Bath Time

I read  a story (odd one that must have been a slow news day and it was used as a filler) in my newspaper about bathing, more specifically what would happen to a person who did not bathe or shower for one year. In past times bathing was rare, particularly in the west. Most bathing was public and very infrequent. But today were are "enlightened" and cleaner. What if a person today stopped bathing regularly, or even for a solid year?  Dermatologists were consulted about this no baths for a year thing, and they gave a typical scenario for not bathing.  Actually, it's more obvious what would happen to the uncleaned one than the more perplexing question of , "Why would anyone not bathe for a year"? According the the experts, here's what would happen.

First you would smell from both the bacteria and the dead skins that sits on your carcass. After a year you'd have a build-up of that "skin stratum corneum" (that's the dead skin on top of your skin. Next your skin would become oily or dry and become infected with fungus or yeast and then bacteria. The dirt on the skin could then cause warty growths, particularly on your underarms, behind the ears, on the neck and under a woman's breasts. The body's dead skin normally rises to the surface and is flaked off through normal washing, When that stops, the dead skin clumps together with your body's oils. The clumps would grow in patches and take on a brown hue once they collect dirt and other pollutants.

Ugh.... let me be less specific with some of the other non bathing effects, because this is disgusting enough. Next, you'd get infections and become very itchy (like from the dandruff we fight from time to time) and you would get acne and puss bumps on your body. The experts also say your "groin area' would be impacted greatly, getting itchy and red to burning and painful. No Saturday night dates for you! Among the other things that would happen is to develop scum between your toes (toe cheese, personified) and after all this when you would finally be motivated to take a bat, it would take weeks for you to return to normal hygiene.

Wow! It's pretty grim but no psychologically stable person would not bathe for a year.  What about mom saying that if you don't bathe every day you'll turn into pigpen from Peanuts?  The dermatologists say that showering every day is unnecessary. Mom lied to us! Every two, three or even four days is supposedly acceptable as long as you don't stink up the place. Generally, the organisms naturally found on her skin protect us from picking up harmful germs for a couple of days......Unless you are a person with fragile immune systems( newborns, the elderly and people suffering from cancer etc.) you better turn on your bath water tonight.