A Necessary Ritual

Some people see showers as a necessary (and lovely) ritual that all decent human beings do daily…
有些人把洗澡当成一个必要（和美好）的仪式，所有得体的人每天都洗澡......

A Chore

While others believe it’s a chore to avoid until the last possible minute and then do as quickly as humanly possible.
而其他人则认为洗澡是项琐碎的事，直到最后一分钟才洗，而且洗得非常快。

If you’re in this category and have ever wondered how often you actually need to clean your body, the answer is: not as often as most Americans probably think.
如果你是这类人，从没想过到底要洗多少次。答案是，并不像美国人想的那么频繁。

A Cultural Phenomenon

Two dermatologists tell BuzzFeed Life that most Americans shower way more than is necessary.
两位皮肤病学家告诉BuzzFeed生活栏目，大多数美国人洗澡频率远比所需的次数多。

According to Dr. Joshua Zeichner, assistant professor of dermatology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, how frequently we shower and what we perceive as body odor is “really more of a cultural phenomenon.” Boston dermatologist Dr. Ranella Hirsch echoes this sentiment. “We overbathe in this country and that’s really important to realize,” she says. “A lot of the reason we do it is because of societal norms.”
根据纽约西奈山医院皮肤病学助理教授舒亚·蔡克纳博士，洗澡的频率和我们认为的体香实际上更是一种文化现象。波士顿皮肤病学家博士赫希也有同感。“我们在这个国家，洗澡的频率太多了。我们意识到这一点是很重要的。”她说，“我们对洗澡频率研究的很多原因是因为社会规范。”

The Result Of Good Advertising

And those norms are mainly the result of good advertising.
而这些社会规范主要是广告宣传的好的结果。

After the Civil War, both advertising and “toilet soap” (i.e., soap for the body) became more prevalent in the United States, says Katherine Ashenburg, author of The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History. “Americans turned out to be much more gullible and susceptible to these things than Europeans,” Ashenburg tells BuzzFeed Life.
《清洁污垢：一个不卫生的历史》的作家卡瑟琳·阿西伯格说，南北战争之后广告和香皂（即为洗身体的肥皂）在美国变得更流行。阿西伯格告诉BuzzFeed生活栏目“结果是，美国人远比欧洲人容易上当，容易受影响。”

“Germ theory didn’t matter half as much as promises of beauty,” Ashenburg says.
阿西伯格说，“对美丽的承诺远比病菌理论重要的多。”

Frequent Showering May Be Harmful

But here’s the thing: Frequent showering may actually be doing more harm than good.
但是事实上：频繁洗澡弊大于利。

Zeichner and Hirsch say that showering too often (particularly in hot water) can dry out and irritate skin, wash away the good bacteria that naturally exists on your skin, and introduce small cracks that put you at a higher risk of infection.
蔡克纳和赫希说，洗澡太频繁（特别是洗热水澡）会导致皮肤干燥和过敏；清洗掉皮肤本身就有的有益细菌；产生表皮裂纹，让你更容易受到感染。

Both doctors say that parents should not bathe babies and toddlers daily. Zeichner says that early exposure to dirt and bacteria may make the skin less sensitive as you age, and prevent allergies and conditions like eczema.
两位博士都说，家长不应该每天都给婴幼儿洗澡。蔡克纳说，早期暴露在污垢和细菌的环境中会让皮肤到你年纪的时候更不容易敏感，防止过敏和如湿疹一样的症状。

No Frequent Showering

While your activity level and climate will affect how often you’ll want shower, you can probably skip the daily shower and take one every two to three days.
尽管你的活动量和气候会影响你想洗澡的频率，你可能不需要每天都洗，每两天或每三天一次就好。

If you’re so inclined, you can clean the grossest parts of your body with a soapy washcloth or cleansing towelette to remove odor-causing bacteria on non-shower days. (Grossest parts of your body = “face, underarms, under the breasts, genitals, and rear end,” according to Zeichner.)
如果你很想洗的话，在不洗澡的日子里，你可以用有肥皂的毛巾或者是湿餐巾清洗身体最脏的部分，从而去除产生异味的细菌。（据蔡克纳所说，身体最脏的部分有：脸部，腋下，乳房下，生殖器和臀部。）

You should also put on clean undergarments each day; one study showed that we shed far more dirt and oil in our clothes than we do in the shower.
你也应该每天换内衣。一项研究表明我们穿衣服时要比我们在洗澡中去除的污垢和油脂要多得多。

How Often Do You Shower?

SO. You no longer have to stand in the stupid shower every morning getting your head wet for 10 minutes while you try to get up the courage to step out into the freezing bathroom!
所以，你不用每天早晨站在淋浴里花十分钟把头弄湿，并且鼓足勇气走到冰冷的浴室里。

How often do you shower?
你洗澡的频率是多少呢？