The Benefits of Showering Before Bed You Never Knew About

You’ve heard of showering in the morning to wake yourself up, but did you also know that showering at night has some amazing benefits as well?

In order to get a truly restful sleep and wake up feeling ready to tackle the world, learn why showering before bed can be life changing.

There are so many different ways to shower and bathe yourself that may have varying effects on your body (which I’ll explain in a moment). However, as it turns out, there is actually an ideal time and temperature of your shower that gives you the most improved sleep.

Then, it comes to the question of ‘does taking a bath or shower make a difference?’ Luckily for you, they both provide amazing benefits! So with that said, keep reading to learn the benefits of showering before bed and how the temperature and form may effect your body.

Do you want to create the perfect nighttime routine? Check out my post ‘The Ultimate Nighttime Routine Checklist for Better Sleep‘.

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Benefits of Showering Before Bed

When a nightly shower becomes part of your bedtime routine, it can actually help to send a signal to your brain that it is time to sleep.

In addition, showering before bed has other benefits including:

• Reduces build up of sweat and dirt on your bed
• Cleanses your skin before sleep

Research has found that people have a variety of responses on the temperature of the water such as warm or cool. This may mean that whether you take hot or cold shower before bed can be nothing more than a personal preference.

However, based on research, it is more known that warm showers are better for relaxing and releasing tension while cool showers may be better for stimulating the body and making it more alert.

Below I will dive more into how warm and cool water effects your body.

Effects of Warm Water

Everyone dreams of taking a nice, warm shower after a long day. What you might not realize is that you are actually getting a lot of health benefits as well.

Some benefits include:

• Flushes out toxins
• Soothes your body and mind
• Clears your skin
• Relaxes muscles
• Improve sleep

In general, a warm shower at night is better at improving your sleep because your body temperature increases in the shower. Then, when you get out, your body will start working to cool-down. This ‘cool-down’ process makes the body feel tired.

Pretty cool right?

However, if a warm, night-time shower isn’t your thing, they are a ton of other ways to help improve your sleep and have good sleep hygiene. 

Effects of Cool Water

Although getting into cold water isn’t the most pleasant feeling, it can actually provide many health benefits that differ from warm water.

These benefits include:

• Reduces inflammation
• Lowers stress levels
• Improves circulation
• Reduces muscle soreness and fatigue

One study found that these responses to experiencing cold water temperatures is because it increases activity in the sympathetic nervous system, which activates the body ‘fight or flight’ responses. It is also triggered by exercise, stress and danger.

In these situations, our bodies can increase our heart rate and deliver more oxygen to areas of the body that need it and a variety of other responses. For this reason, colder shower are not typically uses to improve sleep and relaxation. 

However, knowing when to take a warm or cold shower can have amazing effects on your body. For example, a cold shower will be best for an athlete who suffers from a sports injury as a cold shower can help to reduce inflammation.

Contrary, someone who suffers from tight muscles or arthritis, may benefit more from a warm shower as it helps to relax and loosen tight muscles.

What’s the optimal timing to shower?

As we learned above, when showering at night, you will find best results for improving sleep with the water being a warm temperature.

So what’s the optimal timing?

You should shower ninety minutes before you want to go to sleep. The warm water increases your body temperature and when you step out of the shower, your body will start working to cool-down, which makes you feel tired.

Ninety minutes will allow your body to regulate its circadian rhythms which tells the body when to be alert and when to be tired.

Take a 10-15 minute warm shower about ninety minutes before bed to help you fall asleep quickly and improve your sleep quality. 

Bath vs. Shower: Which one is better?

When it comes to whether you should take a bath or shower before bath, it just depends on personal preference and your goal.

If you’re interested in relaxation, easing fatigue and soothing the skin, taking a bath might be the better option. However, if you are more interested in efficiently cleansing the body, a shower will do the trick. 

When it comes to improving sleep, that is triggered by the heating of the body and it’s cooling response, rather than whether you are submerged or standing. Therefore, either gives effective results. 

Although showering and immersion bathing may provide similar benefits, when it comes to overall physical and mental health, immersion bathing may provide additional benefits compared to shower bathing. 

One study published in 2018 found that participants that took immersion baths in warm water each day experienced less stress, muscle fatigue and improved mood.

Additional bathing benefits may include:

• Soothe irritated skin 
• Relieve cold and flu symptoms 
• Relieve muscle soreness and fatigue
• Hydrate the skin  

While showering and immersion bathing provide similar benefits and can often be nothing more than personal preference, it really depends on what underlining goal you are wanting to accomplish.

And that is it! What type of bathing to you prefer? Are you a morning or nighttime shower kind of person? Let me know in the comments!