Maintaining good personal hygiene practices obviously helps reduce the risks of various health problems, but also affects social and psychological aspects of our lives.

Good personal hygiene helps to prevent the development and spread of infections, diseases and unpleasant body odors and also help us look more presentable and attractive.

Adding to the above, let’s see the health, social and psychological reasons people should maintain good personal hygiene practices in their lives and what benefits do they offer them.

 

Health Reasons and Benefits

The difference between health and sickness sometimes depends on simple habits such as washing your hands or promptly dressing a superficial scratch.

Mundane and seemingly trivial conditions such as small cuts, rashes, athlete’s foot, sore throat etc should not be disregarded and treated immediately to avoid deterioration and spreading as well as to find out if there are more serious, underlying problems behind them.

The single most important preventive health measure one can take in their everyday lives is washing their hands regularly, especially after using the toilet and before coming to contact with any foods, and keeping their environments clean.

In short, staying clean by maintaining good personal hygiene will keep you healthier.

 

Social Reasons and Benefits

Maintaining proper personal hygiene means that you will look more healthy and attractive to other people. It is impossible to project a healthy body image and make good impression without adhering to personal hygiene principles. Looking unwashed and smelling bad will immediately place a person in several social disadvantages as others will find him or her less attractive and even potentially dangerous to their own health.

For the above reasons it is of paramount important to teach children the importance of good personal hygiene from a young age so they might be able to keep themselves clean and healthy throughout their lives and avoid the social stigma that accompanies poor hygiene habits.

 

Psychological Reasons and Benefits

Confidence and self-esteem are affected by our body image which is reflected on our ability to care for ourselves and maintain good personal hygiene practices.

Healthy teeth, hair, skin and nails are signs of a healthy and well-groomed individual who pays attention to his or her personal hygiene and health. This can give confidence in everyday life and social interactions.

By being clean and well-groomed, people can feel more confident in any social environment. First impressions, often an important factor in many interpersonal relationships as well as job interviews are heavily affected by our outwards image which is directly related to our personal hygiene habits and practices.

 

A person’s chances of success in social environments, interpersonal relationships and even in their line of work can be substantially improved by improving their personal hygiene practices.