Are you looking for tips on maintaining personal hygiene to prevent harmful bacteria from harming your health?
Unhealthy germs grow and multiply on the skin, on the openings of the body, and in humid areas and these bacteria are less likely to get inside your body, if you practice good hygiene.
Personal hygiene and good grooming maintains you healthy, improves your physical appearance, and prevents the spreading of diseases to other people.
The question is, how to use hygiene practices for better health?
Follow the below personal hygiene tips.
Personal hygiene tips
1. Brush your teeth
How often should you brush your teeth?
It is recommended to brush your teeth once in the morning after you wake up and once before bedtime.
Anything more than that is optional.
Here is when your common sense come into play.
Let’s say, you’ve just had your lunch, and the stuck food in between your teeth or the worsen breath makes you feel uncomfortable. In such a case, feel free to clean your mouth.
However, keep in mind that, brushing your teeth too hard or excessively may erode the enamel.
2. Floss
To clean your teeth more efficiently, floss before teeth brushing. This removes all the food residues and plaque stuck in between the teeth.
3. Brush your tongue
Use the bristles of the toothbrush or a tongue scraper to remove the white coating from the surface of the tongue, which often is the source of bad breath.
4. Mouth wash
Using a mouth wash is a complimentary oral hygiene practice. It improves the cleanliness of your mouth.
If you practice proper oral care, using a mouthwash shouldn’t be a necessity, but using it won’t hurt as well.
Avoid alcohol-based mouthwashes. These might hurt your oral microflora.
5. Bathing
While bathing, use a loofah, a sponge or a hand towel to scrub the dead skin cells, germs, dirt, oils, and sweat off your body.
The question is, how often should you practice bathing or showering to maintain your body skin's health?
Well, it depends.
You might want to shower daily when you sweat excessively, during hot weather or after athletic activities.
On the other hand, if you don’t sweat a lot during the day, you might not need to shower that often. In this case, daily showering strips away the necessary oils from the skin, which dries it out.
6. Wash your feet
Soak your feet into warm soapy water. After the skin becomes softer, wash your feet and scrub the bottom of the feet to remove the embarrassing foot fungus.
7. Wash your hands
Wash your hands with soap and water often during the day.
In case you don't have access to water, keep an alcohol-based sanitizing gel handy.
8. Trim your nails
Keep your finger and toenails trimmed and well cared to prevent accumulating dirt under long nails and looking embarrassing.
Clip your nails once per week.
The best time to cut your nails is after bathing when they are soft and easy to trim.
9. Wear deodorant
After showering, use a deodorant or an antiperspirant to combat the future unpleasant body odor.
An antiperspirant blocks the sweating glands while a deodorant covers the unpleasant mild odor.
Consider using an aluminum-free antiperspirant to reduce potential risks.
10. Clean hair
How often should you wash your hair?It depends on the type of your hair. Wash your hair depending on how long it is and how fast it becomes oily and dirty. Shampoo your hair and scalp to remove the skin buildup and oil residues, which may irritate the scalp.
11. Wear Clean Clothes
Wear a fresh set of clothes as often as possible.
Dirty clothes may become a source of bacteria’s direct contact with your body.
To avoid that:
- Try wearing a clean pair of socks often.
- Iron out the wrinkles on the clothes.
- Dry out the washed clothes outside under the sun.
12. Body Odor
Keep your underarms and groin area clean and dry to discourage bacteria development.
Trim or shave your underarm or pubic hair to reduce the surfaces where bacteria accumulates.
Additionally, replace dirty and sweaty clothes with fresh and clean ones.
13. Clean your ears
The best way to clean your ears is after having a hot shower. That’s when the ear wax is melted and can be easily removed.
Generally, you don’t want to stick anything inside the ear tube, but if there is too much visible wax in the ear tube, use ear sticks to clean the ear.
14. Sickness hygiene
If you’re not feeling well, you should take steps to keep from spreading germs to others. This includes covering your mouth and nose with a tissue or hand when sneezing, wiping down shared surfaces with an antibacterial wipe, and not sharing any utensils or electronics.
15. Change your bed sheets
Change your bed sheets and pillowcases once a week.
Conclusion
Use the above tips to improve personal hygiene but remember that you should find the way that works best for you.
Your body is different from others. Some sweat more while other’s bodies have more hair.
The above tips are general recommendations. Feel free to tweak these hygiene practices so that they suit you best.
