Personal Hygiene: The Importance Of Personal Hygiene

INTRODUCTION
The importance of personal hygiene is incalculable not only to individuals but to the entire population in general. As the medical field has progressed some focus has been lost on preventing spread of disease because so much research and collaboration is dedicated to curing a disease once it occurs. While medications and vaccines continue to be remarkable, and usually lifesaving discoveries, it is important to remember the basics of preventing the initial spread of these communicable diseases and infections. Foundational techniques such as hand washing, covering coughs or sneezes, showering regularly, brushing your teeth, and avoiding the sharing of personal items can go a long way in preventing the spread of microbes and bacteria.

The most frequently shared items are chap stick/lip gloss, hair brushes, makeup, and beverages. Reflecting on where these objects come into contact with (mouth, hair, face, and eyes) makes its effortless to understand why it is so easy to transmit microorganisms and disease through them. Head lice is commonly spread this way by sharing hats, hairbrushes, and even towels. It spreads quickly and though it isn’t particularly dangerous and can be remedied through commercially available treatments, it is still inconvenient, uncomfortable, and most importantly it is preventable. Sharing makeup has more hazardous consequential infections such as conjunctivitis, better known as pink eye. Pink eye is very contagious and painful infection that sometimes cannot be treated with medications. It is usually caused by the transmission of a bacteria or virus via makeup, towels, or other personal items that come into contact with the conjunctiva. It causes the eye to become red, swollen, and itchy. It is spread even more rapidly when in combination with poor hand washing techniques as discussed earlier. The problem with sharing personal items is that many diseases and infections have incubational periods that are asymptomatic. The principal to keep in mind is that it is impossible to tell just by inspection what kind of microbes a person may be housing. In most cases, “better safe than sorry” is a reliable rule of thumb when it comes to borrowing or letting others borrow your personal