Could shower water inflame my skin? Are there filters to help with that?

July 21, 2024 4:07 PM

Is it possible the water in my apartment is making my face break out? Is there a specific shower head filter that might help?

TLDR—

49 (M). I've been getting near-daily breakouts for a year and have tried every possible treatment to stop it. Three weeks ago I left for a European trip and didn't break out for the entire three weeks. I was overjoyed. This week I returned home. I'm breaking out again.

—

This has been a huge commitment, but here's what I've tried since this spring, none of which seemed to halt the breakouts:

-Tretinoin and alzeaic acid topical prescriptions

-Taking cold showers instead of hot showers

-Avoiding sugar, dairy, fried food, and gluten products

-No sunscreen (also not generally out in the sun much anyways)

-Drinking green tea instead of coffee

-Not taking sleeping meds (trazodone, other things that affect hormones)

-Sweating as little as possible, no hard workouts, etc

-Changing pillowcases every few nights


I see zero men my age with cystic breakouts and red skin. My dermatologist has honestly been no help in terms of going any deeper than "you have bad genetics."

Is there anything else environmental that could cause this acne issue off and on throughout my adult life? Recently I read about this person's experience with switching to distilled water and noticing the acne went away. It made me wonder.

Here are photos of my current shower head — does this already look like a filter or just a shower head?

posted by critzer to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Your laundry/towels seem like a promising variable you haven’t explored. Boil your towels awhile with a few changes of water and then change your laundry chemicals (and use way less).
posted by janell at 5:06 PM on July 21

Sounds like something plausible to experiment with, in my opinion.

But just to make sure you're not missing something more obvious...
- Did you use the same shower and hair products while you were gone?
- What about pillows, pillowcases/sheets, towels, washcloths, and the laundry detergent they were washed in? Fabric softener? Dryer sheets?
- Is your home dusty and traveling wasn't? Pets?
- Is there perhaps something else you touch with your hands and then spread to your face, either directly or indirectly?
- Is there someone else's products or items that could be causing any of the above?
- What about food and drink items you didn't consume while you were traveling?

Seems like testing the shower water hypothesis ought to be relatively simple. Test with bottled water of some sort, making sure the shower water never touches your face. If that works, I'd suggest trying water from another faucet in the house. If you're still ok... and you're sure it's not a hair product migrating during your shower, then you could narrow it down to the showerhead or that water line.

I ask these (and there are probably more I'm forgetting) because my skin freaks out at lots of things
posted by stormyteal at 5:14 PM on July 21

@janell - As for the towels, I send out my laundry so I don't really know what they use as a detergent at the laundromat, but I could check. FWIW, I never ever touch my face with the towel to avoid any germs, oils, pore blockers, etc.
posted by critzer at 5:14 PM on July 21

My (very hard, LA) shower water straight up starts eczema flares for me.

What helps is that I got an Aquasana water filter attachment for my shower head. It's basically a carbon, Brita-style filter for your shower. We replace it every 6 months.

I did the math and in my area, it makes more financial sense than getting a whole house water filter. I'd say it's worth a try!
posted by Temeraria at 6:06 PM on July 21

Could you go to an allergy specialist instead of a dermatologist? Or, could you go to a different dermatologist? It’s completely reasonable to find someone who will take you seriously - you’ve been enduring this for over a year! An allergist could do a few different tests to see if any sensitivities come up and would probably have some location specific knowledge like pollens and municipal water quality.

Your shower head looks bog standard to me. If it’s the same one you’ve had for a long time there could be a bunch of gunk and build up. Luckily it’s really easy to change your shower head, it’s just screwing things apart and attaching a new head - I always installed my own shower head when I lived in apartments and kept the old one to reattach when I moved. You could first just get a regular shower head and give it a try before going in on a filtered one, in case it’s a matter of buildup in your old one. Maybe one on a hose extender so you can avoid getting your face wet, and then washing your face separately with pitcher filtered water?

Since you say you send out your laundry, maybe pause that temporarily and do your own with a “free and clear” hypoallergenic detergent. Your laundry service also may be able to do this for you, it’s definitely worth asking.
posted by Mizu at 4:41 AM on July 22

I'd be looking at your pillows/sheets, sleep environment/allergens, and perhaps if your diet/exercise habits were different on the trip (on a trip sometimes you start walking a lot, getting different sunlight exposure, eating very differently, etc).

If you want to try rinsing your face with distilled water after showering, that's an easier experiment than trying to either change your entire shower or trying to do a lot of research on water.
posted by Lady Li at 5:45 AM on July 22

For me, soft water is a scalp and face psoriasis trigger even though it's great for my hair texture. This could definitely be a water hardness issue. If your local water is hard, you can buy an attachment for the shower hose that helps soften it, but I'm not sure if the opposite is true.
posted by terretu at 10:37 AM on July 22

Yes! In my lifetime of experience, water hardness is charmingly capable of messing with your skin's pH. I get eczema and acne from the water in my apartment but not at my friends' house. She has a big water softener thing in her garage. If I could I'd take showers at her house every day but I don't like her husband nearly as much as I like her. I've also considered bathing exclusively with SmartWater but that's stupid expensive so... Here I am, itchy and breaking out.
posted by The Adventure Begins at 12:13 PM on July 23