INTRODUCTION TO PERSONAL HYGIENE

Personal hygiene
Personal hygiene are practices performed by an individual
to care for one's bodily health and well being through
cleanliness. Many people equate hygiene with 'cleanliness'
but hygiene is a broad term including personal habbits
choices as how frequently to bathe ,wash hands, trim
fingernails and change clothing. Also includes keeping the
environment clean and pathogen free.
Components of personal hygiene.
Personal hygiene has many components, Following these
components one may be able to advance his/her hygiene the
following are some;
• Face hygiene
• Fingernail & Toenail hygeine
• Ear hygiene
• Hair hygiene
• Foot hygiene
• Environmental cleanilliness
Hygiene generally refers to the set of practices associated with
the preservation of health and healthy living. The focus is
mainly on personal hygiene that looks at cleanliness of the
hair, body, hands, fingers, feet and clothing, and menstrual
hygiene.
Improvements in personal knowledge, skill and practice that
modify an individual’s behaviour towards healthy practice are
the focus of hygiene promotion. Safe hygiene practice
includes a broad range of healthy behaviours, such as
handwashing before eating and after cleaning a child’s bottom
and safe faeces disposal.
When you carry out hygiene education and promotion
the aim is to transfer knowledge and understanding of hygiene
and associated health risks in order to help people change their
behaviour to use better hygiene practices.
Sanitation means the prevention of human contact with
wastes, for hygienic purposes. It also means promoting health
through the prevention of human contact with the hazards
associated with the lack of healthy food, clean water and
healthful housing, the control of vectors (living organisms that
transmit diseases), and a clean environment. It focuses on
management of waste produced by human activities.
There are different types of sanitation relating to particular
situations, such as:
• Basic sanitation: refers to the management of human
faeces at the household level. It means access to a toilet or
latrine.
• Onsite sanitation: the collection and treatment of waste at
the place where it is deposited.
• Food sanitation: refers to the hygienic measures for
ensuring food safety. Food hygiene is similar to food
sanitation.
Cont…
• Housing sanitation: refers to safeguarding the home
environment (the dwelling and its immediate environment).
• Environmental sanitation: the control of environmental
factors that form links in disease transmission. This category
includes solid waste management, water and wastewater
treatment, industrial waste treatment and noise and pollution
control.
• Ecological sanitation: the concept of recycling the nutrients
from human and animal
wastes to the environment.
Personal hygiene is a concept that is commonly used in
medical and public health practices. It is also widely
practised at the individual level and at home. It involves
maintaining the cleanliness of our body and clothes. Personal
hygiene is personal, as its name implies. In this regard,
personal hygiene is defined as a condition promoting
sanitary practices to the self. Everybody has their own habits
and standards that they have been taught or that they have
learned from others. Generally, the practice of personal
hygiene is employed to prevent or minimise the
incidence and spread of communicable diseases.
Difference between cleanliness and hygiene
The term cleanliness should not be used in place of hygiene. Cleaning
in many cases is removing dirt, wastes or unwanted things from the
surface of objects using detergents and necessary equipment. Hygiene
practice focuses on the prevention of diseases through the use of
cleaning as one of several inputs. For example, a janitor cleans the
floor of a health centre using detergent, mop and broom. They might
also use chlorine solution to disinfect the floor. The cleaning process in
this example is the removal of visible dirt, while the use of chlorine
solution removes the invisible microorganisms. Hygienic practice
encompasses both cleaning for the removal of physically observable
matters and the use of chlorine for the removal of microorganisms.
The hygiene practice in this example aims at preventing the spread of
Public health importance of personal hygiene
The knowledge and practice of personal hygiene are vital in
all our everyday activities. The
purposes are:
Preventing faeco-orally transmitted diseases
The fingers may get contaminated with one’s own faeces,
either directly or indirectly. Activities
during defecation and child bottom-washing are additional
opportunities for the contamination of
the fingers that facilitate the transmission of infections
Aesthetic values of personal hygiene
A person with clean hands is proud while eating because they
feel confident of preventing
diseases. A teacher in a school is always happy to see their
students with clean faces and eyes,
and dressed in clean clothes. A mother is mentally satisfied to
feed her infant with clean hands
because she ensures the preservation of her child’s health.
Generally, cleaning oneself produces
pride, comfort and dignity at home and in public places.
Caring about the way you look is
important to your self-esteem.
Social impact
A person with poor personal hygiene might be isolated from
friendship because telling the
person about the situation might be sensitive and culturally
difficult. The success of a job
application or the chance of promotion could be affected by
poor personal hygiene; no company
wants to be represented by someone who does not appear to
be able to look after themselves.
Components of personal hygiene
Body hygiene (skin care)
The body has nearly two million sweat glands. Moistened and
dried sweat and dead skin cells all together make dirt that sticks
on to the skin and the surface of underclothes. The action of
bacteria decomposes the sweat, thereby generating bad odour
and irritating the skin. This is especially observed in the groin,
underarms and feet, and in clothing that has absorbed sweat.
Skin infections such as scabies, pimples and ringworm are
results of poor body hygiene. The first task in body hygiene is
to find water, soap and other cleansing materials.
Cont…
Taking a bath or a shower using body soap at least weekly is
very important to ensuring our body stays clean. Bathing can be
every day or after periods of sweating or getting dirty. The
genitals and the anal region need to be cleaned well because of
the natural secretions of these areas. Dry the body with a clean
towel after thorough rinsing. Change into clean underwear after
a bath. Changing sweatsoaked clothes after each bath is
advised. Cleaning the ears after every bath is also necessary.
Avoid sharing soaps and towels because of the danger of cross-
infection.
Oral hygiene (oral care)
The mouth is the area of the body most prone to collecting
harmful bacteria and generating infections. Our mouth
mechanically breaks food into pieces. This process leaves
food particles (food debris) that stick to the surface of our
gums and teeth. Our mouth cavity is full of bacteria and is a
good environment for bacterial growth.
The decaying process that takes place on the surface of the
teeth eventually produces a build-up called plaque (a sticky
deposit on which bacteria grow) that is then converted into
tartar (a hard, yellowish, calcified deposit on the teeth,
consisting of organic secretions and food particles).
Theresult is tooth decay. In addition, unpleasant smelling
breath (halitosis or stinking odour), teeth and gum infections
could be a result of poor oral hygiene.
Handwashing (hand care)
The cleanliness of our hands is very important in all our daily
activities. In our normal activities our hands frequently get
dirty. There are many situations in which microorganisms are
likely to attach to our hands along with the dirt. There are
many communicable diseases that follow the route of faeco-
oral transmission. Hand hygiene plays a critically important
role in preventing this transmission.
Hygienic handwashing involves the mechanical removal of
microorganisms from contaminated hand surfaces using soap
or detergent. Handwashing should involve more than a quick
rinse under a tap (faucet) or in running water.
Handwashing technique.
• First wet your hands with clean water and lather with a bar of
soap.
• Next rub your hands together vigorously and scrub all
surfaces up to your wrists.
• Clean under your fingernails.
• Continue for 15–30 seconds or about the length of a little
tune (for example, the ‘Happy Birthday’ song).
Cont…
It is the soap combined with the scrubbing action that helps
dislodge and remove germs.
• Rinse your hands well with clean running water (pour from
a jug or tap).
• Dry your hands in the air to avoid recontamination on a
dirty towel – do not touch anything until your hands are dry.
• Wood ash will also rub off any dirt and smells. The slight
irritation you feel when you wash your hands with ash shows
the cleansing power of ash.
• Clean sand with water can be used for handwashing to help
to rub off dirt.
If you don’t have soap, you can use alternatives. These serve
the same purpose as the soap, to help ‘scrub’ what is stuck on
your hands, so the running water can brush it off. To get clean
hands, you must POUR the water over your hands (no dipping
in a bowl!). The soap or ash ‘lifts’ the dirt, and the water then
washes off the visible dirt and the invisible germs.
As well as routine personal hygiene that applies to everyone,
your daily work will include many situations when you may
ask yourself when you need to wash your hands.
To know when to wash your hands at home and at work, you
must first identify critical situations; that is, situations,
activities orincidents that indicatethe possibility that
Cont…
pathogenic microorganisms are present on hands, fingers and
nail surfaces. Critical situations in everyday activity include:
• After using the toilet (or disposing of human or animal
faeces)
• After changing a baby’s diaper (nappy) and disposing of the
faeces.
• Immediately after touching raw food when preparing meals
(e.g. chicken or other meat).
• Before preparing and handling cooked/ready-to-eat food.
• Before eating food or feeding children.
•
After contact with contaminated surfaces (e.g. rubbish bins,
cleaning cloths, food contaminated surfaces).
• After handling pets and domestic animals.
• After wiping or blowing the nose or sneezing into the hands
(respiratory hygiene).
• After handling soiled tissues (your own or others’, e.g.
children). Critical situations in healthcare activity include:
• Before and after contact with an infected wound.
• After contact with blood or body fluids (e.g. vomit).
• Before and after dressing wounds.
• Before giving care to an ‘at risk’ person (e.g. attending delivery,
attending a baby).
Face hygiene
Our face reveals our daily practice of personal hygiene. Face
hygiene includes all parts of the face. The most important
area to keep clean is the eyes. The eye discharges protective
fluids that could dry and accumulate around the eye. They are
visible when a person gets up in the morning.
The organic substance of the eye discharge can attract flies
and this is dangerous because the fly is a carrier (vector) of
trachoma and conjunctivitis.
A person should wash their face every morning in order to
remove all dirt that they have come in contact with during the
course of the day.
This will keep your face clean all day. Children are advised
to wash their face frequently. Never share your face towel
with others.
Fingernail and toenail hygiene (nail care)
A nail is hard tissue that constantly grows. Long fingernails
tend to accumulate or trap dirt on the
underside. The dirt could be as a result of defecation or
touching infected and contaminatedsurfaces. Keeping nails
trimmed and in good shape weekly is important in
maintaining good health. Clip nails short along their shape
but do not cut them so close that it damages the skin.
Razor blades and fingernail cutters or scissors are used to cut
nails. Nail cutters should not be shared with others.
Ear hygiene
Ear wax accumulates in the ear canal that leads from the outer
ear to the ear drum. As the secretion comes out of the ear it
collects dust particles from the air. Daily washing with soap
and water is enough to keep the outer ear clean. Do not reach
farther than you can with your little finger into your ear.
Putting in hairpins, safety pins or blunt-edged things for
cleaning purposes might harm the ear. If you feel wax has
accumulated and is plugging your ears and interfering
with hearing, consult your doctor.
Hair hygiene (hair care)
The hair follicles from which the hair grows produce oil from
the sebaceous glands that keeps the hair smooth. The scalp
(the skin covering the head) also has numerous sweat glands
and is a surface for the accumulation of dead skin cells. The
oil, sweat and dead cells all add together and can make the
hair greasy and look dirty unless you wash it regularly.
Poor hair hygiene could cause dandruff and skin infections
such as Tinea capitis. Dandruff is dead skin on the scalp that
comes off in tiny flakes when sebaceous glands produce too
much oil and accumulates on the scalp.
Cont…
Head hair is a good harbour for head lice (Pediculus humanus
capitis) and nits (eggs of head lice). The head louse is a tiny
insect that lives by sucking blood. Children are especially
prone to lice infestation. Lice spread from one head to another
when there is close contact as in school environments. They
make the scalp itchy and are a cause of annoyance, irritation
and embarrassment. Shaving of the head hair is possible in
cases of heavy lice infestation. Sharing of blades with others,
however, should be discouraged.
Hair cleaning is important to ensure it stays clean, healthy and
strong.
Cont…
The recommended procedures for cleaning the hair are:
• Use clean water to wash your hair regularly (at least twice
weekly, preferably once every
other day) with body soap or shampoo, whichever is
available.
• Massage your scalp well. This will remove dead skin cells,
excess oil and dirt.
• Rinse well with clear water.
• Conditioner is helpful if you have longer hair as it makes
the hair smoother and easier to
comb, but hair doesn’t need to have conditioner.
Cont…
• Use a wide toothed comb for wet hair as it is easier to pull
through.
• Dry the hair and the head with a clean towel. Never share a
towel with someone else.
• Comb the hair to look beautiful for the day.
Foot hygiene (foot care)
We spend a lot of time on our feet. Our feet sweat as we walk
day and night and the sweat accumulates on all foot surfaces
and between the toes. The sweat may stain the shoes and can
produce an awful odour.
As well as bacteria, sweat also encourages fungal growth
between the toes. This is called athlete’s foot. The symptoms of
athlete’s foot are scaly skin and sores or blisters, which start
between the toes but can often spread to the soles of the feet.
This is a minor irritation and often disappears by itself but
sometimes these cracks and sores become the site for other
infections. The feet should be washed daily, or at least twice
weekly.
Foot hygiene is also important in the treatment of
podoconiosis, sometimes known as mossy foot. This disease
causes swelling in the feet and lower legs and is common in
certain parts of Kenya.
Cont…
It is a reaction in the body to very small soil particles that have
passed through the skin of the feet. Podoconiosis can easily be
prevented by wearing shoes at all times but, if someone is
affected, careful washing and drying of the feet is an important
part of the treatment.
Toenails do not have much role in the transmission of diseases.
However, they can accumulate dirt and this can increase the
potential for bacterial and fungal breeding e.g. athlete’s foot.
Armpit and bottom hygiene
These are body parts that easily get sweaty and where
ventilation is very poor. After puberty, our sweat gains a
specific and unpleasant odour which may be offensive to
others. The armpits and the bottom should be washed daily.
Anal cleansing is the hygienic practice of cleaning the anus
after defecation. The anus and buttocks may be cleansed with
clean toilet paper or similar paper products. Water may be
used.Hands must be washed with soap afterwards. The use of
rags, leaves, stones, corn cobs, or sticks must be discouraged as
these materials can damage the skin.
Clothes hygiene
We usually have two layers of clothing. The internal layer is
underwear (or underclothes) such as pants, vest and T-shirt.
These are right next to our skin and collect sweat and dead
skin cells, which can stain the cloth. Bacteria love to grow on
this dirt and produce a bad smell in addition to the specific
odour of the sweat. Underwear must be washed more
frequently than the outer layer of clothing.
Clothes hygiene is an important aspect of one’s dignity.
Changing used clothes for clean ones every day is
recommended. Washing dirty clothes requires adequate clean
water, detergents (solid or powdered soap)
Cont…
and washing facilities (Figure 3.7). If possible, the washed
clothes should be ironed to help the destruction of body lice and
nits. Boiling water or insecticides can be used to destroy clothes
infestation.
Menstrual hygiene (Personal hygiene for women)
The vagina is able to clean itself; no special care is needed other
than washing the external genitals. Washing the outer genital
area with clean water must be a daily practice. Change
tampons and sanitary napkins or pads regularly. Always wash
your hands before and after handling a tampon or pad. Clean
and soft cloths can be used in place of sanitary pads.
Cont…
The use of dirty cloths must be discouraged. Menstrual blood-
absorbing items must be properly disposed of in a burial pit or
other appropriate method.
Conclusion:
1. Personal hygiene is a necessity for our daily activities. It is
very important for the protection of our health and helps to
prevent the spread of communicable diseases.
2. Personal hygiene has social and aesthetic values. An
individual who follows the practice of proper personal hygiene
gains confidence, pride and dignity.
Cont…
Personal hygiene applies to all parts of the body, but hand
hygiene is probably the most important for public health.
4. The procedures that apply in personal hygiene (such as
handwashing and oral hygiene) need to be followed strictly to
gain the best results.
5. The promotion of personal hygiene should aim to change
human behaviour. The provision of hygiene information first
impacts on knowledge and then practice.
6. The promotion of personal hygiene must be well planned in
order to bring positive changes.