The more "mud" you rub off during the shower, the cleaner you will be. Is this true?

Author: Xu Lang Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Feng Jun, Deputy Chief Physician, Dermatology Department, General Hospital of Datong Coal Mine Group Co., Ltd.

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Harbin is on fire this winter. Visit the Ice and Snow World, eat iron pot stew, eat frozen pears... If you want to experience a complete "Northeastern trip", there is one indispensable item - bathing culture.

You may have heard about how happy Northeast bathhouses are. They are luxurious buildings starting from three floors. You can spend a whole day in them, taking baths, sweat steaming, scrubbing, and there are also different theme areas such as movie lounges, cafeterias, game halls, tea rooms, and study rooms. More importantly, all of this costs only about 100 yuan per person.

The picture comes from the Internet

We often see a saying on the Internet: the more "mud" you rub off when you take a shower, the cleaner you will be. So we all want to go to Northeast China to experience a "thorough" cleansing. Is this saying true?

analyze

Bathing is not suitable for everyone. If you don't distinguish some bathing misunderstandings, the result may be counterproductive. We have compiled a scientific experience guide for Northeast bathhouses for everyone, hoping that everyone can bathe happily, happily and healthily.

Step 1: Soak

The warm-up phase in a Northeastern bathhouse is not much different from that in other places in the country. It all involves turning on the shower to drench the body, wash off dust, and relax the muscles and bones (but southern friends may have to add a little psychological preparation work, after all, everyone here is "frank and honest").

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When your body has been warmed by the water, you can move to the hot spring pool next to it, immerse yourself in it, stretch your limbs, empty your mind, and gradually enter a state of mind as if you are floating in the air and ascending to heaven - at this point, you have officially stepped into the door of bathing in the Northeast.

However, although bathing is fun, the experience should be restrained:

1. The water temperature for bathing should not be too high

It is cold in winter, and many people like to take a bath with relatively high water temperature, thinking that this is particularly comfortable. But in fact, too high water temperature will excite our peripheral nerves and accelerate the loss of body water, which will in turn aggravate the dryness and itching of the skin after bathing, and may even induce urticaria.

Too high water temperature can easily lead to skin and blood vessel dilation, which can reduce blood supply to the heart and brain. People with underlying diseases may even suffer from arrhythmia and sudden death. Therefore, the water temperature for bathing should be close to human body temperature, about 37℃ to 38℃, and generally not more than 40℃.

2. Don’t take a bath for too long

When soaking in warm water at 38℃ ~ 40℃, the blood circulates throughout the body once every 1 minute. To warm us up from the inside out, the blood needs to circulate about 20 times. In other words, a bathing time of about 20 minutes is most appropriate.

Especially for people with cardiovascular diseases, it is not recommended to take a bath for a long time.

3. Do not take a bath on an empty stomach or right after a meal.

Taking a bath on an empty stomach can cause symptoms such as dizziness and nausea, but it is also not suitable to take a bath right after eating. When people have just finished a meal, a large amount of blood flows into the stomach. Hot water will cause a large amount of blood to flow to the skin, causing stomach ischemia and causing indigestion.

Step 2: Steaming

Most sauna rooms are made of wooden boards, with a row of wooden chairs on one side for people to sit and rest, and a large pot of charcoal on the other side. It used to be a real charcoal fire, but now it is basically just a decoration. The room is filled with steam and mist.

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Steaming is not only a key step in bathing in Northeast China - because "if it is not steamed enough, the mud will not come out", the bath scrubber will not be able to perform - but it is also a symbol of personal strength. The competition of "how long can you stay in the sauna" is probably the common childhood memory of many Northeast children.

There are also many precautions for steaming in the sauna:

1. Do not take a sauna on an empty stomach

When you relax in the steaming hot steam room, you will feel sweating profusely, which means your body is consuming energy. If you sweat on an empty stomach, you will easily experience hypoglycemia and fainting. Do not sweat when you are too full. It is recommended to enter the steam room 1 hour after a meal.

It is best to drink some beverages containing sodium and potassium ions or sugary salt water before and after taking a sauna to replenish the body's excessive consumption of water, salt and energy and maintain the body's electrolyte balance.

2. Don’t stay in the sauna for too long

Generally, each session should be within 10 minutes.

3. These types of people are not recommended to take a sauna

Under the high temperature of the sauna room, the skin temperature rises sharply, the capillaries dilate, and the blood pressure drops, resulting in a decrease in blood supply to the brain. Patients with chronic diseases and cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, such as hypertension, hypotension, hyperlipidemia, myocardial infarction, diabetes, etc., are not recommended to take a sauna.

Step 3: Rub

After the three processes of "brewing and steaming" are completed, the next step is the bath scrubbing session that is popular in the north but dreaded by the south.

The white plastic film is shaken, the water pipe is flushed, and the movements are smooth and flowing. Men rub two sides and women rub four sides. Every bath scrubber is a tenth-level scholar who is well versed in "Chinese Epidermal Dirt Science" and they guarantee that they will polish you smooth.

Bath towel, a magical bathing tool for northerners | Copyrighted image library, no authorization for reproduction

However, even people in the north who have been scrubbing their baths for more than 20 years may not realize their own misunderstandings about scrubbing their baths.

Many people are accustomed to using "mud" as a measure of whether the washing is clean or not. The more mud they rub off, the more sense of accomplishment they feel . However, from the perspective of skin health, the "rubbing hard" technique is gradually harming your skin.

These so-called "muds" are actually metabolic products of the human body. Its scientific name is sebum film, which is a mixture of oily substances secreted by the human body mixed with dust, microorganisms, and bacteria. It usually covers the outermost layer of the human body.

Although the sebum film looks like dirty "mud", it actually plays a protective role for the human body to a considerable extent. It not only protects the body from external damage, but also prevents the loss of nutrients in the body, especially water. Rubbing hard with a bath towel will damage this protective film, causing dry and sensitive skin, and even increase the risk of skin diseases.

If you really like to take a bath, it is recommended to refer to the following points:

1. If your skin is dry and itchy in winter, don’t rub it.

2. Choose a soft towel or other tool, not too rough

3. Pay attention to the intensity and be gentle to yourself

Regarding the bathing, one thing that must be mentioned in the Northeast bathhouse is the "additional services" such as milk, salt, and red wine. It is of course okay to experience it as a special experience. As for the claimed therapeutic effects, just listen to them.

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After completing this series of happy activities, remember to keep warm when going out, because there is a large temperature difference between indoors and outdoors, and it is easy to get sick if you are not careful. Make sure to keep warm before leaving this "happy paradise".

As the saying goes: "In the Northeast, there is nothing that cannot be solved by taking a bath. If there is, take it twice." The Northeast Bathhouse welcomes every traveler in a hurry to come in and take a rest.

in conclusion

The so-called "mud" is actually a metabolic product of the human body. Its scientific name is sebum film. Although it looks like dirty "mud", it actually plays a considerable protective role on the human body. It not only protects the body from external damage, but also prevents the loss of nutrients, especially water, in the body.

Rubbing hard with a bath towel will damage this protective film, causing dry and sensitive skin, and even increase the risk of skin diseases.

Source: Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Editor｜Wang Ti and Liu Yantong (internship)

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project. Please indicate the source when reprinting.

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