Benefits of Hot Bath: Is a Hot Bath Good for You?
If you’re renovating a bathroom and discussing whether to install or keep a bath, it can often seem like the space required could be better used or that a shower is much more efficient all round. There are other advantages to a bath, however, beyond just hygiene.
A hot bath is often cited as having multiple benefits for general health and wellbeing, including help with muscle recovery and relaxation. R2 Bathrooms is dedicated to creating small bathrooms made for living, so our Sky and Serenity baths with UltraCore are perfect for maximizing the advantages of a hot bath and fitting within a range of spaces.
If you’re looking for a reason to install a bath instead of, or as well as, a shower, creating a calming environment to relieve some stress or soothe aching joints and muscles, we have gathered some key takeaways to better inform your decision making.
Benefits of a hot bath: A soak before bed leads to better sleep
A recent study by the University of Texas has shown that the ideal bath temperature for sleep benefits is 40 - 42 degrees Celsius when you bathe one to two hours before bed, which can lead to improved sleep.
This hinges on the effect when you exit the bath, as heat increases blood flow toward the skin, including the hands and feet, and will result in a sudden cooling of the body when you get out. The human body’s internal temperature and sleep are determined by your circadian clock, and a drop in temperature indicates that you’re ready for sleep.
In fact, our body temperatures can drop by three degrees Fahrenheit from late afternoon to early evening while your body prepares to rest. Assisting this process by preparing your body in advance of your desired bed time increases your chance of being ready for sleep at the right time, therefore also improving the quality of sleep.
Adding this to a routine of reducing disruptive blue light, often found in digital displays, and using ambient light rather than overhead will increase the likelihood of reaching restorative REM sleep.
Muscle and joint relief: How bathing can help
Whether you’re trying to recover after a workout, managing a condition such as arthritis or just looking to unwind after a hard day at work, a hot bath can stimulate both healing and relaxation.
Warm water, ideally between 33 – 38 degrees Celsius, can improve blood flow using hydrostatic pressure. This is when a consistent amount of pressure, created by the water, surrounds your body when you are submerged. This, in turn, gently moves blood around the body. The warmth of the water helps this process, as it causes your blood vessels to widen, or dilate.
By supplying more blood to the parts of your body that need recovery those parts will heal faster, repairing the microscopic muscle fibre damage created by pushing those muscles hard. The other benefit is relaxing your body as a whole, easing any remaining tension and allowing healing to take place. Adding Epsom salts may further ease sore muscles and muscle tension during the soak. Only 15-20 minutes is required to experience these gains, making it perfect for an end-of-workout routine.
Improving cardiovascular health and lower blood pressure: How a heat can help
A hot bath can support heart health with effects similar to light cardiovascular exercise, making it perfect for anyone unable to get out for a brisk walk or cycle. It has benefits akin to a gentle workout, but without the risk of injury or repetitive impact on your body.
In a similar fashion to exercise, a hot bath creates an amount of demand, albeit gentle, on your heart. This, along with widening the blood vessels, may temporarily lower blood pressure and helps improve general cardiovascular health, though anyone prone to dizziness should be cautious.
In fact, a 20-year study in Japan proved that a hot bath can help lower the possibility of heart disease. In the outcomes of more than 30,000 people who bathed daily, 28% were less likely to develop cardiovascular disease and 26% less likely to have a stroke compared to those who took baths less than twice a week.
Although a bath won’t ever replace exercise, it can be very helpful to anyone with health or mobility issues that prevent you from traditional cardio. It may also complement regular exercise rather than replace it. For some people, it may offer mild relief that reduces reliance on pain relievers, though it’s not a substitute for medical advice.
Using a hot bath to help mental wellbeing
The advantages of a hot bath can go far beyond the physical, helping with psychological wellbeing to an equal extent. There is neuroscientific evidence that increasing the body’s temperature can release serotonin, the mood-regulating hormone, and endorphins, which trigger stress relief.
A study of 45 people with depression showed a 20-minute bath at around 40 degrees Celsius yielded better, more sustained improvements in mood than those exercising for 45-50 minutes. Although still an ongoing study and therefore not exhaustive, this does highlight how relaxation can improve your mood.
Removing yourself from the everyday stresses of life by lying in a hot bath for an extended period is a logical way of becoming calmer in general, and adding warmth helps induce those relaxing feeling.
Our range of baths allow you to create a calming oasis in your house, regardless of the space you may have, thanks to 1500 and 1600mm length options, helping relieve stress, lift mood, and calm the nervous system.
Take a hot bath to soothe and moisturize skin
One of the more obvious benefits of a hot bath is cleaning your body. Removing dirt and grime from the surface while opening the pores and gently cleansing the skin is hugely beneficial, and can help soothe other conditions such as psoriasis and eczema at the same time.
A warm bath rather than overly hot water can help ease itching and moisturize dry areas, including minor scrapes and scratches and insect bites, while very hot water can strip the skin’s natural oils and worsen dryness. By soaking and allowing the water to remove sweat and other potential irritants a bath also removes the need to scrub, which can also provoke the affected areas.
Avoiding fragranced or alcohol-based products and, if your skin tolerates them, using bath salts cautiously will help, as will a moisturizer. Be sure to properly research your condition before adding anything to your bath or skin.
Fighting cold and flu with a hot bath
If you’re feeling a bit under the weather, a long soak in a hot bath can help fight a cold or flu in a number of ways. A hot bath can battle many of the major viral symptoms, including sinus blockage, fever and muscle aches.
The steam helps to open up the nasal passages, loosening up mucus and making it easier to breathe. Warm water also increases your heart rate, increasing the oxygen intake which helps your immune system battling the virus. Raising your body temperature also triggers your body’s fever response, helping to create an inhospitable environment for the virus.
Adding essential oils such as peppermint or eucalyptus can further aid this, although be sure to dilute prior to dropping into the bath to avoid skin and/or eye irritation. Thanks to the multi-layer UltraCore design, R2 bathtubs keep water warmer for longer, so you can enjoy a relaxing soak for longer.
Keeping your bath hot for longer; Introducing UltraCore
To help you fully utilize the benefits of a hot bath, R2 Bathrooms has introduced UltraCore. Forming the foundation for our bathing range, UltraCore is designed for strength, stability and lasting comfort.
Thanks to the multi-layer design your bath water stays warmer for longer, while also helping to save energy by eliminating the need for a refill. The reinforced strength construction means that both Sky and Serenity ranges are built to withstand the demands of everyday life in a busy household.
With a 5mm acrylic surface and 1800 baseboard for superior support, UltraCore is also backed by a 10-year guarantee giving plumbers, installers and customers lasting peace of mind.
Bath vs Shower
Deciding between a bath and shower can be easily summarized as the difference between efficiency and relaxation. A shower is perfect for the busy morning, using less water and achieving a high level of cleanliness in a short period of time. Conversely a bath encourages a longer period spent in the water, one of life’s simple pleasures, giving you chance to relax after a long day, and relieve joint pain or muscle soreness.
There’s no reason to choose between one or the other, however. A combination of R2 Bathrooms Sky or Serenity baths and a bath/shower mixer, or separate bath filler and shower, can provide you with the perfect combination for both a hectic morning and relaxing evening.
A bath temperature guide: Getting the best results from your soak
Choosing the right water temperature for your bath affects comfort, safety, and the health and relaxation benefits you get from it, as well as how long you can comfortably stay in.
33°C – 36°C: The Recovery Soak
This is perfect for post-workout soothing to help with recovery. It is warm enough to relax muscles and boost circulation without causing overheating or excessive sweating, allowing you to return to a normal temperature after exercise. This range is the right temperature for a shorter recovery dip when you want circulation support without overheating.
37°C – 39°C: The Everyday Soother
By matching or slightly exceeding natural human body temperature, this range is the best bath temperature for everyday comfort, stress relief, skin hydration, and general muscle relaxation, while being less likely than very hot water to strip the skin’s natural oils. This is best for a longer soak, being comfortable for up 30 minutes, though staying in too long or making the water too hot can contribute to dehydration.
40°C – 42°C: The Sleep Helper
Triggering rapid vasodilation and heavy sweating at this highest bath range places a stronger cardiovascular demand on the body, somewhat like light exercise. By gently putting your body to this point you can see results in battling illness or helping your mood.
Stay hydrated, and stop if the heat feels excessive or makes you dizzy. Bear in mind the higher temperatures should only be used for limited time periods, with only 15-20 minutes advisable at 40 degrees and over, as temperatures that are too high can also increase the risk of burns.
Can I have a bath?: The do’s and don’ts when you’re renovating
Putting a bath into your bathroom needs some careful consideration, as there are plenty of practical considerations to make. For starters, the bath will put a fair amount of stress on the flooring of your bathroom, as a human body in a bath full of water can add an extra 250-350kg, meaning some homes, especially the likes of Victorian properties, may need reinforcing to bear the weight.
Drainage is naturally a significant part of the placement of the bath, so replacing an existing bath might not give you complete freedom over where the new one is located. The waste pipe needs a consistent slope to the main soil stack to drain effectively, and placing the long side of the bath parallel to the joists makes hiding the drainage pipework far easier, so before getting too attached to an arrangement be sure to consult a plumber and/or designer.
The space you step into on exiting the bath also needs thinking about, as you need to be able to comfortably get out and dry off after a long soak. Around a metre squared is optimum, but about 0.7 metre squared should be seen as a minimum. If you’re pushed for room and need to readjust some furniture choices, both the Klein and Serenity ranges are perfectly geared towards limited space, without sacrificing practicality.
