15 Poor Hygiene Habits That Can Harm Your Health

It’s been a long day of work and you are utterly exhausted by the time you open the front door to your home. You make yourself some dinner and put on an episode of your favorite series. Plate in hand, you hop on the couch and eat your meal. Finishing your meal, you get a bit more comfy on the couch as you put on one more episode. Before you know it, you have drifted off to dreamland on the couch or perhaps managed to drag yourself to bed. But wait, haven’t you forgotten a few things? While the above scenario may happen to all of us from time to time, certain poor hygiene habits can actually make you sick if left unchecked.

15 Poor Hygiene Habits

 I’m sure you will recognize yourself in many of these lapses in good judgment. Yet, it is important to recognize and correct these poor hygiene habits before they create long-lasting issues for your health. Let’s take a look at 15 poor hygiene habits that can potentially make you sick.

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1: Not Brushing or Flossing Your Teeth Regularly

Not brushing or flossing your teeth can result in bleeding and swollen gums, bad breath, and cavities. Left untreated, cavities penetrate down to your nerves, which then requires dental procedures such as root canals. [1[] Any food particles remaining in your mouth can potentially cause gum disease. While gum disease may be painless, it will eventually result in teeth falling out. 

2: Not Bathing or Showering Regularly

Bacteria grow on our skin rapidly, especially when there are many dead skin cells to feast on. This can cause irritation, itching, and inflammation. Not showering regularly can also make existing conditions such as eczema worse. If you don’t bath often enough, you run the risk of developing dermatitis neglecta, which can also result in secondary infections.

3: Sleeping with Makeup On

Forgetting to wash your makeup off before going to be can lead to clogged pores, pimples, blackheads, and uneven skin. [2] Additionally, makeup harbors bacteria which eventually spread under your eyelids, causing inflamed follicles and styes. Left untreated, this poor hygiene habit can even result in blindness!  

4: Not Washing Your Bedding Regularly

Bacteria multiply at a rapid rate, and bed sheets left unwashed for months become a literal hotbed of bacteria, dust mites, and fungi. Regularly washing your pajamas is equally important. Using the same unwashed pajamas and bed sheets can potentially result in a staph infection or even septicemia! 

5: Leaving Contact Lenses In Too Long

Your contact lenses should be removed every night before bed. Yet, some people often leave them in for a week or even longer! This can result in severe eye infections, such as corneal ulcers. These open sores can cause redness, blurry vision, discharge, and pain. [3]

6: Irregularly Washing Underwear and Bras

Not washing your underwear and bra regularly increases your risk of developing thrush, yeast infections, and urinary tract infections. Left untreated, UTIs can migrate to your kidneys, resulting in a potentially life-threatening disease called sepsis. Untreated yeast and thrush infections can result in internal scarring and even infertility. This is not a poor hygiene habit to mess around with!

7: Sharing Your Hairbrush, Razor, or Toothbrush

They say that sharing is caring, but this doesn’t apply to your personal grooming products. Using someone else’s toothbrush, for example, can lead to the spread of infections. These infections can lead to a spectrum of issues, ranging from gingivitis to heart disease! Using someone else’s razor is equally dangerous, increasing your risk of picking up a skin infection such as staph. [4]

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8: Reusing Old Towels 

Another item that should not be shared is your towel. This is because they harbor bodily secretions and bacteria, especially if used several times before washing. Sharing sweaty towels can lead to skin infections such as staph. Even if you are the only one using your towel at the gym, you should lander it as soon as possible. 

9: Not Wearing Footwear in Public Showers

Always wear flip-flops or some form of waterproof footwear when using public showers! These public spaces are typically full of sweat and urine, the perfect breeding ground for bacteria, mold, toenail fungus, athlete’s foot, and ringworm. Toenail fungus infections can even result in the loss of your toenails.

10: Poor Hygiene and Reusing Unwashed Bottles

While we should always make sure we are taking in enough water, what you drink from is equally important. Drinking water from a reusable water bottle without cleaning it can be as unhygienic as licking your pet’s toys! The worst offenders were screw-top and squeeze-top bottles, which proved to be infested with large amounts of bacteria, including E.coli. 

11: Not Washing Your Fruit and Vegetables

When you buy your fresh produce off the shelf, it is still covered in pesticide residue and bacteria. This is why washing your produce with warm water is important. In fact, pesticide residue even penetrates through the skin layer and ends up in the pulp. So, peeling is an even better idea than merely washing. 

12: Improper Eyelash Extension Care

Improper care of your eyelash extensions can result in vision impairment and cornea inflammation. This typically occurs when the glue gets into the eyes. Known as keratitis, this inflammation can be very painful and usually requires medical attention as it won’t go away on its own. 

13: Leaving Feminine Products In Too Long

This poor hygiene habit has to do with feminine products. Leaving your tampon in too long can result in a range of consequences, the worst of which is toxic shock syndrome. The initial symptoms of this potentially life-threatening condition include vomiting, fever, headaches, and diarrhea. If not medically treated, it can lead to kidney failure and even death. [5]

14: Poor Hygiene and Not Washing Your Hair 

While washing your hair too often may be damaging, not washing it at all could be even worse! Neglecting to wash your hair can result in a smelly scalp, clogged hair follicles, and the resulting infections. Oil buildup will eventually cause issues, such as dandruff, skin infections, and yeast development. Without washing your hair, it will eventually stop growing at all. 

15: Not Replacing Your Kitchen Sponge Often Enough

The final poor hygiene habit on this list has to do with your kitchen. Sometimes your kitchen sponge can get so dirty that you are basically adding more bacteria than you are taking off! Dirty sponges harbor and spread E.coli, salmonella, staphylococcus, and many other harmful diseases. In fact, studies have shown that the typical dirty sponge is even dirtier than your toilet bowl! 

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