Personal Hygiene

Good hygiene is important in taking care of yourself physically as well as emotionally. People often have infections because they don’t take good care of themselves physically, which can lead to emotional difficulties as well. To avoid physical problems associated with poor hygiene, consider the following ideas to keep yourself clean:

Hair Care

Washing Your Hair. It’s so important to keep your hair clean and conditioned to ensure it stays healthy and strong. Washing your hair at least every other day is important to keeping your hair healthy and in good shape. If you wash it too frequently, your hair will become brittle and dry, making it difficult to grow and keep strong. If you wash it too infrequently, it will become greasy and will also stunt its growth.

Washing your hair too frequently also strips it of necessary nutrients required to keep it strong and healthy. Conditioning your hair is critical to keeping the nutrients within your hair intact. Use a “leave-in” conditioner every time you wash your hair. The long-lasting conditioning agents will rebuild your hair every time you use it.

Cutting Your Hair. Getting your hair cut frequently is critical to healthy hair. The longer you wait to get your hair cut, the more frail and brittle your hair can become, especially if it is longer.

The length of your hair will determine how often you get your hair cut. If you are male, or a female with a very short hairstyle, getting your hair cut every six weeks is best in order to keep it trim and neat, while keeping it healthy as well. If you have longer hair, you can go as long as 10 weeks without a haircut, but try to get your hair cut at least every 10 weeks. This will help keep your hair strong, and if you are trying to grow your hair, will enable your hair to grow more quickly, because you will get rid of the dead, dry ends and will enable the healthy part to grow more effectively.

Dental Care
Going to the Dentist. The mouth is the area of the body most prone to collecting harmful bacteria and generating infections. In order to have and maintain good oral hygiene, it is critical to visit your dentist at least every six months. In some cases, your dentist may recommend every four months, depending on how much tartar builds up on your teeth and how often you need to have it removed. To keep your teeth free from tartar build-up and tooth decay, make sure you visit your dentist as frequently as he or she recommends. This will ensure your teeth and your mouth stay healthy and strong.

Brushing Your Teeth. For best results, invest in an electric toothbrush. Crest and Oral B both make excellent electric toothbrushes designed to clean your teeth and gums. Regardless of the type of toothbrush you use, make sure you brush your teeth at least two times per day, if not after every meal. This will help minimize the amount of bacteria in your mouth which leads to tooth decay, and will help you maintain a healthy, happy smile.

Flossing Your Teeth. In addition to regular brushing, it is critical to floss your teeth at least once a day, usually before you go to bed. This will enable you to reduce plaque in the more difficult to reach places—between teeth and at the back of your molars. Flossing also keeps your gums healthy and strong, and will help protect your mouth from a variety of diseases that could eventually cost you your teeth.

Physical Care
Cleanliness of Your Body. Taking a bath or shower once daily is very important to ensuring your body stays clean. Cleaning your body is also important to ensure your skin rejuvenates itself, as the scrubbing of your arms, legs, and torso will slough off dead, dry skin and help your skin stay healthy and refreshed.

Shaving. In American culture, it is important to remember that shaving is a critical part of cleanliness. For men, shaving the face enables it to stay cleaner and is a more acceptable hygienic practice, especially for those who work in corporate America. For women, shaving the legs and under the arms also keeps the body cleaner, with less places for bacteria to grow.

Washing Your Face. It is important to wash your face at least once a day to remove all dirt and grime that you have come in contact with during the course of the day. This will keep your face freer from wrinkles and pimples, which are the result of clogged pores. Using some sort of moisturizer will also ensure your face stays rejuvenated and fresh.

Trimming Your Nails. Keeping your nails trimmed and in good shape is also important in maintaining good health. Going to a professional to learn proper nail care will help you get on the right track to trimming your fingernails as well as toenails. Proper trimming techniques will also help you avoid hangnails and infected nail beds.

Washing Your Hands

Before Meals. It’s important to have clean hands before you sit down to eat. Washing with hot water and soap will clean your hands so that they do not carry bacteria to your family and friends as you pass the bread!

After Restroom Use. To ensure you don’t carry fecal or other bacteria to other parts of the body or to other individuals, you will want to wash your hands after every time you use the restroom. Make sure you wash your hands immediately afterward—don’t touch your nose or mouth to avoid unnecessary illness.

Before Preparing Food. Washing your hands before you prepare food is very important to ensure you don’t spread bacteria to your food. Wash them with hot, soapy water for at least 2 minutes before you begin working with food, particularly poultry or red meat. This will keep your food free from bacteria, and will ensure your food is healthy to serve once it’s cooked!

After Preparing Food. Again, washing your hands for at least 2 minutes with hot, soapy water after you have prepared food (and before serving) will ensure you don’t carry bacteria with you, thus potentially infecting you or others.

Good hygienic habits are easy to begin and maintain. Starting with a few of these ideas will help you start on your way to developing good hygiene for both you and your family.