Help Encouragement to bathe

[Wolf Girl]

I'm having a very hard time with showering due to really autism stuff and chronic illness. I got a shower stool to make it a lot easier, but it's still really exhausting and painful to lift up my arms to wash my hair and then getting out and drying off feels so gross and upsetting.

Can I get some encouragement in this thread to get in there? Everyone feel free to seek support for yourself in this thread and share ideas for making showering easier.

 

[NearlyIrrelevantCake]

I struggle with showering, too. Part of it is anxiety caused by water, especially water on my face.

One thing that does help me--you don't always have to wash your hair every time you shower.

As for drying off--is the texture of the towels making it worse? Would finding differently-textured towels help? Just thinking out loud a bit here, my own 'tism is Hell with fabric textures.

 

[cemeteryismyhome]

I wish it was practical to have something like a car wash for people. I have always disliked taking a bath or shower, even as a kid, it's unpleasant. I don't like getting wet.

 

[peacefulout]

i also have a chronic illness that makes showering uncomfortable, painful, and undesirable :( what's helped for me is a shower chair (like you have!) and getting ready outside of the shower. the entire experience of showering can be quite stressful and fast, especially if the heat and water affect your chronic illnesses. sitting in the bathroom outside of the shower, i'll put some shampoo in my hair and slap some body wash on. then, when I get into the shower, i kinda just let the water run over me and spread the shampoo/wash everywhere. less effort for me! then if you want you can also put conditioner on :) you can also put a chair right outside the shower with a towel on it so you can sit, rest, and dry off :)

 

[Pluto]

 

[alwaysalone]

I'm having a very hard time with showering due to really autism stuff and chronic illness. I got a shower stool to make it a lot easier, but it's still really exhausting and painful to lift up my arms to wash my hair and then getting out and drying off feels so gross and upsetting.

Can I get some encouragement in this thread to get in there? Everyone feel free to seek support for yourself in this thread and share ideas for making showering easier.

What if you wash your body and use the dry shampoo on your hair b4 or after?

 

[Rounded Agony]

this is literally the opposite of what you're asking for - just offering in case it's useful, recognizing it may or may not be for everyone (as the source even notes) - but a few years ago, i started leaning into just showering less (by now basically not) because of my own personal barriers, after coming across this story of a doctor who went five years without showering...to no ill-effects:

https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/09/26/917019912/in-the-era-of-hygiene-clean-author-makes-the-case-for-showering-less

he notes that being a white male in a prestigious profession allows him to do this without suffering the worst potential social consequences, and his angle is that we've been sold (literally) the false idea that everyone needs to shower all the time to be healthy. but actually the skin is covered in healthy microbes that we eliminate with (over)showering.

he still would wash off dirt, occasionally wet his hair and never stopped washing his hands (can confirm: hands get gross as fuck - i wear gloves permanently due to health stuff and the lack of exfoliation makes them gross in a way the rest of my skin is not!). but also he talks about autoimmune skin stuff as it relates to harming our skin's immune system which is very interesting given out skin is a magic barrier literally constantly working hard to keep outside pathogens from invading.

so uh, tl;dr i guess is if you're medically able to shower less i highly suggest experimenting with and feeling ok about it, because as those of us here already tend to say, fuck fake social norms!

 

[SailorBlue]

I have the same problem as you.
Often washing myself is a chore and I hate having a wet head. So I try to "trick" my brain, I tell myself that I'm only going to enter the bathroom, then I'm only going to turn on the water etc. I don't know if that's understandable.

Also I try to have the least unpleasant time possible by using soaps/shampoos that have a scent that I like and fun/colorful packaging, and to make the least physical effort, also I only use the bare minimum soap and shampoo (no mask and conditioner) which reduce the time spent.

 

[wham311]

That dry texture shit KILLS me

 

[hippiedeath]

Give yourself a reward for doing it. This will make it go better.