Take a cold shower after being out in the heat and you'll sweat more?

[zman977]

My mom, who is the queen of spreading old wives tales and Urban legends, would often tell us after we'd been out in the heat mowing the lawn or doing any strenuous activity on a hot day to not take a cold shower or we would end up sweating more after we were done showering. Now I never take cold or cool showers anyway so for me it was a moot point. I usually take hot showers but I was curious if there was any truth to this tale. My wife usually will take a cold shower when she is done working outside on a hot day and feels refreshed not hot and sweaty. Based on this anecdotal evidence I'm going to guess that my mom again was spreading an old wives tale. Any thoughts on this one?

[Seaboe Muffinchucker]

A Seattle Times discussion of the unusual heat this morning mentions taking a hot bath.

Dr. Pelayo said in addition to fans and air conditioning he's seen people try all sorts of techniques to cool off on hot summer nights, from lying on the floor, to taking a hot bath (which he said helps your body get rid of heat and cool down) to using ice packs — which he recommended always be covered with a cloth so as not to hurt your skin.

Seaboe

[cdav1313]

I work a good amount of my day outside and I always take a cold shower after a hot day and I always feel refreshed.

[moonlight]

Well maybe if the house was hot, the drop in body temp during the cold shower would make the air feel that much hotter when you were done showering. If the house was air-conditioned though, I don't see a problem.

[Flyer22]

If you've been working hard, cold water would certainly help you cool down. However, I have read (but never tried) that a hot bath helps your skin get acclimated to the heat, thus making things seem cooler in the long run.

[Chloe]

But sweating is a good thing in terms of your body's cooling system.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by Chloe

But sweating is a good thing in terms of your body's cooling system.

But not is terms of comfort, appearance, or smell.

If I can keep my body cool enough that I don't need to sweat, I'm that much better off.

[UEL]

We have training in heat and cold injuries, and although it is not the same, it is close to what is being discussed.

A normal cold shower does little to reduce your body's core temperature. When someone is suffering from a heat injury we cool them down through immersion (drastic and not usually allowed unless directed by medical personnel). Immersion is done in water that is not hot, but definitely not cold.

When I'm working outside, my core temperature can get quite high (39 degrees at times) and I sweat like a waterfall. By taking a shower, I feel good, but my internal temperature is still quite warm, leading to further sweating.

However, if the shower is long enough, my core temperature will reduce because I can easily dissipate the heat over time.

My favourite way to reduce my body's temperature is to put ice packs under my arms, in the armpit, and in my groin area. There are major blood vessels in those areas and they are great for transporting cooled blood around my body to cool it from the inside. Another way to cool from the inside is to drink cool water, it replaces your sweat and it cools you down. Enough from me.

[Chloe]

But what about the shrinkage?

[Tarquin Farquart]

I've sometimes had a cold shower on a hot day and then left myself relatively wet which keeps me cool for a time.

[DemonWolf]

Originally Posted by Chloe

But what about the shrinkage?

As shrinkage is not actually permanent, I'd guess that this is not really a problem unless he's planning on showing off Mr. Happy.

Originally Posted by DemonWolf

As shrinkage is not actually permanent, I'd guess that this is not really a problem unless he's planning on showing off Mr. Happy.

If he has just put an icepack in his groin I don't think Mr. Happy will be so happy.

[stalker]

I find that I'm fine outside in the heat, but if I go somewhere cold or enclosed soon after being somewhere hot, I notice that I'm sweating. Sweating cools you by evaporation so if you sweat somewhere hot, breezy and dry you will have less sweat staying as a liquid than if you sweat the same amount, but are somewhere cold, still and humid. I guess the body has a delayed reaction to being somewhere cold and will carry on sweating for a short while. This cold shower theory could be an extension of that.

All somewhat reasonable but what about the pores closing? Cool water should close the pores, right?