Doctor explains astonishing reasons why everyone must avoid extremely hot showers

A shower simply soothes a person and adds a refreshing touch to the start or end of their day. Undoubtedly, individuals love to have it set at their preferred temperatures. While some love moderate-temperature showers, others love cold, soothing ones. However, few people enjoy extremely hot showers, almost close to that of boiling water. While it may seem satisfying, Dr. Mahyar “Max” Maddahali, an M.D.—who goes by @itsdrmax—is widely popular on TikTok for his medical guidance, weighed in, saying it may not be the best idea. In his video, he explained 5 reasons why one must avoid extremely hot showers. The doctor reacted to a video where a couple were sharing their preferred shower settings.

The man in the video filmed the shower knob and gave examples of the coldest and hottest temperatures and then shared the common temperature at which people shower. He then moved the handle a little farther from the boiling point but still extremely close and said that his wife loved having a shower with water very close to boiling hot. After viewing the video, the doctor shared some reasons why a hot shower may not be as beneficial as one thinks.

His first reason revolved around the idea of natural oils on one’s skin. Dr. Max said, “There are certain natural oils on your skin that keep your skin moist. Extremely hot water can wash them off completely.” He also mentioned that it could be a cause for dryness.

The next reason was the dilation of blood vessels. “Hot water can dilate your blood vessels, so it causes redness and irritation.” Moving on, the doctor mentioned a quite common reason: hair fall. He said that very hot water can cause hair damage that sows the seed for several hair problems like dandruff, hair fall and so on. Dr. Max pointed out the next reason and said, “If you’re taking too hot showers, it can drop your blood pressure and cause you to faint.” While pointing out his last reason, Dr Max said, “Hot showers can compromise your immunity system.” Towards the end of his video, the doctor highlighted the fact that these problems occur only with extremely hot showers that are close to boiling hot.

A trusted doctor by viewers for his opinion and knowledge on the platform, his viral video has garnered over 10M views, with 631K likes. With over 6k comments, many users found the threats of an extremely hot shower eye-opening. Many even confirmed the symptoms and effects, as mentioned by Dr. Max. @ninjacakester said, “Oh, that’s why I feel like I’m about to faint whenever I take hot showers.” @vinchenzo14 said, “Maybe that’s why my face is really dry and red.” @destinyydabbs said, “One time, I was having a hot shower for almost 30 minutes and was about to faint, so I had to rush out.”

While many simply did not want to part with the warm and soothing feeling of extremely hot showers provided, others took heed of the doctor’s advice. @bbbx13 said, “I never understood hot boiling showers, I like mine warm.” @sirenxity said, “That explains everything. Thank you, I’ll start using warm water.”

Editor's note: This article was originally published on November 21, 2023. It has since been updated.