Body Hygiene

Keeping your body clean and working well keeps you healthy and happy.  Each of us is responsible for looking after our body.  Habits that you start now will stay around for life. 

Tips on Keeping Clean

Keeping clean keeps your body healthy and looking good.  Being unwashed can bring diseases like head lice and rashes.  Also, not washing allows body odour (BO) to build up which makes you smell.  Being dirty and smelly keeps people away and stops you having fun. Here are some tips:

1. Have a shower or bath and wash all over every day using a gentle soap or shower gel.

2. Wash your hair every day or two.

3. Use a deodorant under your arms to prevent body odour (BO).

4. Don’t forget to wash around your bottom and genitals (private parts) every time you wash.

5. Change your clothes every day, especially your underwear.

Skin

Your skin is your body’s largest organ.  It protects you from harm by keeping out dirt and infections.  So looking after your skin is an important way of keeping healthy.  Keep your skin in good condition by:

1. Washing all over every day.

2. Using sun creams to protect your skin from the sun.

3. Using moisturisers if your skin is dry, flaky or itchy.

Mouth and Teeth

You should brush and floss your teeth every day to keep your teeth healthy and your breath fresh..  Brushing and flossing removes a thin sticky film of bacteria called plaque that grows on your teeth.  Plaque is the main form of tooth decay and gum disease.  The plaque bacteria helps to turn the food you eat into acids that attack your teeth.  Brushing and flossing is the best way to get rid of plaque and protect your teeth from acid attack.

Ears

Taking care of your ears helps you hear well and look good.  Wash your outer ear (the pinna) most days, but don’t try to wash inside your ear hole.  Your inner ears were designed to clean themselves.  Ear wax is not dirt. It is there to keep your ear working properly. Never put cotton swabs or soap inside your ear hole as this usually just pushes the wax further in and can cause damage.  See your doctors if you think your ears are blocked. When you go swimming, make sure you drain the water out of your ears and dry them properly afterwards to avoid ear infections.

Eyes

Your eyes are one of the most important parts of your body.  Luckily, looking after them is easy.  Your eyes are built to clean themselves.  Your eyelids are like windscreen wipers which use tears to clean the eye.  This is why we cry when something gets in our eyes.  Apart from washing the sleep out of the corners of your eyes in the morning when you wake up, you should never try to clean your eye or inside your eyelids.  If you think there is something in your eye, get an adult to try to remove it.

Nails

Keeping your nails neat and trimmed is an important part of body hygiene.  Having clean fingernails shows that you know how to look after yourself.  When cutting your toenails, cut straight across the top to avoid getting ingrown toenails.

Hair

Keeping your hair clean is important for looking and feeling good, and it also keeps away head lice, dandruff and itchiness.  If you have very oily hair, you’ll probably need to wash it every day.  Others can get away with washing their hair every second day.  Use hair shampoo instead of soap, because soap is too harsh on hair.  If you have long hair, conditioners help your hair look good.

Dandruff

Luckily dandruff is rare in young people unless they don’t wash their hair. Dandruff is lots of tiny white flakes of skin from your scalp, which flake off due to a fungus infection.  Special anti-dandruff shampoos kill the fungus and get rid of the dandruff.

Toilet Hygiene

Washing your hands after going to the toilet is an important way of staying healthy and not spreading disease.  Forgetting to wash your hands after using the toilet can spread hepatitis, salmonella, diarrhoea and other diseases.