Personal Hygiene
What does personal hygiene mean?
Personal hygiene is about keeping yourself clean. It is very important, especially during puberty because there are many changes that happen to your body and you need to look after your body properly.
What are different ways I can keep myself clean?
- Have a bath or shower at least once a day. You should use products such as soap or shower gel to clean your skin. If you have sensitive skin, you should check that the product you use is appropriate for you, some products are specially designed to be used on sensitive skin.
- Use deodorant after washing. This can be a spray or a roll-on deodorant. Deodorants are used so you smell nice after you wash. Some deodorants are also antiperspirants, which could cause you to sweat less.
- Brush your teeth for two minutes, twice a day. Read more about looking after your teeth.
- Remember to wash your hands before and after eating or touching food, after using the toilet, after sneezing /coughing and after touching pets. Read more about washing your hands.
- Wear clean clothes that are washed regularly.
- Wash your hair with shampoo. How often you should wash your hair depends on the type of hair that you have. If you have hair that gets greasy easily then you need to wash it quite often, perhaps around once every couple of days. If you have hair that doesn’t get greasy as easily, then you could wait a bit longer before washing it. It’s also common for people to use conditioner whilst washing their hair as well to stop their hair from getting too dry. The most important thing is that you wash it regularly and that you use hair products that are right for your type of hair.
This information has been provided by our school nurses and NHS Choices.