Personal Hygiene Affects Wellbeing

10 Personal Care Problems & Solutions

Personal hygiene is the practice to keep yourself, your living, and your working conditions spotless in order to prevent disease and maintain good health. The biggest plus, aside from saving you from future health care costs, is that personal hygiene affects wellbeing. It also affects your self-confidence, self-esteem, productivity, and relationships with others.

Oral Care

If you ignore taking proper care of your mouth, you will be inviting gum diseases like gingivitis and periodontitis, dental problems, and bad breath. The humiliating and offensive consequence of bad breath can be devastating.

The good news is that there are solutions to bad breath. This includes brushing your teeth at least twice daily, especially after eating and before going to sleep. Flossing is also a good way to remove food that gets stuck in between your teeth and decay.  You can also gargle or rinse with water after meals to dislodge food debris or use mouthwash.

Another hygienic thing to do is to clean or scrape your tongue to reduce the bad smell. Also, chewing sugarless gum or sucking sugarless mint stimulates saliva production and provides relief to people with dry mouths. Try to avoid odour triggers like tobacco, beer, and strong smelly foods like garlic and onions. However, on these bad breath killers, the most important must-do is regular visits to your dentist for checks.

Body Care

Personal hygiene affects your well-being. For instance, if your body and clothes are not washed as often as necessary to prevent body odour. Body odour is frequently triggered by sweat formed under the armpits and the groins. As a result, bacteria then feed on the sweat causing the stench. It is very likely your social life and relationships will suffer if you don’t take action to get rid of your body odour.

The solution to body odour involves proper cleaning of your underarm and groin area with water and bacterial soap. This will keep the affected areas clean and fresh. Also, you may want to also apply deodorant or antiperspirant as needed.

Other hygienic daily activities would be to wash your clothes even after using them once. Or shower or bathe regularly. Or avoid strong-smelling foods that reek in your sweat, like garlic, onions, tobacco, and beer.

Hand Care

Washing your hands, particularly after visiting the toilet, is a crucial personal hygiene habit to keep. Personal hygiene affects well-being when you unconsciously put unwashed hands in your mouth, transferring germs that make you sick. But washing them thoroughly and drying them afterward helps eliminate bacteria. The same habit of handwashing must be extended to other several daily routine activities. It’s equally important to trim your finger and toenails to prevent germs from settling under them. 

Foot Care

Foot odour affects your self-confidence and emotional wellbeing. The foot odour is caused when the sweat doesn’t dry and bacteria feeds on it. In order, to prevent foot odour, wash the soles of your feet and in between your toes with water and antibacterial soap regularly.  You may also want to soak your feet in a salt solution, or use foot deodorant.

Shoes that are not kept properly also trigger a bad smell.  Therefore, choose the right shoes and get into the daily routine of washing and airing them. Also, remember to change your socks daily.

Lastly, be cautious in public showers and not walk barefoot. Instead, adopt the habit of wearing open-toed sandals or flip-flops to avoid picking up bacteria.

Hair Care

Wash your hair regularly to remove dust and other environmental nuisances. Shampooing helps get rid of dandruff that is caused by dead skin cells.  

As regards women who braid their hair, you can use dry spray shampoo if your scalp feels itchy and uncomfortable.  And if you swim, you must wash away the chlorine after swimming. Also, take a shower after any exercise that makes you sweat. 

Home Care

You will remove dust and mites from your floor and carpets when you sweep and vacuum. Keeping your home clean also means washing and changing your bed linens and curtains. This will prevent you from getting allergies which can trigger illness. If you smoke, choose to do it outside. Open your windows once in a while to allow fresh air in. 

Lastly and in general strive to practice a safe, healthy, and clean lifestyle, personal hygiene’s impact on wellbeing cannot be underestimated.

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