Can wetting your head first while taking a bath result in a stroke? Emergency medicine specialist explains

What's the right way to take a bath? Or is there one? For a while now, a claim has been doing the rounds on social media stating that if you wet your head first while taking a shower, it can lead to a stroke or even death. This is also followed by the 'right showering routines' that can assure optimum health. Is there any truth in this? What do health experts and researchers say? We find out. 

The claim under the lens 
Time and again, we hear about incidents where people get struck by a stroke while in a bathroom. Why does this happen? During a seminar on a healthy lifestyle, a National Sports Council professor apparently said, “Don’t wet your head, even if you wash your hair, first, while bathing. Pour water on your head only after washing other parts of the body. If you wash your head first, blood circulation to the head would increase to keep it at an ideal temperature. The proper way to take a bath is as follows: After washing the soles of the feet, pour water on your legs, thighs, stomach and shoulders. Stop washing your body for five to 10 seconds. Now, you could feel the heat from the body leaving as vapour. Restart your bath as usual. 

What's the 'logic' behind it?
According to the proponents of this theory, here's the logic behind it: 'What happens when cold water is poured into a glass tumbler after emptying it of hot water? The glass tumbler breaks. The same happens in your body. The body temperature is higher than the temperature of the water. And the body temperature would be much higher if you are sweating. Water is pretty cold, and when you suddenly pour it on your head, blood from other parts of your body flows to the head to stabilise its temperature.

The sudden increase in blood flow can cause blood vessels to rupture if they don’t have enough time to expand. And that’s when stroke happens and the person falls down in the bathroom. People are fainting and falling down in bathrooms as they follow a wrong method to take bath. And this can result in stroke or migraine.  Follow a proper routine while taking bath, especially people having diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, migraine or headache. It would be ideal if you drink a glass of water before bathing.” 

What does research reveal?
A search through related keywords revealed that this message had been shared since 2019. As per the reports of the US Center for Disease Control, stroke happens only when blood flow to the brain is disrupted or when a blood vessel in the brain is ruptured. A stroke results in damage to the brain, long-term disability and even death. Our fact-checking team visited various medical platforms for more information on stroke. 

The doctor's take
The key causes of stroke include high cholesterol, diabetes, excessive alcohol usage, stress, age and family history. There is no mention of any connection between bathing style and stroke. To get more clarity on the matter, our fact-checking team spoke with Dr Aathura Das, a specialist in emergency medicine at the Holy Cross Super Speciality Hospital in Kottiyam, Kollam. He affirms that the viral messages are misleading and baseless. There is no correlation whatsoever between bath routine and stroke. The body has a natural mechanism to adjust to changing temperatures. As a matter of fact, taking a bath in cold water plays a pivotal role in boosting energy, he explains. 

Conclusion 
The contention that the chances of stroke are higher if you wet your head first is completely wrong. There is no scientific evidence to back the viral claim.