Personal hygiene is how you care for your body. This practice includes bathing, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, and more. Every day, you come into contact with millions of outside germs and viruses. They can linger on your body, and in some cases, they may make you sick. Habits such as washing your hands, bathing, brushing, flossing, may all look monotonous and boring, but they all come under important personal hygiene. They make you feel good about yourself and keep you free of bacteria, viruses, and illnesses.
Why do you do these things?
Chances are you don’t think about what you are doing because it is a routine you were taught at a young age. However, these habits help you in many ways. What you are doing is practicing good personal hygiene. Dirt, bodily secretions, food particles, and even germs can accumulate on our bodies if we don’t clean ourselves regularly. The implementation of habits that help us stay clean not only prevents this accumulation but also provides added personal and social benefits.
Benefits of personal hygiene
Imagine your desk partner has a cold, and he sneezes on your hand while you are working together. You wash your hands as soon as possible so you will be less likely to become sick also. One major personal benefit of good hygiene is having better health. Keeping your body clean helps prevent illness and infection from bacteria or viruses. Like in our example, the simple act of washing your hands regularly is an effective way to keep germs from spreading. You would be much more likely to get sick if, instead of washing your hands, you wiped them off on your pants and went to lunch as soon as class was over. Maintaining good hygiene also helps you have better self-esteem. In other words, when you take care of how you look, you feel better about yourself. When you don’t take care of your personal hygiene, it can also make you feel less confident and unmotivated. Unfortunately, when a person is depressed or has low self-esteem, they are more likely to neglect their personal hygiene. Have you ever had someone tell you to get up and take a shower and you would feel better? It is definitely worth a try because it just might work. In general, the health benefits of personal hygiene includes:
Healthy Mouth
Looking after your teeth not only fights bad breath, but it also helps prevent cavities and toothache. Basic oral hygiene involves cleaning your teeth twice a day. Build a routine by brushing with a regular toothbrush and paste. For super-clean teeth and fresh breath, floss in between your teeth in the evening or after meals and follow the cleaning process with a gentle antiseptic mouthwash. Fresh breath is an immediate benefit of clean teeth, but you also experience a reduction in plaque and therefore less risk of gum disease and tooth decay.
Eliminating Odors
Showering or bathing daily eliminates many unpleasant bodily odors. One cause of these is a build-up of secretions, such as sweat, which harbor bacteria and smell bad. When bathing, always clean the genital and anal areas, as well as underarms and feet. If you shower every day but still experience an underarm odor, this could be caused by stale sweat on infrequently laundered clothing. As the bacteria in this builds, the clothing smells bad and re-wearing the garment exacerbates the problem. Changing clothing daily not only keeps you odor-free but also helps the fabric of your clothes last longer. Body odor is socially inhibiting, so smelling clean and fresh gives a real boost and helps in building confidence. To encourage developing a simple bathing routine, use a gentle but pleasant-smelling shower gel and light body lotion afterward. This provides a relaxing, pampered feeling as well as helps to eliminate unwanted smells.
Staying Well
Practicing basic personal hygiene for health does not involve bombarding the body with strong anti-bacterial preparations. Easy ways to rid the skin of dirt include daily showering, cleaning under nails, and washing hands before eating and after using the lavatory. Maintaining these habits cuts your risk of stomach bugs, skin infections, colds, and the flu. This makes most people feel healthier all year round and is essential for anyone with a compromised immune system. Washing hands and body with a gentle soap literally washes bacteria and viruses down the drain, which otherwise ends up in your system.
Clearer Skin
While spots are usually caused by skin type, skin condition, or hormones, keeping skin clean still helps it to stay glowing. Washing your face morning and night is the best way to clean away excess grease, dirt of the day, and makeup. This helps prevent clogged pores and blackheads. Washing your face with cleansing oil or balm in the evening is soothing. So this is a good way to end your day and encourage bedtime relaxation. It also means that bed linen does not get stained by makeup. Most people find that cleaning away makeup before bed keeps skin looking brighter and fresher than before, which gives a boost in confidence.
How can personal hygiene be maintained in difficult circumstances?
Despite water shortage and restricted sanitation facilities in emergency situations, it’s critical to still ensure that some of the available water supply is used for personal hygiene to minimize health risks. The importance of handwashing with soap at critical times such as; after defecation, after handling babies’ feces, and before preparing food is particularly important. As soap may be in short supply during emergencies, the use of ash, sand, or other culturally acceptable substitutes is recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO). Sewer Backup Health risks
