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Huffington Post
HuffPost
5 Jan 2025


NextImg:Experts Say You Don't Actually Need To Wash This Part Of Your Body In The Shower — Do You Agree?
Mature gay man taking a shower in the bathroom
FG Trade via Getty Images
Mature gay man taking a shower in the bathroom

What’s the “right” way to draw an x? Are Sour Patch Kids-flavored Oreos delicious or nasty? Is a hotdog a sandwich? The internet is always happy to offer — and debate — an answer for whatever ridiculous question won’t stop rattling around in our heads.

But one question stopped us in our tracks when we saw it pop up in 2019 and it’s continued to haunt us since then: Do we really need to wash our legs when we’re in the shower?

Countless people claimed that because the soap from lathering the upper parts of our bodies trickles down our legs as we bathe, there is no reason to specifically wash our legs. Others argued that without deliberately attending to our legs, they’re still dirty after we get out of the tub.

So who’s right?

That’s what we — Raj Punjabi and Noah Michelson, hosts of HuffPost’s “Am I Doing It Wrong?” podcast — asked Dr. Divya Shokeen, the founder of Ocean Skin & Vein Institute in Manhattan Beach, California, when she dropped by the studio to talk about all the ways we might be showering wrong and how to do it better.

Listen to the full episode by clicking here to learn about surprising showering mistakes and how to shower better.

“I don’t think you do [need to wash them],” Dr. Shokeen told us. “Unless you’re, like, aggressively sweating and you just biked 20 miles. Then, yes, please wash your legs.”

That’s because our legs are often covered by our pants or other clothing, which protects them from dirt and grime, and they aren’t “hot spots,” like the armpits or crotch, where sweat and bacteria tend to flourish.

“I think water dripping down or soap dripping down [your legs] is okay [for cleansing],” she said, adding that it’s actually better not to manually wash our legs because that keeps the skin from drying out or becoming irritated, which can happen when we cleanse too aggressively and too often.

However, if your legs are visibly dirty or you’ve been participating in an activity that might have soiled them (say, swimming in a lake or doing baby goat yoga), you should give them a wash. Otherwise, just let the suds do their thing as they cascade their way down to the drain.

Dr. Shokeen suggested we spend the time we’ll save by skipping our legs on those aforementioned hot spots, because we’re probably not washing them for as long as they should ideally be washed.

“Those need at least a minute to allow [your cleanser] to work,” she said. “That doesn’t mean you have to be rubbing down there for a minute. If you have the time, then do it, but you can suds up [those areas] and leave it [while you wash other parts], ... so your cleanser has to have the chance to actually do something.”

We also chatted about why she never faces the showerhead, the one thing we should all be doing before we get out of the shower, and much more.

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Whether you give once or many more times, we appreciate your contribution to keeping our journalism free for all.

You've supported HuffPost before, and we'll be honest — we could use your help again. We view our mission to provide free, fair news as critically important in this crucial moment, and we can't do it without you.

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For more from Dr. Shokeen, visit the websites for her dermatology practice and her skincare line.

Need some help with something you’ve been doing wrong? Email us at AmIDoingItWrong@HuffPost.com, and we might investigate the topic in an upcoming episode.