Basics of personal hygiene
Personal hygiene is a factor in preserving and strengthening human health, preventing diseases, and increasing life expectancy. The concept of personal hygiene includes the following issues: daily routine, nutrition, skin care of the body and oral cavity, clothing, hardening, physical culture, personal hygiene at work and at home, etc.
Hygienic foundations of the daily routine. The daily routine is a certain alternation of various types of human activity during the day, which contributes to the development of a dynamic stereotype. It consists of alternating periods of work and rest, organizing rest, physical culture, etc. The listed types of human activity should be constant, performed at the same time and in the same sequence.
It is known that under certain conditions, protective inhibition can develop in the cerebral cortex, which protects nerve cells from exhaustion. If a person's work, life, and rest regime is disordered, then this process may weaken with a predominance of excitation.
The duration of the regime moments is determined by the age and individual characteristics of the person. So, for children and adults, the duration of sleep, the working day, and the number of meals should be different.
A very important point in the regime is the correct organization of rest. Rest, according to I. P. Pavlov, should be active and include a change of occupation, which relieves fatigue, helps to preserve health, since inactive rest does not restore strength.
Sleep hygiene. At the end of the day, a person feels tired. To restore the body's working capacity, and primarily the functions of the central nervous system, sleep is important. It should be deep and long. The duration of sleep is determined by the age and condition of the body. So, an adult's sleep should last 7-8 hours a day. The younger the body, the longer the sleep should be. A 7-year-old child should sleep 12 hours, a 10-year-old - 10 hours a day.
Sleep should occur in a comfortable bed, at an air temperature of 16-17 ° C, with an open window. Reading in bed before going to bed is not recommended, as it impairs vision.
Caring for the skin of the body and the oral cavity. One of the main requirements of personal hygiene is maintaining the cleanliness of the body.
Human skin performs various functions. It is constantly contaminated with the secretion of the sebaceous and sweat glands, dead scales of the epidermis, and when in contact with the environment - with microorganisms, dust, helminths. Therefore, to maintain the cleanliness of the body, it is necessary to wash off dirt from the surface of the skin 1-2 times a week with hot water, soap and a washcloth, followed by changing underwear and bed linen.
The skin of the upper extremities is most often contaminated. From here, dirt gets on other parts of the body and into food. To prevent this from happening, hands should be washed before each meal, after visiting the toilet, and after each contamination. Nails should be cut short to prevent dirt from accumulating under them. During bacteriological examination of dirt from under the nails, pathogens of intestinal infections, helminth eggs, pyogenic microorganisms, various fungi, scabies mites, etc. were found.
Oral care is of great importance and is carried out to prevent dental diseases and reduce bacterial contamination. The oral cavity contains various types of microorganisms that enter it from the environment when breathing air, with water, and food. Among these microorganisms, there are also pathogenic ones that can cause not only diseases of the teeth and oral cavity, but also of other organs and the body as a whole. Poor oral care contributes to an increase in the number of microorganisms. Food residues in the gaps between the teeth decompose, forming various organic acids that contribute to the destruction of teeth; an unpleasant odor from the mouth appears.
Hardening of the body consists in gradually increasing the resistance of the human body to adverse meteorological factors (cold or heat, high or low atmospheric pressure, etc.). This is achieved with the help of natural factors: the sun, air and water.
The physiological essence of hardening is based on the doctrine of I. P. Pavlov about conditioned reflexes. As a result of the systematic action of thermal and cold stimuli on the nerve endings (receptors) located in the mucous membrane of the upper respiratory tract and skin, the body gradually adapts to fluctuations in meteorological factors due to the creation of new temporary connections.
Hardening by the sun. Sunlight, falling on a naked body, causes complex physiological processes in the body (even with short-term exposure). With proper hardening by sunlight, the hemoglobin content in the blood increases, well-being improves, sleep normalizes, etc. It is better to sunbathe in the morning, in any position of the body (lying down, standing or moving), 2 hours after eating. In the morning, ultraviolet radiation prevails in the solar spectrum, which does not cause overheating of the body. In the summer, in the southern regions, sunbathing should be taken from 7 to 10 a.m., in the middle zone - from 8 to 11 a.m., and in the northern regions - from 10 to 12 p.m. In the transitional period of the year (autumn and spring), sunbathing should be taken from 11 to 14 a.m.
Gradual accustoming to solar radiation is of great importance. At first, you should be in the sun for 5-10 minutes. Gradually, the time spent in the sun is brought to 2-3 hours. After sunbathing, you should rest in the shade, and then take water procedures (water temperature 16-18 ° C).
Air hardening. Air baths are also very beneficial for the human body. At the same time, it is affected not only by air currents of different strength, but also by solar radiation. It is better to take air baths in an area with green spaces, which is remote from sources of air pollution. In winter, air hardening can be carried out in a well-ventilated room. It is recommended to combine air baths with physical exercises.
Hardening begins at a temperature of 20 ° C for 15-20 minutes. The duration of subsequent baths is gradually increased to 1-2 hours and they are continued to be taken in the cold season. Well-hardened people can take air baths at a temperature below 0 ° C, combining them with fast movements. After air baths, you should take a warm shower and rub your body vigorously.
Air baths, if used correctly, improve blood circulation and metabolism, contribute to the development of resistance to acute respiratory diseases, and increase the tone of the nervous system. However, the duration of the air bath is determined by the body's reaction. The appearance of "goosebumps", chills or trembling is a signal to stop it.
Under adverse weather conditions (rain, mist, high or low atmospheric pressure, strong wind), it is not recommended to take air baths.
Hardening with water. Water procedures work most effectively and quickly. This is explained by the fact that water has high thermal conductivity (28 times greater than the thermal conductivity of air) and acts mechanically, which causes more significant thermal irritation compared to air of the same temperature. Thermal irritation of skin receptors caused by water affects the entire body, especially the circulatory system, tissue respiration, and nervous system.
Water hardening begins in the morning, immediately after sleep and morning exercises, which contribute to uniform warming of the body. The duration of water procedures should be shorter, the lower the water temperature. Water hardening is carried out by pouring cool water over the body and wiping it with a wet towel, a rag, or a hand moistened with cold water. First, the upper half of the body is wiped, then the skin is wiped dry, then the lower half. The duration of this procedure is 4-5 minutes.
Very effective is dousing, especially with cold water. This causes a spasm of the blood vessels of the skin with their subsequent relaxation, which increases the tone of the neuromuscular apparatus and the person's working capacity. The water temperature should initially be about 30°C, then it is reduced to 15°C and below. The duration of the procedure is 3-4 minutes.
But the best effect on the body is showering. The effect of this water procedure is due not only to the temperature, but also to the mechanical effect, as a result of which there is a strong excitation of the nervous system. Therefore, it is not recommended to take a shower immediately after great physical exertion. The duration of the shower is 1-2 minutes. The water temperature from the beginning of the hardening should be 30-35°C. After the shower, you need to dry yourself thoroughly.
An effective hardening measure is swimming in open water bodies. The bathing and swimming season begins in early spring at a water temperature of not lower than 18°C. Before this, you must undergo a medical examination. First, the body is accustomed to staying in water for 10-15 seconds, bringing this time to 15-20 minutes. The best time for swimming is morning and evening hours, no earlier than 1-2 hours after eating. Thanks to gradual training, it will be possible to bathe and swim in water with a temperature of 15-5°C.
Physical culture is an important means of human development, strengthening of its health. Constant physical training contributes to an increase in the mass of skeletal muscle tissue. At the same time, the heart muscle is strengthened, the blood flow rate increases, pulmonary ventilation, which contributes to the enrichment of blood with oxygen and improvement of metabolic processes in the body.
In the conditions of technical progress and a steady decrease in the proportion of physical labor in human activity, the main load falls on the central nervous system and the sense organs. In the body of a person who leads a sedentary lifestyle and is busy with mental work, significant changes occur: the excitability of the cerebral cortex decreases, memory deteriorates, the speed of corresponding reactions slows down, fatigue and a feeling of lethargy appear more quickly; various diseases can develop - obesity, ischemic heart disease, chronic nonspecific colitis, hemorrhoids, gallstone disease.
The most important means of combating hypodynamia are physical education and sports. Physical exercises play a major role in the prevention of obesity, gout, diabetes mellitus, atherosclerosis and other diseases caused by hypodynamia and an unhealthy lifestyle.
Clothing hygiene. Clothing, like housing, participates in the regulation of heat exchange. Therefore, the main hygienic requirements for clothing are ensuring a constant body temperature, its compliance with the season and weather,
Shoes meet hygienic requirements when they not only protect the lower extremities from external mechanical interference (for example, from impacts) and potholes in the ground, but also provide complete freedom of movement of the foot while walking. Shoes should correspond to the size of the foot, which contributes to the even distribution of body weight. Incorrectly selected shoes can cause abrasions, unstable gait, changes in the position of the spine and pelvic bones. Narrow and tight shoes compress blood vessels and fingers, which causes blood stagnation in the lower extremities and increased sweating, spasm of blood vessels, impaired nutrition of muscle tissue. From constant pressure, fingers become curved, acquire an ugly shape, calluses appear, injuries, inflammation of the joints may occur.
The most comfortable shoes are with wide heels 1.5-3 cm high. They moderately increase arch of the foot, contributes to its greater endurance, and ensures even blood circulation.