Should I take a shower before bed? #10

I normally take a hot shower before bed, and a cold shower in the morning. This morning, I looked up a bit of the science. Over the past few weeks, I've been wondering if the hot shower is useful because it cools me down, afterwards, or if it is useful because it raises my core temperature. If I'm hoping to cool down, why don't I take a cold shower before bed? It is unclear based on the evidence. A twenty minute look suggests that a hot shower is useful because it helps you cool off, while a cold shower triggers your [flight-or-fight](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fight-or-flight_response) system, and may actually be less advantageous. Washing may be the most important part. Taking a hot shower and then lying under a moving fan for a while, as I do while reading, is probably the best of both worlds. I could take the shower a bit earlier in my routine - before dishes. Unanswered questions: - Does it help to force your body to cool off before sleep, or is this just a normal trend that happens when you feel tired, anyway? - Does the hot shower help you cool down only because you're damp after a shower? If that's the case, should I dry less vigorously? - Would lowering my core temperature with a longer cold shower - say, 10 minutes instead of 2 - be more useful? - Hot showers help with dry skin. However, is dandruff actually related to this, or is it less marked merely because I am washing more? For now, I'm going to continue the hot shower at night because frankly it feels nice. On some days, it is probably ok to call it off, as long as the face is washed, which helps with general skincare. Studies would be appreciated.