The pressures of daily life in Africa provide a natural incentive to pace ourselves, and a warm shower or bath could act as a basic boost or relaxant, depending on the time of the day. Given this, the use of warm water for hygiene comes very vitally considering its role in killing germs.
Globally, there has been a call for households to develop a habit of bathing with warm water as a measure of promoting hygienic condition. Since personal hygiene holds the key to staying free from germs and bacterial infections, experts in the health sector have harped on the need to use warm water to promote personal hygiene in both homes and offices.
A health practitioner, Mrs. Taiwo Balogun while speaking on the matter said Africans need to take their hygiene more serious in this era to stay healthy.
Mrs. Balogun stated that it was important that Africans imbibe the habit of washing their hands with warm water and soap after handling or touching a used face mask. According to her, failure to adhere to such simple instruction of washing face mask with warm water poses a great danger to getting infected.
Similarly, another physician, Dr. Bukky Tikare stressed that Africans should see warm water bath as a skin therapy as it helps a great deal in promoting circulation which results in firmer, younger-looking skin alongside ensuring the release of dead skin cells, bacteria, and other impurities that clog the pores.
“Warm water hydrates the skin and naturally moisturizes the face. Not only does a warm bath make the blood flow easier, but it also makes it more oxygenated by allowing you to breathe deeper and slower, particularly when taking in steam,” Dr. Tikare added.
While advising Africans to make warm water bath a regular habit, she said a fulfilling and enjoyable hot water experience that guarantees hygienic lifestyle can only happen provided one frequently washes his or her bath with hot water and a bathtub recommended clearing agent.
Also speaking, a nutritionist, Dr Adewale Ilori, has advised Africans to embrace the use of warm water to bath during cold weather, saying that it lowers blood sugar.
In an interview with our correspondent, Dr. Ilori said warm water bath could lower blood pressure and makes people having difficulty in sleeping fall asleep faster.
“A warm water bath may help to lower blood sugar and burn calories. Research has shown that warm water bath is an important measure of metabolic fitness. A warm water bath is good for those with heart conditions, as it helps in improving their condition; it is also good for those who don’t have heart conditions.
However, those with heart conditions must consult their physicians before embarking on a warm water bath, it is capable of raising the rate of their heartbeat. If the physician says it is safe, then it is a great way of reducing the blood pressure.
For those people that find it difficult to sleep at night, a warm water bath may change the story and ensure that they fall asleep faster. A warm water bath is capable of relaxing the body and better prepares them to fall asleep faster. When a stressed person embarks on a warm bath, the water reduces the body temperature and relaxes the muscles. A Relaxed muscle soothes the body physically and mentally,” Dr. Ilori said.
He, however, warned that a 20 minutes warm bath was enough for people so that they do not all asleep in the bathroom.
On his part, a Dermatologist, Dr. Chukwuka Abiri, said besides warm water bath, Africans must learn to extend such culture to household chores as it guarantees total clean wash.
“If you take a critical examination, you would realise than warm water has more benefits than cold water. In the case of household cleaning, warm water offers superior cleaning power compared with cold water. This is so because the drying time required for dishes are reduced, grease, germ traces and residue are removed,” Dr. Abiri stated.
Dr. Abiri further encouraged everyone to practise the use of warm water to make the skin looks brighter as well as enhance the capacity of the heart.
“A lot of people do not like the wrinkled skins they get after a warm bath, but it has a good effect on the skin. The warm water leaves the skin moist for a longer period, prevents it from drying up and getting those little cracks that often appear when it is dry.
“Dipping the body in warm water to the neck is kind of an exercise for the blood vessels. This is because water creates physical pressure on the body and so it increases the capacity of our heart. It also helps to relieve cold/flu symptoms. We are already in the raining season, a warm shower will act as a natural decongestant to relieve cold symptoms, as the hot steam moisturises nasal passages.
“Taking a 10 to 15-minute water bath can also help people to feel better while the body is trying to get better. Most types of headaches are caused by the narrowing of blood vessels in the head. The positive effect of the warm water on our blood vessels can be used to alleviate the pressure on those blood vessels and cure headaches.”