A shower is part of many people’s daily routine, and a practice many probably don’t give much thought to. But the products you use in the shower could be negatively impacting your skin.
Dr John Zade is a doctor and dermatologist in the US who shares health advice online, from secrets to losing weight to how to treat nail fungus at home.
Posting on his TikTok account, which has more than 133,000 followers, Dr Zade warned against using one particular thing in the shower – and if you use it, you should stop now.
He said: “What’s that one thing? A loofah. These things harbour a lot of bacteria and people use them on their bodies, hang them back up, the bacteria grows, and it’s not good for your skin.”
Loofahs are popular, particular for making skin feel clean. But Dr Zade also warned they can be “super abrasive on your skin”.
So throw out your loofah, said Dr Zade, and use your hands when using body soap or body wash.
He said: “Your skin will look a lot better.”
Not washing properly can also leave you more vulnerable to skin conditions and fungal infections.
Family physician Doctor Jen Caudle, also from the US, revealed five parts of the body many people forget to wash properly.
Sharing advice on TikTok she urged people to make sure they clean:
- The belly button
- Behind the ears
- Under the fingernails
- Legs
- Between the toes
She explained to her followers: “These are five body parts you are not washing enough. Our number one, your belly button. That’s right, a lot of people don’t wash their belly button at all. Guys, it gets gross. Please wash your belly button.
“Number two is behind the ears. The top of the ear behind this little area here, and the back, and also the lobe I want you to specifically wash that area.”
She shared one way to know if the back of your ears need a clean: “And one way to know is if you do this, you rub your ear, you rub somewhere and you smell it and it’s gross, you haven’t washed it recently.”
Dr Caudle continued: “The next thing is making sure that you wash or rather scrub underneath your fingernails. This is where a lot of dirt and grossness gets trapped under our fingernails. We don’t often think about it.
“Number four, our legs. Yeah, I want you to actually wash your legs. I’m not talking about letting soap run down your legs in the shower, I’m talking about washing. Wash your legs please.
“And number five, your toes. Okay, get in between those toes and make sure you’re washing them. You want to make sure you’re providing infections of many different sorts, so make sure you’re deliberately washing your toes and the rest of your body, by the way.”
