In addition to cleanliness, giving the elderly a bath has unexpected benefits!

Taking a bath is a trivial thing that has long been taken for granted in everyone's life.

You may shower three times a week, he may shower every day, and although everyone's bathing habits may be different, in general, you can shower as long as you want!

But you know~

A long, long time ago

(Dating back to 2600 BC)

Only nobles have the opportunity to get a bathing "number card"

Enjoy this "luxury"

How luxurious is it?

Cleopatra

I heard that donkey milk can make your skin fair and tender

So I bathed with donkey milk 4 times a day

And they raise 700 donkeys for milk production.

Of course, taking bathing to the extreme

And the ancient Romans

Directly turn the bathhouse into the city center!

Here, you can not only enjoy water baths and steam baths of different temperatures, but also changing areas, massage areas, and sports areas for people to rest and exercise, and you can even eat and drink here.

(Yes, people thousands of years ago enjoyed it this way)

my country has thousands of years of history

It was also mentioned in ancient books such as Oracle Bones, Records of the Grand Historian, and Rites of Zhou.

Records of bathing appeared

With the continuous progress of society

In ancient times, due to aristocratic status, sacrificial rituals, etc.

To take a bath once

Now it has been realized

“Everyone can wash whenever they want 24 hours a day”

I have to say, this is a welcome change!

Taking a bath not only keeps our body clean and hygienic, inhibits the growth of bacteria and reduces the possibility of disease, but also helps us manage our image, improve our personal cultivation and charm, and also serves as a spiritual comfort.

But it is worth noting that you should not take a bath too frequently!

Let’s first look at some interesting phenomena that scientists have discovered in their research:

Moreover, as the research deepens, more and more scholars believe that humans and microorganisms on their body surfaces (especially bacteria) have a symbiotic relationship.

So, don’t think that you will be very clean if you take a bath frequently. Even if you can wash away all the bacteria on the surface of your skin, it is not necessarily a good thing.

From another perspective, the skin has its own metabolic pattern and is renewed every 28 days.

Frequent bathing will destroy the skin's "brick wall structure" barrier function and reduce our ability to resist harmful external factors.

Especially for the elderly, as they age, the temperature perception of the skin surface and the metabolic rate of epidermal cells will decrease!

Frequent bathing (especially with hot water above 37°C), coupled with cleaning products such as soap and shower gel, will accelerate the loss of the skin's brick wall structure - making it more likely that the elderly will experience dry skin, itching, erythema, peeling and other discomforts in the elbows and calves.

In addition, the biggest challenge for the elderly when taking a bath is that the risk of falling is greatly increased! And the probability of serious adverse consequences such as fractures after falling is higher.

A randomized study in the UK showed that using bathroom facilities with non-slip, barrier-free walk-in areas can improve the quality of life of the elderly and reduce the risk of falls.

So for the elderly to take a bath

Huaxi doctors have the following suggestions

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● Keep your hands clean and avoid wearing tight clothing;

● Make good time arrangements to avoid frequent and long baths (depending on personal circumstances, bathing once a month is not too little, and bathing three times a week is not too much);

● Let the elderly take a bath in a familiar environment as much as possible. It is best if the bathroom has no threshold, handrails, benches, non-slip floors or mats, and sufficient lighting;

● When bathing, use a high-temperature soaking method such as a tub bath, shower, sauna, etc. Never stand in a bathtub to shower;

● When bathing, focus on cleaning the armpits, groin, and perineum. Do not rub vigorously. Use patting rather than scratching to relieve itching;

● After bathing, you should apply moisturizing products all over your body. If you experience dry skin, itching, erythema, peeling and other symptoms, you can seek medical attention and take medication if the symptoms are serious.

● For the very elderly or those who cannot bathe independently, have difficulty moving, or when bathroom conditions are inconvenient, you can wipe them with a wet towel and change their underwear every day instead of taking a bath; you can also send the elderly to a professional bathing institution to bathe with the help of experienced staff.