How we bathe is said to be related to how we are going to treat the area affected by cellulite. While hot water is associated to an effective way of relaxing tense muscles, and can be beneficial during women’s menstruation cycle, there are some issues regarding its relationship with cellulite. Not only it is not recommended for treating cellulite-affected skin, hot water bath is said to trigger cellulite.
What happens when we shower with hot water?
When we are bathing with hot water, the veins and arteries are dilated, leading to increasing amount of nutrients entering the tissues. When veins and arteries are dilated, blood circulation is promoted and thus, some nerve-induced pain can be subsided. This is one of the reasons why hot compress as well as hot bath are beneficial for women experiencing severe contractive pain while menstruating. Hot shower also trigger oxytocin release, which is closely related to stress reduction and self-relaxation, which is a very good thing for both your mental and physical health. Unfortunately, since the tissues are dilated during hot bath, more water is entering these tissues, with only limited amount of it and other waste products leaving these tissues. This is certainly not a considered-good thing, as there might be toxic build ups staying in our tissues.
Does hot-water showering cause cellulite?
There are some risk factors that may trigger the occurrence of cellulite; hereditary, hormone imbalance, poor circulation, poor lymphatic drainage, inflammation, toxic build ups, skin looseness, fat accumulation, and scarring. Some of these risk factors are related to hot water you are using for showering. Since this method of showering let larger amount of water enter your tissues, the structure of the tissues will be changed. Because of this excessive amount of water, the tissues are loosened, causing bumps protruding to the skin surface. Quite simultaneously, excessive entering water makes the amount of toxic substances leaving these tissues limited. As a result, there is toxin build ups inside your connective and fat tissues, which is the main triggering cause of cellulite. Since the excreted toxins is limited, you are experiencing poor lymph drainage that if prolonged, can be visible through the lumpy and bumpy appearance of the skin in certain areas of the body, especially those with excessive amount of fat tissues.
Despite this, hot water cannot be blamed for cellulite, since there are various combinations of risk factors that may lead to cellulite formation. If you have some existing cellulite, you can probably make its appearance worse by continuously showering with hot water. However, hot water alone will not likely to cause sharp-appearing cellulite on the skin.
How do I shower properly to prevent cellulite?
Many people prefer showering with hot water because compared to cold-water showering, it is relaxing, comfortable, flexible, and bearable. In the winter, showering with cold water can be excruciating and unbearable. A lot of people also find some benefits of hot shower including pain relieving and muscle relaxation that are helpful after a long, hectic day and tiring sports. However, prolonged hot showering is not recommended as it possesses some disadvantages, such as:
- Frequent hot shower may affect cardiovascular system, leading to hypertension and other heart-related problems.
- It depresses physiological functions of the body, since it brings additional heat into the organs and tissues of the body, which in longer term, is not recommended.
- Excessive hot water bath affects the hair and skin moisture. A hot shower will cause pores to open. If these pores are not re-closed, external bacteria and dirt can probably infest the pores, causing clogged pores that may end up in acne problems. Hot shower is also known to dry out the scalp, causing hair to be weak and brittle. Dry scalp may lead to various problems, including scalp pustules, dandruff problem, and falling hair.
The most proper way of having a shower that is not only promoting entire body health, but also preventing cellulite is to combine both cold and hot showers at once. This method is known as contrast, alternate showers, or hydrotherapy. This is an effective way of preventing cellulite and may be one of the natural remedy to reduce cellulite appearance. Contrast showers—the alternating showers between hot and cold showers ended up in the cold one—help letting more nutrients and oxygen enter the tissues and at the same time, boosts the removal of toxins and waste products from the tissues. In other words, this showering method gives a detoxification effect on each of the tissue, which can effectively prevent toxin build ups and simultaneously prevent the formation of cottage-like skin surface caused by bumps from accumulated fats and toxins. Hydrotherapy also helps reducing inflammation that will reduce and prevent the occurrence of cellulite all over the body.
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