Personal hygiene involves the daily care and upkeep of one’s body to prevent sickness and help people feel clean and confident in themselves.
Brushing your teeth, washing your hands and changing your underwear regularly are all great ways to stay germ-free and prevent infections in your body. Other practices for good menstrual hygiene may include using soap that does not irritate intimate areas and visiting your healthcare provider for annual wellness exams (which typically includes pap smear tests). It is vitally important that people observe good menstrual hygiene.
Wash Your Hands
Regular handwashing is one of the best ways to protect against germs that could potentially lead to illnesses such as food poisoning or coronavirus (COVID-19). You should wash your hands prior to eating food, using the bathroom, or touching cutlery.
If soap and water are unavailable, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol should suffice to clean your hands quickly and thoroughly for at least 20 seconds. Make sure all surfaces of your hands and wrists are scrubbed thoroughly with the sanitizer during washing process.
Every four hours, regardless of the severity or frequency of your period flow, switch out your tampon/sanitary pad. Clean and dispose of used pads in an approved waste container rather than flush them down the toilet. In addition to changing pads regularly and regularly visiting healthcare providers for pap smears and pelvic exams annually as well as mammogram screening, be sure to visit Healthdirect for additional resources and information.
Change Your Towel
As part of personal hygiene, regularly changing towels, washing them correctly and handling them correctly are integral components. A towel comes into direct contact with your skin at several crucial moments during its use; such as after bathing/showering, hand-washing or cleaning of the vulva/genital areas. Furthermore, dirty towels could introduce bacteria into your body.
Your towel can become home to billions of bacteria, yeast and other microorganisms that feed off dead skin cells and bodily secretions; excrete smelly waste products; harbor infectious diseases like pink eye (conjunctivitis), MRSA, norovirus and E coli; create mold growth; and even emit unpleasant odors. By following some simple towel tactics and regularly sanitizing the washer you can avoid these nuisances while improving personal hygiene and protecting the safety of yourself and family members.
Change Your Underwear
Wearing the same pair of underwear for days on end increases your risk of genital infections by providing a warm, moist environment that feeds harmful bacteria. Sweat and dead skin cells collected in your underwear create an ideal breeding ground for harmful microorganisms that could result in infections of various sorts.
Your underwear must be washed regularly to prevent infections. If you work in a public environment like a hospital, make sure your underwear is washed separately from any clothes which may have come into contact with bodily fluids such as vomit or blood.
Your underwear should be changed every day to prevent sweat, dirt, odor and vaginal discharge from building up in it. However, if it begins to feel wet and dirty after you’ve worn them for an extended period of time, don’t be intimidated into changing them early – instead donate or use as dusting rags with them!
Wash Your Vulva
Your vulva should be cleaned daily using warm water or soap, but try to stay away from fragranced varieties as these can irritate skin in this area of the genitalia. Instead, look for gentle fragrance-free options such as Dove Sensitive Skin Beauty Bar or CeraVe Hydrating Body Wash to use on this sensitive area of the body.
Shaving or waxing the vulva may lead to irritation and introduce bacteria, but some women feel more comfortable removing hair from this area, while others find it useful to leave it there.
If you decide to use feminine hygiene products, make sure they’re carefully designed and clinically assessed to provide mild yet gentle cleansing without negatively affecting your natural vulva microbiota, according to board-certified gynecologist Staci Tanouye. Also remember not to wash too frequently; overdoing it could upset healthy vaginal bacteria balance leading to yeast infections; deodorants don’t need to smell like rose gardens either!
