Cold and Flu Season — Could Your Daily Shower be Making You Sick?

Could it be true, could your daily shower be more of an invitation to cold and flu to come hang out with you? Your daily shower could be setting you up to get sick.

Research says it's not exactly the shower that could be making you sick or setting you up to get sick, but the way you bathe might be.

Especially in the winter months when the air is drier, showers and baths really are just a recipe for agitated skin that is indefinably dry and itchy. Not to mention, ever shower or bath where you lather and lather could be breaking down your bodies ability to fight off infection by washing away good bacteria. This lines you up for cold and flu.

The answer isn't to welcome body odor with a stinky no shower lifestyle, but there are better ways to bathe. The assistant professor of medicine in the division of dermatology at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine says to stop over-sudsing. Use your soap on the important spots and don't bother with the others. What's important? Well, for starters, your armpits! The professor says that soaps remove your natural oils and dry out your skin, so skip sudsing your back, legs and such and concentrate on your feet, groin and other potentially smelly places.

What else can you do in fighting off cold, flu and dry irritated skin? Don't bathe in hot water, use lukewarm and keep your showers short. And of course, don't forget to moisturize.