system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
What is happening as my body adapts to higher and higher temperatures in the shower?

Upon entering the shower, even mild heat takes a fair amount of getting used to before my body adapts to it.  And once it does, I find myself slowly turning up the temperature to a point that would have felt scalding hot to me just 10 minutes prior.

What process allows my skin to adapt like this?  Is my body deciding it isn't being damaged, so the natural pain warnings are no longer being triggered?
gpt
Nerve cells will stop firing in response to a stimulus after a certain amount of stimulation - they will become desensitized.  For example, you were likely completely unaware of the feeling of your clothes on your body until you were just reading this sentence, yet when you put them on this morning you could feel them on your skin.  Essentially, your neurons "re-adjust" to the new condition as normal, so for you to feel the same sensation (of heat in this instance) you must increase the stimulus.