STAYING CLEAN WITHOUT PLUMBING
Personal hygiene is a low-priority in the immediate days after a natural disaster, or when you’re stuck out in the woods with a broken down vehicle, but, long term, this can become an issue! Ever wonder how you’d stay clean & presentable if you found yourself living through the Zombie Apocalypse – hopefully at The Kingdom or some nice little fortified town like Alexandria?
HAND WASHING
As all health care providers know, hand washing and attention to cleanliness was one of the MOST IMPORTANT advances in medical care in the 19th century. It seems like common sense, now, but washing one’s hands before delivering a baby or doing a surgery was once considered UNNECESSARY. Pretty gross, I know! Once healthcare providers started simply washing their hands before doing these things, death rates from childbirth and surgery went WAY down. We can all appreciate the more basic benefits in our lives, too, like decreasing the risk of getting colds, pink eye, stomach flu and other nasty bugs, just by washing our hands. But how can you keep your hands clean when there’s no running water?
|
SKIN CARE
HAIR CARE
BODY ODORS Face it – deodorant and antiperspirant are luxuries, and you DON’T need them. When my daughter was packing for her Outward Bound trip she was specifically instructed NOT to bring deodorant. There’s just no point – every ounce in your pack in that back country counts. If you have some deoderant, feel free to use it. But it will not prolong your survival! Once we all smell like B.O. we’ll get used to it. |
Photo courtesy of CushySpa.com
|
DENTAL CARE
If you're not going to be able to see a dentist/get a tooth cleaning for a while, dental hygiene is critical. Bad teeth used to kill people, but that's before we knew how important daily dental care was. Cleaning one's teeth twice per day AND flossing (if possible) is recommended for all of us, especially if our next dental cleaning is uncertain.
|
<--Click here to download a PDF list of recommended personal hygiene supplies. |