Body hygiene

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Yeah, unfortunately you may not be aware of smelling bad--even if you're odor-sensitive. This is because we get used to smells that we are exposed to all the time. The scent receptors just get "tired" of firing (it's a biology thing, you can research it), and eventually your new baseline is set to ignore the smells that are always there. Smells that change only very gradually, like body odor, are the easiest to ignore.

If you're a guy (biologically), you probably need a shower every day. Guys have more of the "smelly" kind of sweat glands. Girls may be able to get away with every other day, if they don't get sweaty. If they do (and most people exercise at least a few times a week, though they may not call it exercise--walking the dog, doing chores, playing anything physical, is exercise), then they also should shower daily.

That's the ideal, though. There are more important things than smelling nice, and there's a certain distance you can go into not smelling nice before people will really be bothered. It's got to be balanced between your needs--how much energy you have to keep yourself clean--and other people's needs--the possible discomfort or sensory overload your body odor may cause.

One thing I recommend to everyone is keeping your hair quite short. I know this is easier for males, but even girls can have short haircuts without looking odd. Short hair needs less care, dries faster after being washed, and gets in your way much less.

If you have long hair and it tends to be dry, you may not want to wash your hair every day; but your body probably does need to be washed. You may put it into a ponytail and keep it out of the way while you shower (it will get damp, but that's to be expected), or wear a shower cap. Or you may wash it with plain water without soap; soap will strip the oil from your hair. There are also shampoos made for dry hair in particular. Dry hair tends to be less of a problem if it is kept short.

Dry skin responds nicely to applying body lotion, and to washing with a shower gel that's made for dry skin. If you need to wash less often because your skin dries out, try just washing your armpits, groin, and feet--those areas tend to get smellier than most--every other day or so, instead of a full shower.

I have to be conscious of maintaining hygiene.

I shower like once or twice a week. I convince myself to do it by making it a game to get in and out of the shower within 60 seconds. That can make it more of a fun challenge than a chore.

During the week I try for a quick 30 second PTA every few days.

I have finally made a habit of washing my hair each day. I have short hair so that is an easy 30 second deal that I combine with brushing my teeth.

Shaving remains a pain, so I usually only do it about once a week when my scruff becomes itchy.

These days I'm also pretty good about changing shirts each day. I keep a pile of fresh t-shirts thrown into a chair so grabbing a clean one is super easy. If I had to fetch one from a closet or drawer it would not happen.

im 30 years old and brushing my teeth has still not become an automatic thing to do. i have to consciously remind myself to do so every night. but i always do mostly so i guess it's ok

I keep mine on a shower-curtain rod wedged across my hallway. I hang them there fresh out of the washer, and so when I get out of the shower I just grab the next one over. I own about ten collared shirts in different colors, and I wear a "uniform" of collared shirt and plain black pants, which is casual enough for most places and formal enough for most places. Simplify, simplify, simplify. And keep things within eyeshot, or yes, you'll forget about them. Been there!

I like your approach. Simplification is the way. And combining bathing with a change of clothes makes everything simple. Since I started working from home, I find it easy to skip this routine, then everything falls apart. The simplest thing is just to continue as if I was getting ready to go in to the office, then just go on with my non-commuting work day.

Oh yes, preach it! For me if it is out of sight it is definitely out of mind. Best case I keep things always within reach of the moment I need them, like your rod. I have to keep cleaning supplies out on the kitchen and bath counters all the time so that I can do a quick swipe at the moment the thought hits me; otherwise forget it - it ain't gonna happen.

Thankfully I have one of those stack washer/dryer things in my kitchen so I can quickly do a load of laundry during the few minutes it takes to microwave something. Otherwise laundry would not happen.

I am a bit of a nonconformist so I enjoy coming up with novel ways to simplify, simplify, simplify. It can be a something of a game with me.

I wash every night, either at the sink, in the bath or in the shower. I couldn't bear to go out stinking. Even when I'm just hanging around indoors all day I still don't like stinking.

I used to go months without having a bath because I was not motivated due to lack of company but no one wants to be around you when you smell like a £10 bag of Bedfordshire Cheese. Now I use a shower and I motivate myself using my own methods sometimes at the height of summer I have a shower now that I have moved from my old place which only had a bath and I had epilepsy so I used to bath and shower after I had cannabis because I did not want the dropsys in the bath and drown. This as allowed me to realise that the smell of BO in other people can affect a sensory processing disorder and showers are sensory regulating like a stim and that is what I have worked out. This is how I motivate myself for personal hygiene and going to Monday Club i never go without a shower before club.

I like the smell of cheese.

I'm slightly embarrassed to say that I pay almost no attention to personal hygiene. Keeping myself clean takes an annoying amount of effort and time each day, and I don't have the motivation to get up off my chair and do all that. I kind of hate going around looking and smelling like a stereotypical basement dweller but whatever.

Welp, I normally take a shower everyday of the week. Sometimes, I skip on Sunday, but last Sunday I showed twice.

Also, I brush, floss, and mouthwash everyday at least once. I mouthwash when I wake up in the morning for sure.

Fact is, I am repulsed by my own body oder, and bad breath, so I do what I can to stay clean. Sometimes in the shower, I scrub my Pitts twice. Once with soap, once with shampoo. That makes things smell nice for awhile.

Showering is very soothing and apart of my routine. I don't feel right without taking one especially if I've been working all day.

I'm really embarrassed around other people if I know I smell, and I don't generally like to smell other people's body oder or breath. If I sit close to people I love when they have bad breath, it's very distracting and hard to interact with them.

I guess I don't like putting other people through that, so that's another reason I like to keep clean.

Also, the only soap that keeps me clean without drying out my skin is Dove. I get bad skin allergies from Old Spice soap for men, though. I never had puffier eyes in my life.

When I was a kid I wasn't allowed to take a bath except maybe once a month. My mother was terrified I'd catch cold. No s**t. You can imagine how much they made fun of me at school. Plus I lived with three chain smokers so I stank. Didn't brush my teeth either. I actually did not know to until they took me to the dentist for the first time when I was in second grade or so and I had 17 cavities which my grandmother said was my stubborness after I told them the truth. Of course they didn't believe me. Plus I got yelled at on the way home for "talking about what happens at home".

One of the first things I did when I got older and started "rebelling" was I would take a bath every day and brush my teeth twice a day. Of course that didn't help the tetracycline discoleration that I had because my mother insisted on keeping me on antibiotics all the time even when I wasn't sick I just had congestion from all the smoke. She was a big deal at the hospital and the docs loved her. They never asked me how I felt, just asked her my symptoms. So I got a lot of s**t from all that. That is why I'm pretty serious about staying on top of it today.

The reason I don't shower frequently isn't really because of laziness/lack of motivation, but that I don't like feeling wet and it irritates my eyes.

As far as dental hygiene, I usually brush my teeth once a day, though there were times that I went extended periods without brushing. I never floss. I went to the dentist for the first time in around seven years recently, expecting to have a mouth full of cavities, but they said my dental health was perfect. I guess I'm doing something right.

I rarely shave, as it's irritating and tedious. I generally don't get haircuts because I don't like people standing right next to me touching me for half an hour. (Though I was bribed into shaving and getting a haircut recently.)

I don't floss either. I'm terrified of it. I'm scared I'll pull a filling out. I've done it before.

Yeah, I've never flossed either. My dentist has never told me I need to or anything. I just brush my teeth at least once a day.

I think flossing does help. When I started to floss, the floss stunk badly after use for the first few days because the floss was reaching the areas that hadn't been touched by the toothbrush for years. Since I started to floss, my dental health has improved, too.

I think some people's bad breath comes from those untouched areas between teeth that cannot be cleaned by brushing.

Having said that, depending on the alignment of your teeth, brushing alone might be enough.