Habits can be both, good and bad. Good habits help us stay healthy while bad ones can affect our health and lead to several severe health conditions. Taking care of personal hygiene is a great way of keeping away dozens of health conditions and diseases.

Personal hygiene includes several good habits such as washing hands before and after eating, covering our face while sneezing, using tissues to wipe faces, throwing used items in bins, bathing properly, etc. If you don’t take care of your personal hygiene, you might just increase the risk of catching infections very soon.

Here are a few personal hygiene tips that you may want to consider to keep your health safe. Check on these factors and stay hygienic.

1. Body odor

Body odor is caused due to several factors such as:

• Waste excreted through our skin (metabolized alcohol)

• Reaction of live bacteria on the skin

• Chemicals present in the sweat

• Unwashed or dirty clothes and socks.

2. Washing hands

The most common reason of catching infections is unwashed hands. Every time you touch or hold things, you lay your hands on various types of bacteria and viruses which later enter our body through the food we eat that is held by our unwashed hands. Dirty hands can lead to several types if infections. Thus, it is very important to wash our hands with soap and then dry them using paper towels or air-dryers. Wash your hands:

• After using toilet

• Before and after eating food

• After you play with your pets

• Every time you sneeze or cough.

• Are around with people suffering from cold.

3. Women Personal hygiene

When we talk of personal hygiene, women need to be extra careful, especially with their genitals. Vagina is the most sensitive genital in a woman. Washing them regularly can help you stay clean and healthy from within.

• Menstruation is a part of womanhood. Wash your body properly during the cycle. Change tampons or sanitary napkins in regular intervals. Wash your hands before and after changing your pads else you will catch a vaginal infection pretty fast.

• Cystitis is an infection in the bladder. The condition is extremely common in women who are sexually active. In order to avoid this infection, urinate after sexual intercourse. This will flush out all the bad bacteria and keep you safe from infections.

• Thrush is another health condition commonly seen in women. It is caused due to soaps or strong detergents used near the vaginal area. They can also b caused due to the intake of certain antibiotics or wearing tight underwear. Hence, to avoid the infection, use cotton underpants and visit your doctor immediately.

4. Men Personal hygiene

Smegma, a build-up of secretions can form in the foreskin of the male genitals. The condition occurs more precisely in uncircumcised men. So, if you are uncircumcised, simply pull back the foreskin and clean the area with water and soap. But make sure you wash it properly to remove all soap remnants.

5. Mouth odor

Brushing your teeth and flossing them regularly is very important to maintain your dental hygiene. If not done properly, you may suffer from conditions such as bad mouth odor, cavities, bleeding gums, etc. So, mouthwash regularly, and brush your teeth to keep your mouth hygienic.

6. Hygiene during traveling

People are always at a high risk of catching infections when traveling to new places. Here are tips that can help you keep away infections and stay healthy when traveling.

• Drink bottled water

• Clean your mouth with bottled water. Tap water may not be clean or distilled and may lead to several types of infections.

• Wash your hands before and after you eat or touch food.

• Wash vegetables and fruits in bottled water.

• In case you don’t have bottled water available, you can boil the water before drinking.