Personal Hygiene: A Common-Sense Guide

Personal hygiene is an important area of everyone’s lives, but sometimes it is overlooked. There are several reasons why it is so important, and a few things you can do to improve your own personal hygiene and make your life better in the process.

Health

The importance of personal hygiene cannot be underestimated. Your good health depends on it. If you have a high standard of hygiene, you are less likely to catch the various illnesses and infections that come along. As a bonus, if you have an infection, good hygiene can ensure a faster recovery for you as well as preventing it from spreading to other people.

Good hygiene is important for your mental health, too! If you are clean, groomed and neat, you are likely to feel much more confident. This boost in confidence will increase your positive self-image. Being perceived as neat and orderly sends out the message that you care about your appearance, which may lead to more opportunities both in and out of the workplace.

Social Life

A high standard of hygiene is also important for your social life. People who do not shower, wash their hair or brush their teeth may be perceived by their peers and associates as lazy. It is also likely that they will not be taken as seriously as someone who puts the time into cultivating a positive appearance.

Furthermore, a neat and well-groomed appearance can open up many doors. Arriving to a meeting dressed nicely and well-groomed makes a wonderful first impression. Like it or not, most people’s first impression of a person is how they look. Employers and potential friends tend not to offer the same opportunities to those with poor hygiene.

Tips for Improving your Hygiene

So what can you do to improve your standard of hygiene? Here are some tips that can help:

• Shower daily. Showering is an important part of a good hygiene routine. Daily showers keep your skin clean as well as giving you a chance to check your body for everything from ingrown hairs to athlete’s foot and anything else that could be going wrong.
• Brush your teeth. Brushing your teeth twice a day and flossing regularly prevents the build-up of plaque which can cause tooth decay, gum disease and tooth loss. In addition, using an antibacterial mouthwash will also help prevent bad breath. It can also get into those hard-to-reach areas that brushing and flossing alone may miss.
• Wash your hands. Always wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before leaving the bathroom and before and after handling food. This will lessen the likelihood of spreading germs. It is also important to wash your hands if you are going to be or have been in contact with someone who is ill.
• When you are out and cannot wash your hands, carry a small bottle of hand sanitizer with you. Hand sanitizer depending on the brand can kill 99.9% of germs on skin. Hand sanitizer is not a substitute for good handwashing, but it is the next best thing and can stop many infections from occurring.

These tips for positive hygiene do not take very long to implement, but a small investment in time now will save you from a lot of health and social problems in the future and open doors for you!