Top Tips To Maintain Good Personal Hygiene

Health is a matter of utmost importance and should not be taken lightly, especially since we are surviving the Covid-19 pandemic. To keep yourself and your loved ones safe from bacteria and harmful germs, you must focus on your and your family’s hygiene. Personal hygiene is not only good for your body but for your esteem too. It makes you look more approachable and desirable.

What Is Personal Hygiene?

Personal hygiene is basically how you take care of your body and how you treat it. It starts from the regular bathing and washing of your body to brushing your teeth to washing your clothes.

Proper personal hygiene is one of the key ways to lead a healthy lifestyle. It helps in the prevention of disease and makes you smell better, feel and look cleaner without putting in too many hours of effort or expensive products.

Every day your body is exposed to thousands of bacteria and germs, even if you do not step out of your house. These can enter your body through your hands or mouth and make you sick. Maintaining personal hygiene can reduce the chances of getting attacked by these outsiders. In these times, you must maintain proper personal hygiene.

What Are The Different Types Of Personal Hygiene And How To Maintain It?

Maintaining personal hygiene of different body parts will reduce the risk of infection and enhance overall health. Some types of personal hygiene and the ways to maintain them are –

• Oral Hygiene

Oral hygiene means keeping your mouth free from any kind of bacteria and thus diseases. Good oral hygiene includes brushing your teeth twice, flossing of teeth, and visiting the dentist regularly. Use a tongue cleaner to clean your tongue at least once a day.

1. Brushing the teeth – Even in a hurry, brushing your teeth is necessary. Brushing will remove bits of food, bacteria, and stains that cause cavities and other problems. Brush once in the morning and once before going to bed and spend at least 2 minutes each time you brush. Brushing your teeth will prevent your mouth from smelling bad.
2. Flossing the teeth – Flossing is one of the most overlooked hygiene regimens. Regular flossing of teeth cleans those areas which are not accessible to brush and stimulates healthy gum growth. Make sure to clean your back teeth and around all sides of the molars.

You can use mouthwash but it does not remove plaque and food and is not a substitute for flossing.

• Visit the dentist – Visit your dentist every 6 months and get your oral hygiene checked. Monitor your teeth and discuss any pain that you experience.

• Body Hygiene

There are many sweat glands in the human body. When the external bacteria mix with sweat, a bad body odor is created. Washing your body with soap will not only eliminate body odor but also remove the pollutants from your skin.

Bathing every day helps in reducing the chances of skin irritation. Scrubbing your body parts like the face, legs, back, and arms at least once a week will help in getting rid of dead skin cells and allow new cell growth. This makes the skin smooth and glowing and prevents infection or breeding of bacteria.

Do not wear dirty clothes. Rinse your face and arms every time you come home.

• Hands

Our hands touch various surfaces throughout the day and then we touch our faces and mouth with them. The innumerable number of bacteria on our hands gets transferred to our mouth and thus we fall sick. So washing hands is very essential.

You must wash your hands as soon as you return home from outside. You must wash your hands before and after eating food to avoid any bacteria from entering your mouth with the food.

Simple washing of hands can save you from many harmful bacteria.

Make sure you use soap and lather it by rubbing it thoroughly. Rub the soap on your hands for at least 20 seconds before rinsing. Dry your hands with a towel.

Keep an alcohol-based sanitizer handy with you in case you need to cleanse your hands outside and do not have any access to water or soap.

• Nails

Dirty fingernails are an easy source of germs and so the germs spread quite easily. People with long nails are more prone to infections. When you scratch your acne or any bumps with your nails, dirt, and bacteria get accumulated in your nails. This can even worsen your acne.

Even a small cut or wound may get septic from unhygienic fingernails. Hence you must keep your nails clean.

Trim your fingernails and keep them short. Clean your nails with a nail brush and wash them with soap and water. You need to clean your nail cleaning tools also to avoid the breeding of bacteria.

• Genital Hygiene

Genitals are a delicate part of the body and need to be taken care of. If you don’t keep the area clean, you may end up with serious infections like urinary tract infections.

Wash your genitals every time you use the toilet. Dry the area with a soft towel as damp skin tends to become irritable. Avoid public toilets as much as you can and change your undergarments every day.

• Menstrual Hygiene

Menstrual hygiene is something that every woman needs to take care of. During the menstruation cycle, every woman must follow a routine and keep herself clean and safe from infection.

Use a sanitary napkin instead of a cloth and change it every 4-5 hours. Wash your hands before and after changing the sanitary napkin or tampon. Dispose of the used sanitary napkins by wrapping them.

• Sleeping Routine

Getting 8-10 hours of sleep is necessary for every human. This will help you in waking up fresh and relaxed. Lack of sleep can affect your immunity system which makes your body more exposed to diseases.

Wrapping Up

Maintaining good hygiene practices is essential for every human and should not be overlooked. If ignored, it can lead to many problems.