Table of contents:
- A clean lifestyle that secretly destroys health
- 1. Brush your teeth immediately after eating
- 2. Clean the ears with cotton bud
- 3. Using hand sanitizer
- 4. Using vaginal cleansers
- 5. Exfoliate frequently
- 6. Bathing or soaking in hot water for too long
- 7. Cover mouth with hand when sneezing
Everyone should maintain personal hygiene in order to stay healthy. But in fact, many of the clean living behaviors that you may have been implementing are actually damaging your body's health. Oops! What are they?
A clean lifestyle that secretly destroys health
1. Brush your teeth immediately after eating
Ideally, everyone should be diligent in brushing their teeth twice a day, namely in the morning and before going to bed at night. However, many people brush their teeth a few minutes after eating. The intention may be to avoid food stuck in your teeth that can be the source of various oral problems, but this actually backfires for your dental health.
After the food enters the mouth and is crushed by the saliva, the food will produce acids, one of which is citric acid. The acid that is still stuck to the teeth will be absorbed into the tooth enamel when you brush your teeth right after eating, and then scrape it from the inside.
The enamel that is eroded due to acid makes the dentin weaker. As a result, your teeth will become more sensitive, thinner, and feel pain easily.
To avoid this, wait about 30-60 minutes after you finish eating if you want to brush your teeth.
2. Clean the ears with cotton bud
It seems that almost everyone is accustomed to cleaning earwax using a cotton bud. Unfortunately, only a few people know that this is actually a clean behavior that is totally wrong.
Indeed, there will be a little wax that will be picked up and stuck to the tip of the cotton, but at the same time you are also pushing and squeezing the remaining earwax deeper and deeper. The more often you use a cotton swab, the more wax is pushed and eventually hardens clogging the ear canal.
This condition is called wax impaction, which can lead to hearing loss. The impact of the wax can sometimes cause pain and pressure in the ear, causing a buzzing sensation. Not infrequently, encouragement cotton buduntil it can pierce the eardrum. Worse, there can be bleeding from inserting cotton buds too deep which eventually leads to infection or hearing loss.
Brande Plotnick, MS. An MBA quoted from Reader's Digest states that ears don't need to be cleaned. The wax will usually come out on its own. The alternative, drain clean water into the ear while bathing to get the dirt out.
3. Using hand sanitizer
Washing your hands regularly is a part of hygiene behavior. To make it easier, you can use hand sanitizer. Unfortunately, some compounds such as triclosan, bisphenol A, alcohol, and other cleaning agents in hand sanitizers have an adverse effect on health.
These substances have the risk of increasing bacterial resistance, affecting hormones, and making the skin of the hands drier. The safe is wash hands with soap and running water or make your own natural hand sanitizer.
4. Using vaginal cleansers
Betel soap, feminine soap, and vaginal douching are not recommended to use to clean the vagina at all. When you use feminine soap, the chemicals in it will disrupt the pH balance of the vagina by killing the good bacteria colonies in it. This then increases your risk of getting a bacterial infection or vaginal yeast infection.
Just like ears, the vagina can clean itself without needing your help. You just need to rinse it under clean running water and keep it dry. Check the following link regarding the correct way to maintain vaginal cleanliness.
5. Exfoliate frequently
Exfoliating can be a great way to keep your skin young. With exfoliation, dead skin cells can be removed and replaced with healthy skin cells.
Even so, doing this treatment too often can strip the skin of its natural oils, making it drier and irritated more easily. Rubbing the scrub too hard while exfoliating can also be bad.
If your skin is normal, Ideally exfoliate twice a week only while for sensitive skin once a week is enough. It is better if you first consult with your doctor if you want to know your skin type as well as how to exfoliate the right way.
6. Bathing or soaking in hot water for too long
Soaking or taking a hot shower can help relieve fatigue and get rid of aches. Sleep better after that.
However, taking too long a shower or warm bath can strip the natural oils that are on the surface of your skin. As a result, the skin dries out and is prone to problems.
If you still want to take a warm shower, adjust the temperature first so that it doesn't get too hot and try not to fall asleep too long.
For adults, the recommended safe limit for taking a warm bath without causing skin damage is around 41-42º Celsius no more than 10 minutes.
7. Cover mouth with hand when sneezing
Sneezing is annoying, not to mention that the bacteria or viruses contained in these water droplets can be transmitted to other people. To avoid this, you need to cover your mouth when you sneeze - but don't cover it with both hands.
After you sneeze, germs that were in your nose or mouth will transfer to your hands. If you don't wash your hands immediately and immediately touch or touch other objects, or even shake hands with other people, the germs that are on your hands will transfer again. This is what makes flu and colds so contagious.
Ideally, cover your nose and mouth with your deep elbow or deep arm when you sneeze. Or, always have a tissue ready to cover your mouth when you sneeze, and throw it in the trash immediately. Using a nose mask also prevents the spread of the virus.
