Benefits of having a bath all depend on what you put in it

Posted February 11, 2018 09:00:47

Soaking in a tub of warm, soapy water is heaven to some — and a gross human soup hell to others.

Bathing has evolved from a basic way to get dirt off your skin into big business, with scented salts, fizzy bath bombs, jellies and countless more products on the market.

But while the feeling of lying in a tub full of scented bubbles might have its appeal, you should be aware the soap, scents and hot water can cause skin problems.

"The perfume parts that are in [bath products] can set off people's skin with allergic reactions," general practitioner Brad McKay said.

Dr McKay said some simple kitchen items could be used in a bath to give the benefits of expensive products without the added chemicals from scents and dyes.

"You can just use table salt and get the same benefit," he told Melanie Tait on ABC Radio Hobart.

"It just won't come with 11 secret herbs and spices with it."

Epsom or rock salt can be added to a bath to help with damaged skin.

"If you've got an infection or a wound, often doctors will recommend going out and swimming out in the seawater," Dr McKay said.

"There is a lot of [evidence] that salty water can be beneficial for healing wounds."

Doctors do sometimes recommend bleach baths also.

"It sounds horrible, but for some kids with terrible dermatitis, terrible eczema ... under medical advice we do recommend bleach baths because it works as an antiseptic," Dr McKay said.

Bleach baths use only a small amount of bleach in the water, like adding chlorine to a swimming pool, and should only be done under directions from a doctor.

"You've got to be careful, you've got to get the mixture right, you don't want to burn your skin."

Another product you can add to a bath to help your skin is oatmeal.

But rather than making a huge batch of porridge to sit in, put some oatmeal in a sock or stocking and soak it in the bath water.

"There's a chemical in that that can seep into your skin and provide a protective moisturising barrier," Dr McKay said.

And communal bathing?

A bath by yourself is no better or worse than a shower when it comes to getting clean, but what about sharing the water with others?

Sharing bathwater is common practice in many families to save water but it can be a way of spreading infections.

"If you're jumping in the bath with your siblings, bathwater is the perfect way of transferring them from person to person," Dr McKay said.

Infections such as molluscum contagiosum, a viral skin infection in the pox family, is a common condition in children and is easily spread through shared water.

Public bathing, such as Turkish baths or hot springs, should not be a problem as long as the water is treated with salts or chlorine and is moving or changed regularly.

"Human soup is always a beautiful thing to jump into," Dr McKay said.

"If you're getting a green sheen on the water, that's a bad sign.

"[But usually] there's a lot of salts and chemicals in the water to prevent bacteria from growing and making people very sick."

Topics: skin, health, human-interest, hobart-7000