Your friendly reminder to take a post-workout shower, please!

If your days are as busy as ours, chances are you’re just trying to squeeze in a workout whenever you can: in between meetings, during lunch hour, before after-work drinks with the ladies.

When you’re always running from one appointment to another, there will be days when skipping that post-workout shower sounds like the best idea.

Allow us to remind you: It’s not.

Illustration: Jannielyn Ann Bigtas/GMA News

The gym is a petri dish of microorganisms

Pediatric and adult dermatologist Dr Malou Palmero of The Medical City and the University of Santo Tomas Hospital recommends taking a shower immediately after working out: “Not only is it refreshing, but it will also remove sweat and even bacteria, yeast, and molds that [you] could have picked up at the gym while working out.”

Claire Reyes-Habito, MD, FPDS of the Asian Hospital and Medical Center, explains that just by sharing gym equipment, infections can transfer from person to person. Although she points out that it’s not a must, she suggests you apply alcohol on your hands before and after handling the equipment and machines. “Patients can get viral warts in their hands from unclean gym equipment,” she warns.

Still not convinced? Okay, maybe Palmero’s laundry list of skin issues you can get from the gym will: folliculitis, impetigo (or mamaso in Filipino), ringworm (including athlete’s foot and jock itch), yeast infection, allergic contact dermatitis, and prickly heat.

Folliculitis is a common skin condition where, according to the Mayo Clinic, the hair follicles become inflamed due to bacterial or fungal infection. They first appear as red bumps or white-head pimples which, if they become infected, can turn into crusty sores. Aside from being itchy and sore, severe cases could also lead to permanent hair loss and scarring.

You can also pick up impetigo at the gym. The Mayo Clinic describes it as a highly contagious skin disease characterized by red sores that usually form around the nose and mouth. These sores easily rupture, ooze, then form a yellowish-brown crust. Although more common among kids aged two to five, people who participate in contact sports are also at risk of getting the disease.

If you find a ring-shaped rash after spending time at the gym, you may have ringworm, a fungal skin infection that, WebMD says, appears as a red, itchy ring-shaped rash. The fungus that causes ringworms lives and thrives in moist areas of the body, like between the toes or in the groin area. When the fungus affects the feet (Tinea Pedis), you get athlete’s foot. If it affects the groin area (Tinea Cruris) you get jock itch.

As for yeast infection, Palmero says it can develop in sweaty regions like the groin, underarm, or under the breast, and that sweat trapped in these regions could further aggravate the condition.  

She adds that you could also develop allergic contact dermatitis from exposure to rubber and metal in gym equipment or prickly heat from clogged sweat ducts caused by excessive sweating and prolonged exposure to heat and sweat.

But post-workout showers still seem impossible, Reyes-Habito suggests you change your clothes at the very least. “Change your shirt before heading to your next activity, so that the germs will not proliferate with the moisture. Don’t just let the sweat dry out,” she advises.

Palmero agrees, “Ideally, [you should] take a shower after working out. If that’s not possible, at least wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water. [Also, pat the sweat on your body dry,] especially along skin folds, and change your clothes immediately.”

But perhaps the bigger question: Should it be a cold shower or a hot one?

For Palmero, people with dry skin should shower with lukewarm or cold water because warm or hot water can further dry the skin.

But according to Pattie Palma Gil-Poniente, a Barre3 teacher at Barre3 Philippines, a nice warm shower one hour after workout is recommended. “A cold shower will halt the detoxification process that happens when your body generates heat from the practice. You want to continue to sweat out more and allow the body to cool down naturally before you shower.”

Abbey Rivadelo, yogi and part owner of the White Space Mind and Body Wellness Studio in Katipunan, agrees, recommending to wait at least two hours after yoga practice before showering. “The type of sweat you create from yoga comes from a combination of deep breathing and doing the poses, so [the level of detox that occurs] is different.”

She adds that the fact that yoga falls under Eastern medicine practices while dermatology is Western medicine could explain the differences in beliefs regarding when to take a shower after working out.

She also advises to keep the water temperature as close to your body temperature as possible when taking a post-yoga shower. “I prefer warm showers, then turn the temp down at the end to ensure my pores close properly.”

For Carla Paredes, an instructor at Electric Studio Indoor Cycling and Elev8 Lagree, a hot shower is better for your muscles. “But I finish with cold water for my skin and hair.”

Reyes-Habito reports she has not found any strong evidence to support either one or the other. Hot shower or cold, the important thing is you take a shower after a workout. — LA, GMA News