Are Hot Showers Actually Dangerous?

With the seasons changing, there's no better way to start the day when it's cold outside than a steaming hot shower. While regular hot showers may wreak havoc on your skin during colder months, could they do even more damage?

Hot showers wash off the body's natural coating of oil that typically keeps your skin healthy and elastic. As you get older, the body produces less oil and thus, issues with dry skin become more apparent.

Couple that with an indoor heater's ability to suck any moisture that may have existed -- especially in our ultra-dry climate -- and it can be a recipe for disaster.

To add insult to injury, there are doctors who claim that hot showers might even be deadly! How, you ask?

The claim is that the heat in hot water allows more chlorine gas (which is used to treat most water to make it safe for consumption/bathing) to be absorbed through the skin and breathed in the air. They claims that the chlorine and other carcinogens found in water may lead to many forms of cancers, along with asthma, heart disease and eczema.

Maybe some sites are just trying to scare us. Maybe they are just trying to peddle some kind of whack job high-priced water filter. Will it prevent me from showering any more often? Nope - that's just yuck.

I'll take my chances and keep on singing the J.R.R. Tolkien "O! Water Hot" bath song.

[via How Stuff Works, Seagull Distribution, Peer Trainer and Six Wise]