A nice cool shower when it’s hot is what we wait for all day in the middle of a heatwave. But this is not a good idea, recalls Dr Salez, emergency doctor at Périgueux hospital.
One, two or even three showers per day: this is not uncommon when it is very hot like at the moment. The shower is the time to refresh yourself from head to toe and to feel better again in the face of the overwhelming heat which flattens the body. However “attention” warns Dr Salez, emergency doctor at Périgueux hospital, on Ici Périgord. A shower should not be too cold because it can do more harm than good to the body. That’s to say ? What is the ideal temperature for a shower in hot weather? Explanations.
The first problem with a shower that is too cold is that it will cause a counterproductive reflex in the body: “He’s going to want to warm up.” sums up the doctor. Concretely, the cold causes vasoconstriction, that is to say a tightening of the blood vessels in the skin. However, when it is very hot, the body, on the contrary, needs these vessels to remain dilated to better evacuate heat. A cold shower will therefore prevent the body from cooling down. “You should also not take a very cold shower because it can cause the body to consume a lot of energy, which can lead to discomfort” warns the emergency doctor.
A study has highlighted the physiological mechanism that can make sudden immersion in cold water dangerous, even in healthy people. Researchers explain that when a person suddenly finds themselves in very cold water, their body receives two contradictory orders.
The first is the thermal shock response. Upon contact with cold water, the body interprets this as aggression. It releases adrenaline. The heart accelerates, breathing accelerates and blood pressure increases. The second reflex is the response to immersion. This time, the heart slows down. Researchers talk about “autonomous conflict”. According to them, in certain predisposed people, this conflict can promote heart rhythm disorders and help to explain certain cardiac accidents observed during sudden immersion in very cold water.
The best? “Take showers at room temperature, around 27-28 or even 30 degrees” replies Dr. Salez. You can still reserve a jet of cold water for certain extremities that particularly suffer when it is hot, such as the feet. Last interesting tip shared, this time, by Dr Vincent Valinducq on TF1: do not dry yourself immediately after getting out of the shower.
“When you get out of the shower, don’t dry yourself to keep these micro-drops because with this heat, these micro-drops will evaporate”, specifies the doctor. This evaporation will cause a cooling effect. You now have all the good advice from doctors to take your next shower in the best conditions, even in the middle of a heatwave.
