Keeping yourself clean Series 1

Taking care of the Genital (Private) parts

 Many of us are familiar with our genital parts commonly known as private parts and the areas around them. I don’t want you to be like some young people who are not familiar with their private parts because they fear even looking at them or touching them while they wash! Get time and look at your private parts and then you will be able to easily clean them.

The area where hair grows in the private parts is called the pubic area and the hair is the pubic hair. We have the male part called the penis and the female part called the vagina.  Both parts assist in passing out urine. The other part is the anus through which we pass out faeces (excretion).

We need to know that each time we pass out urine, there is need to wipe the area with either a piece of clean toilet paper or to wash the area like the Muslims do each time they go to ease themselves. The purpose of wiping these areas is to prevent our panties or underwear from smelling urine that eventually extends to the dress or trouser. You wouldn’t wish to be told by the courageous person that you smell urine when you bypass them! Remember that a person may pass out urine almost two to four times a day depending on how much fluid they have drunk.

At times, excess passing out of urine may be an indicator of having an infection in one’s penis or vagina. Some of these infections are got from using dirty basins that are not washed well with soap before use or having had sex with an infected person and also, using flush toilets that are not well cleaned.

Cleaning the Penis

Washing our bodies in the morning and evening entails us to pay more attention to our genital parts.  Ensure that the pubic area where hair grows around the penis is scrubbed with a sponge or face-towel rinsed in soap and water, to remove any sweat or other dirt that may have developed there.  Don’t assume that the area is not dirty. It is just like any other part of the body that we wash when we take a bath. Rinse the area fully with clean water.

Shaving the pubic hair is done by the use of a few items like the razor blade, shaver, scissors or by use of shaving cream. Use the shaving cream strictly to the hairy part!  It takes between five and ten minutes to have the hair ready for removal. If you can’t afford a shaving cream, then use water mixed with soap to soften the pubic hair and then shave with a razor blade or a shaver. After that, rinse with clean water free of soap. For some of us who use razor blades or shavers, we need to raise one of the legs to a certain angle of convenience and then start shaving. Thereafter, it is necessary to rinse the area with water, soap and sponge to keep the area clean and fresh. All this helps your private parts from feeling sticky or smelling funny.

While washing the penis, this needs special attention. Wash the penis head (glans) and foreskin to remove smegma (this is a coating that sometimes settles at the head and foreskin of the penis). You will need to pull back the foreskin of the penis so that you can wash the area clean with water.  Although the doctors advise us to use water only, at times the smegma can completely be removed by the help of atleast mild soapy water and then rinsing it clean water.

If you are still in your puberty stage (need more research on this; not sure whether the virgins clean the penis and virgin in the same way), you don’t need to stretch your foreskin until you have finished puberty stage but can wash the area with only water as you take a bath.