Click here to watch the video “Personal Hygiene for boys”.

Being a boy can be a nasty business…Boys don’t like bathing and they are constantly dirty! But soon you will be turning into a man and all kind of changes will be happening – this I will discuss in another video.

So let’s quickly go through the basic rules of personal hygiene that you as a boy and soon a young man have to attend to.

SMELL!

You might not smell yourself but everyone else will! Under our arms and all the other covered places our bodies sweat and in this sweat there are tiny bacteria that causes a bad smell. Being smelly will mean people will not want to be close to you and therefore less friends!

So the first rule is, WASH thoroughly with soap and water at least once a day the whole body and especially under the arms. Pay special attention also here to washing your penis thoroughly. If you got a foreskin pull it back completely and wash the head of the penis with soap and water. Even if you don’t have a foreskin over the penis, you must still wash it. If you don’t do this, you can get infection that will hurt badly! If you ever do get infection, ask your mother or caretaker to go to the pharmacy and buy (over the counter) BETADINE ANSTISEPTIC SOLUTION.

This you use as follows – when finished showering, dry your body and penis and take a drop of two of the solution on two fingers. Rub the solution over the whole of the sore penis head and let it dry for a couple minutes and then put the foreskin back and get your clothes on. It should stop the infection. Try and do this twice a day. After 2 days if it does not get better, please tell your mother or caretaker to get you to a doctor, he will then have to give you special medication. Don’t be shy. Show him the affected areas and told him what you did to try and treat it. This has happened to many boys…but when it happens it is a sign that you are not washing the penis head clean enough.

Everyday after you bathed, put on a deoderent under the arms. This helps kills the smelly bacteria.

HAIR

Remember this golden rule – Hair only looks good when it is clean and washed.

Wash your hair daily and make sure to rinse any shampoo completely from your head otherwise you might get dandruff (small white flakes).

Comb your hair always neatly…your appearance is the first thing people see about you and it says a lot.

TEETH

I cannot stress enough how important it is to take care of your teeth.

Brush them morning and evening and also brush the tongue, otherwise a white plague growth will start developing on the tongue. After brushing, if you can afford it, use mouthwash for 1 min. It makes sure all the germs are dead and your breath will be smelling fresh.

NAILS

Few things create such a bad image about yourself as having long dirty nails.

This is one of the first signs that you are not taking care of yourself. Your friends will see it, grown ups will see it, everybody will see it and it does NOT look good.

Clip them once a week (toes and finger nails) and keep them short and clean.

CLOTHES

Remember that your appearance is the first and sometimes only impression people have of you. The neater you are (tucked in shirt, combed hair, clean clothes) the better impression they will have of you.

You want to reach for the stars oneday, start now to work at the dreams in your head.

Smelling good, looking good and neat, being clean…that is what is going to tell people you are a boy with a dream…a young man on his way to great things.

Wish you a GREAT day boys!

Gert Louw