Showering while traveling

The bigger the holes in the shower heads the better. The pathogens attach themselves to the sediment formed in the pipes on biofilms. Rain head showers are better than mist type showers (larger holes on the rainhead).

Also, a shower that has a bathtub might be safer than mist type shower (with the fan running, window and door open if possible). The idea is to take a bath instead of shower.

For me what continues to be top of list is lung clearance 2x day. So even if the germs find their way to the lungs they can't find a home so easily. Also, consider pathogen load -- if you expose your lungs to daily pathogens (like hot showering everyday in unvetted territory) vs showering 1-2x week, logic says that the pathogen load is reduced.

When all else fails take a cold/cool shower....or sponge bath....or soap up and then take a quick warm/hot shower....

Cutting & pasting from Falkinham paper some salient points about showering:

NTM infection can be a consequence of inhalation of an NTM aerosol (shower) or swallowing water with NTM and the NTM aspirated as a consequence of gastric reflux.

(1) Raise Water Heater Temperature. Turn up your water heater to 130° F (55° C). NTM patient household plumbing that did not have NTM had higher hot water temperatures (130° F or 55° C or higher), compared to households whose hot water heater temperature was 125° F (50° C) or lower (Falkinham, 2011).

(8) Replace Showerhead with One that Produces Fat Streams and Not a Mist. NTM cells are concentrated in aerosol droplets (Parker et al., 1983). Many “low-flow” showerheads produce a fine mist that contains droplets with high numbers of NTM; small enough to enter the alveoli. Replace such a “low flow” or misting showerhead with one that has large holes (greater than 1 mm diameter).

I have heard of some people using something called a "Pall Filter" for their shower. Not sure how well it works. It also sounded pretty expensive. Do you know anything about that?

They are expensive and based on my experience with kitchen faucet last only a few days. Haven’t tried the shower option
Re travel, I try to look for rooms that have newer, larger showers so door can be left open, ideally with a hand held shower option . Run shower just enough to wet body/ hair and rinse, turn off inBetween .
When I had a long stay in one room, I asked for and got a new shower head

When travelling, take a sock to put over the shower head. It helps to stop aerolisation of the NTM

@cwal I've inquired about the Pall shower head. As you noted, it's expensive (for a shower head) and needs to be replaced every couple of months depending on use, making its cost-of-ownership non-trivial. In addition, there are a bunch of connections that need to be purchased and installed. I'm still figuring it out if it has a place in my shower. For now, I'm continuing with various precautions to avoid the pathogens we are prone to acquiring.

Can you explain why the tiny NTM particles don't travel through the fibers an into the air? They are capable of passing through other filter materials.
Sue

Hi Sue, you are correct. They do still travel through, it only minimises the aerolisation that you would be inhaling. If you're at a hotel without a bath and need to shower and can't remove the shower head.

Yes, it looked expensive and complicated as far as installation and upkeep. Also looking for one that will screw into the already installed pipe in my shower. There is one recommended in a picture on some NJH info but I haven't been able to locate one to purchase (or the price) yet. The one recommended by NJH kind of pours water out of the head similar to a faucet instead of a spray. Have you seen it?

I’ve been happy with the shower clear shower head which has large holes and can be opened between showers to dry out so hopefully less biofilm
It attaches easily