Generally, submerging your head in hot water is a bad idea—especially somewhere communal. Every hot tub owner it seems has the question: can I put my head under water? Putting your head underwater may sound harmless, but health organizations and industry professionals strongly recommend against it.
One reason is water between 102 and 104 degrees Fahrenheit breeds bacteria, a reason why hot tubs require sanitation. Thankfully, bathing your legs or torso in the water does not fully expose you to these potential bacteria.
However, your nose, eyes, ears and mouth give easy ingress to your body, meaning you are more likely to catch an illness or infection with your head underwater. There are other safety concerns as well.
Why You Shouldn’t Put Your Head Under Water:
There are valid reasons why you shouldn’t put your head underwater in a hot tub.
Drowning or losing consciousness
Since hot water heat up your body, you could get dizzy or feel faint, which is an easy way to drop under.
Brain Damage
Even in perfectly clean water, high temperatures pose a hazard to children’s brains. While children should not enter a hot tub above 95-or-so degrees anyway, those who do are at a greater risk of hindering brain development when getting their heads wet. A child’s body is more sensitive to heat and cannot regulate its temperature as effectively. The head, specifically, is vulnerable to overheating because it is a major source of heat loss.
Hair Hazards
For both adults and children, the jets in a hot tub introduce yet another danger. When you dunk your head underwater, you risk catching your hair in the jets and filters. Regardless of how shallow the spa, if your hair gets caught you might not be able to surface for air. Thus, we recommend wearing a bathing cap if you have long hair.
For advice on buying a hot tub please read The Ultimate Hot Tub Buyers Guide.
Infections
Warm water is a breeding ground for bacteria/fungi that could lead to ear infections, nose infections, or respiratory illnesses
Hair entrapments
Powerful jets or strong drains could entangle long hair, resulting in entrapment.
Final Thoughts…
One particularly alarming factor is that children are most at risk here: Children heat up far quicker than adults, and are also not always capable of keeping themselves safe enough to know to pull away if they are trapped or feel faint.
Thus, in accordance with the CDC, pediatricians, and hot tub safety organizations, they recommend always keeping your head above water.
