Consequences of Poor Personal Hygiene

Personal hygiene encompasses all the daily routines that help keep your body clean. This includes regular habits of washing your hair, brushing your teeth, washing your hands, taking a clean bath, wearing deodorant where possible and keeping your clothing clean. When people don't learn these habits or they become overlooked, certain consequences may develop ranging from social problems to potentially serious diseases.

Body Odor...
One of the first and most prominent consequences of bad hygiene is body odor. This occurs due to the interaction of bacteria and sweat produced by the apocrine gland. As bacteria thrives in unwashed sweat, overtime their byproducts produces the smell commonly associated with body odor. Body odor may also come from poor bathroom habits, resulting in feaces or urine odor.

Dental Disease...
Not only can poor dental hygiene lead to bad breath, it can also lead to dental diseases. As you allow food particle and bacteria to build up on your teeth, a coating called plague begins to form. The bacteria in this plague releases acid, which breaks down the enamel on your teeth. As this process continues over time, a hard substance called calculus can form on the teeth irritating the surrounding gums. This irritation can progress into gingivitis, leading to inflammation of the gum, which can later lead to gum disease. This would eventually destroy your teeth.

Bad Breath...
Bad breath proves another easily recognizable consequence of poor hygiene. It commonly develops from not regularly brushing and flossing your teeth. Bad breath results because of two main reasons: First bacteria thrives on food particles that can stick to your teeth. As the bacteria digests this food, their byproducts results in odor. Food can also get stuck in your teeth and rot over time, producing a foul odor.

General Diseases...
Hygienic practices such as washing your hands proves the most effective way to prevent contracting diseases and spreading diseases. Your hands are in constant contact with both the environment and your face, providing easy transportation from the surface of an infected object or person to your nose and mouth. Washing your hands with clean running water and soap helps reduce the amount of bacteria on your skin, lessening your chance of contracting a disease such as common cold, influenza(flu), salmonellosis, typhoid, streptococcus and staph infections.

Gender Specific...
Men and Women have unique hygiene needs that if ignored may lead to serious health problems. For example men with uncircumcised penis would need to regularly retract the foreskin and clean beneath to prevent inflammation, phimosis (where the penis cannot fully retract from the foreskin) or penile adhesion. Women must take care to keep the genitalia clean and always wipe from front to back after using the restroom to prevent introducing infections from the rectum to the urethra.

If using a shared toilet facility, Men must understand that poor hygiene sanitation on their part could endanger the health of the women using the facility. It is advisable to flush properly after each use and avoid littering the toilet bowl or seats with their body fluids.

A female can contact severe Urinary Tract Infection through bad toilet conditions...She is most exposed and has a higher risk of getting infected.

A female must take her bath twice daily...carefully cleaning her genitalia. Underwear should be washed daily and air dried... Air drying your underwear is particularly important as molds could build up on a damp underwear, this could lead to an infection.

It's important to maintain good personal hygiene, it raises your self esteem and keeps you feeling so good... Cleanliness they say is next to godliness.. *winks*

Living Healthy...