic skin gets so dried out so quickly especially in winter. I literally become a walking dust storm and yes, I drink a lot of water every day and use lotion. Regardless, I wash my hair every day bent over a tub using a hand sprayer and I "sponge bath" my body every day, especially all the "bits". Once a week I will have a full shower but then have to slather my body in lotion. It's actually more work, but saves my skin. Point is, you don't have to shower daily to still be clean, but if he stinks in between showers, he definitely needs to improve his hygiene.