Personal Hygiene For Boys (2nd Ed, 1971)

[Music] Your body plays hard. [Music] Your body works [Music] hard. Your body works something like a machine. Like a big eight with a quad. Your body, like this machine, needs good care. You wouldn't like to let this engine sit idle. But maybe you're like Rick, who takes better care of the car than he does of himself. Well, you're probably smarter than Rick. Just as you run the car, you run your body. You get the exercise you need to keep your body healthy and strong. And you know that just as a car needs the right fuel to give its top performance, you need the right fuel for your own body to function at its best. For your body fuel, you need a balanced diet. If you've forgotten what that is, you can check it out again. So, we can assume that your machine-like body gets the fuel and exercise it needs. You also know that your body needs rest. 8 to 10 hours of sleep. And if you don't get rest, well, you might just lose your healthy good looks. Your posture might look sloppy or your disposition may turn sour. So, take time to turn yourself off by getting the rest and sleep you need. Okay? So you take care of your inside body with the right exercise, food and sleep. But what about your outside body? How your body looks is important too. How do you get your body looking good? Right. Take the same good care of it that Rick takes of the car. Why bother? Because people, particularly this kind, enjoy looking at attractive things. Okay. What can you do to look better? Keep clean. And that may not be as easy for you now as it will be later on in your life. Right now, maybe you're like Rick and don't think that keeping clean is a big deal. But at your age, you have special problems. Hair is one. It's begun to grow on certain parts of your body. To keep the hairy parts of your body clean, you need plenty of soap and water and spread that soap around. Your skin has between two and three million sweat glands. They're always working. So, you know what that means? Your whole body has to be washed just about every day to prevent body odor. Body odor. Body odor. Body odor. Flowers smell sweet. Enjoyable. Fresh pancakes smell great. But the smell of sweat, well, sweat is something you ought to get rid of. Not just for your sake, but for other people as well. Your body sweats as much as two quarts every day. That's a lot of sweat. You can't just leave it on your body. And your body includes your feet, too. They sweat inside your shoes. Don't forget your feet and dry them carefully. That lessens the chances of getting athletes foot, a fungus disease. Drying your skin helps your body because it removes oil and dead skin cells. That's especially important if you have an acne problem. Acne can pop out any place on your body where there are a lot of oil glands like your back and your face. The best thing you can do for acne is to keep yourself clean by washing and of course eat a balanced diet and don't pick. But everybody tells you that, right? If your physician has prescribed a skin medication, great. But if you're treating yourself, be careful. Some products that are supposed to cure acne may irritate your skin. Daily showering or bathing is your best insurance for a clean body and clear skin. Okay, but what else can you do? Well, an added protection against body odor is a deodorant that covers up odor or an antipersperent that keeps you from persspiring. But some people don't use deodorant because they have sensitive skin. So now with just a little effort, you look and feel pretty good. Of course, if you don't practice cleanliness, you won't die. But you may smell like you did. The hair on your head also needs special care, whatever style you have. But even if your hairstyle is no style, you may want to do your hair to keep it healthy. Combing and brushing your hair remove dust, dirt, and dandruff while distributing the natural hair oil. Brushing also stimulates the circulation of blood in your scalp. It helps make your hair healthy. Of course, the important part of your hair care is done at home. You can wash your hair every day if you like, but twice a week is a fair average. But instead of using regular soap, you might want to use shampoo. After a good washing, be sure to rinse your hair well to get all the suds out. That also helps prevent dandruff. What about that hair beginning to grow on your face? That needs care, too. If you don't plan on cultivating it, you'll have to shave. If you use an electric shaver, it sometimes helps to dry your skin before starting. Some special pre-shave liquids and powders do this. When you shave, follow the instructions that came with your shaver. Some work best with your skin kept loose. Others are better with a skin pulled tight. If you use a safety razor, it helps to wash your face with soap and warm water first. Washing softens your beard, making it easier to shave. You don't need a whole lot of lather to get a good shave. A little bit go a long way with a safety razor. Pulling the skin tight helps keep you from cutting yourself and gives you a good close shave. If you do cut yourself, you can usually stop the bleeding with cold water or a stipic pencil. It has an ingredient that stops the bleeding and seals the cut. but it'll sting a little. While you're working on your face, how about your teeth? One thing you can do for them is keep them clean. Ideally, you should brush your teeth after each meal. Brush your teeth the way they grow. Brush down on the top teeth. Brush up on the bottom teeth. That way, the bristles get between the teeth and take out food that's stuck there. brush across on the chewing surfaces. The other thing you can do is see a dentist twice a year for a checkup. Of course, if you have any health problems, a physician can probably help you. Good personal hygiene includes not only how you care for your body, but your attitude towards it. Why deliberately mistreat your body? You know that drugs can be misused and you know the same is true of alcohol and tobacco. One more thing, don't overlook your clothes. Clean clothes are part of personal hygiene, too. If you can change them daily, take a good look at yourself. Are you taking care of your body? [Music]