Hygiene

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I only brush my teeth once a day (before I leave the house for the day because I feel weird if I dont), shower once a day, wash my hair every second day (and walk outside with it wet because its often to the train and I dont care if fellow commuters see my hair wet). To solve the problem of hair removal I get everything waxed every 4 weeks and I also get my hair cut every so often so it doesn't get split ends. The amount of deoderant and perfume depends on the weather, how clean I smell (only use natural body washes), how much social interaction is expected in that day and if I have my period. Despite being sleepy in the morning, I need to shower because I like being warm in bed which means I sweat a lot and stink when i wake up. I just wish that cleaning myself wouldn't take as long as it does or that I could do it on the train.

To the OP:

Do you have to take a shower or can you soak in a bath tub? I'm not a big fan of showers but I do like to relax the muscles in a hot bath tub. You might want to try that instead and you'll get clean. You don't have to douse yourself with perfume and there are unscented deodorants. I use mostly unscented things myself as the smells some times give me a headache.

I shower daily no matter what because I feel gross when I don't. I have oily skin and hair so I get smelly and nasty feeling quick. Despite having oily skin though, I never broke out with acne once.

I am a girl.

I am an aspie.

My hygene is always substandard to others.

I sleep in the same bed with one of my roomies and she understands that I run away from the prospect of showers when its chilly or wet outside because I get sick at the drop of a hat. But this morning she said if you dont shower the next warm day you not sleeping here with me.

I almost cried because I do not sleep alone. Ever. I almost never slept if I was alone and for the seven years we have lived together we always share the bed, even tho she is married!! Lol her husband has his own bedroom.

I can do the deodorant thing . .. but thats because even if i am not uncomfortable with it i can smell it and i KNOW the barrage of "you are a funky moneky" is about to start, so I run and put some on. I seem to disregard if my odor gets on my clothes tho and brushing my hair is usually so far down the list that last time it got bad it took a batallion of three people with me sitting on the floor taking time to untangle it, pull at it, brush it and destroy the small dreading that went on in there. I have never had lice, I have never had acne on my face and I only get small breakouts in my period, which I hate and is about the only thing I am super hygenic about. I am supposed to brush my hair at least once a day . . . It has turned into an every other day and I am sure the hair disaster will ensue again in a few months.

I usually try to use the same clothing a lot, which irritates people, my roomate tends to coordinate me tho. Right now she is loosing the battle over my camo pj pants. I will use them in the house, when we go to the store and when we visitn friends. Hey, at least i change shirts!!

As I am a woman with Autism, hygiene is something that's of least concern.

I'm bad with brushing my teeth, showering/bathing, using deo or shaving. Actually, I hate shaving on a regular basis like most NT women seem to do.
I constantly forget to brush my teeth, but I do it if I'm going out somewhere, told to or when I've an appointment to the dentist. It's the same thing with showering. Unless I have something important to do (usually the next day), I don't do it.

But I have been bullied and made fun of because of it. But it's not like I want to stand in the shower every single day, as I'm a bit afraid that my skin will dry from too much soap use.
And I dislike perfumes with a very strong scent. I'm sensitive to it, and it makes me sneeze sometimes.

My hair is pretty curly, so I often feel a lot of pain when brushing it after a long time. Because of the knots that shapes in my hair and that I find long hair annoying at times, I have had short hair.

One of the Aspies in my family has many of these issues. But for the most part, she has learned to do hygiene on a schedule. Then there is not a decision to make, it is just something that needs to be done. Hygiene needs to be done to keep yourself healthy in the short run and in the long run, and it has to be done for a basic level of social acceptance, and so it doesn't stand in the way of her reaching her own goals.

Using unscented products helps many people, and they are often healthier for you to use, too.

If you have trouble flossing, you might try the flossers that have the floss all strung on a little pick. You use it and throw it out. Flossing is important for preventing gum disease in the long run. Gum disease can give you real health problems, like problems with your heart, in the long run.

Keeping your hair shorter and in a simple style can cut down on grooming time. Tell the person cutting your hair that you don't want to have to blow-dry it or style it. Just brush and go.

Me, 10-15 years old, I didn't care much about it. My mom'd have to remind me or I'd just go without.
Now though, being clean, all the time, is a must.

I never brush my hair, though. EVER. xD

I'm a girl, an Aspie, and I have many of these issues.
I often forget to brush my teeth, rarely comb my hair and only shower if going out somewhere or after playing sport. Toothpastes make me feel sick as they taste so strong. Combing my hair hurts, so I avoid that. I've never been to a hairdressers or anywhere like that because I don't like the idea of someone else touching my head. I don't use perfumes. I use Burts Bees stuff for washing because other stuff makes my head itch. Hygiene stuff never has been high on my list of priorities.
It's a relief to find there's other people like me in this!

I actually like feeling clean--in a very physical sense. I like the way my teeth feel after I brush and floss them. I like the way my skin feels after a long shower. I don't like to go to sleep when I am dirty. I like my hair a certain way and I shave certain parts of myself. I feel better this way.
I use the word "feel" as in the sense of touch not "emotion" which I think might confuse some people.
I always shower, never bathe. I do not like to be in water.

Objectively I'd seem very similar to the OP, though I am sensitive to scented products and there are very few perfumes I can actually tolerate that is not why I rarely take a shower or do any grooming, as for my teeth thought I don't floss daily I do brush them various times a day because even though the feel of toothpaste really bothers me specially when it drips I hate even more how my mouth feels if I don't, recently I had to cut my hair from waist long to less than half an inch long due to an awful tangling.
The reason I cannot relate subjectively is because I need a rigid schedule that I can follow and in my family such needs are overlooked as stupid and egotistic thus I haven't take a shower for months, what I do get to do is change my clothes so it doesn't seem as if I have not showered.

Me too. When I got sent away a couple of times when I was a teenager I got in so much trouble for that.

Even now it's not like I do it on purpose. I just don't think to do these things every day.

Hehe. I remember when I was around 12 years old and my mom tried to keep my washinghabits in check by studdying my hairs greasyness. I used to shower once a week back then. One weekend I ran around in the rain and I were completly soaked. My hair went from bad to pretty nice because of that incident. A week later my mom asked me If it had been a week since I showered. And I just said that it was two weeks ago not one. She was horrified and sent me to the shower immediately.

I forget to do it also.

I shower, wash clothes, brush my teeth daily etc, and still have body odor.

I think I have the condition that causes excessive sweating (Hyperhidrosis). Its hard enough being a aspie and then you gotta deal with this excess sweating/BO nonsense.

At work people make all kinds of snide remarks about my BO, its really frustrating as you take a shower just like everybody else, you wash your clothes just like everybody else, but for some reason, that just isn't good enough.

Its also its really frustering when adults are making the remarks, I can sorta understand young people since they haven't matured yet, but come on, grow up.

I shower several times a day if I get the chance. I am not a huge fan of germs, but primarily I do it because it calms my nerves.


I used to be a Commercial fisherman and whenever the crew would leave the boat I would stick around and stare at the ocean for many many hours without distraction.

Now I live in a desert more or less, go figure! I don't hate much, but I do hate being away from the water. I am like the fish-man of cinema that would leave the water from time to time and walk the land. I too prefer water.

I can swim for miles non-stop and hold my breath nearly 5 minutes ( there is a secret to it.) *SIGH* I do so love the water.

Edit: I do wonder if I can still swim for miles though, I have been inland for nearly 6.5 years.

And in the spirit of the hygiene topic, I do usually wear a beard and don't often trim it. I also don't comb my hair too often, unless I'm going out but I am at home a lot these days. I find most people don't enjoy my company because I am "different."

Oh, lastly, does anyone know where I can find information on Autistic conferences and their locations and such? I would be so thrilled to meet other 'interesting' people like myself.

Edit #2: I had to fix some grammar. I admit that since most of my friends don't speak English, I have become even less effective in communication and make many grammatical errors than I used to make; so, I should watch what I type more closely.

Edit#3: spelling fix

I HATE to shower or take a bath. It seems like a waste of time. But I also hate how I feel when I don't do it. I'm a big big big fan of routine and lists, so I actually put it on my list. I have a hygeine routine and actually includes hairstyle and makeup. I dread doing the makeup and hair, and hate doing it while I'm doing it, but I'm very pleased afterwards. I was never one of those girls who enjoyed doing makeovers or fixing others hair. Why do it when it doesn't have to be done? Oddly enough, one of my oldest daughters best friends got married last month and she asked me to do her hair. I always do lots of really cool and different hairstyles to my hair, because for a while I watched YouTube and tried those for hours every day. I enjoyed it for that amount of time. So now, I have the skills to do it. I did the girls hair and she looked beautiful.

I'll post my daily hygeine routine for you gals so you can imagine how much I actually hate it while it's going on. The thing is, I'm always so glad I did it because I feel so much better about myself after. I do not think I am pretty anyway, in fact I think I'm butt ugly, but doing all this makes me think I'm not quite as butt ugly afterwards.

Before I post the routine, I want to give two tips to posters about issues they have mentioned.

1. Severely tangled hair. My two daughters used to have very long hair and at times it would get so tangled that I thought we would have to cut it. I found a solution. I put them in the shower, wet their hair, and then put a lot of conditioner in it. I combed thrugh it with the conditioner in it, starting from the bottom, carefully. It takes a few minutes, but it didn't hurt. Use much more conditioner than you normally would when you shampoo. After you get the tangles out, wash it with shampoo twice, then condition again with just a small amount. Comb it through, then rinse. If your hair is prone to tangles, always condition, and keep a comb in the shower to comb the conditioner through before you rinse it out. Only use that comb for the shower.

2. For the poster with the excess sweating. Have you tried corn starch? Putting some regular corn starch on a dish and then putting it on with a powder puff, all over your body can absorb that. You can buy a plain fluffy powder puff at the drug store or dollar store. In fact, you can buy a container for powder with a puff in it there and carry it with you to reuse during the day. Corn starch has no smell and it also works on rashes.


OK, this is what I force myself to do every day. I write it down so that I will have to do it.

Brush teeth
Wash face with Noxema
Wash face with scrub
Clean ears with q-tips
Put Rogaine for women on thinning spots on my hair
Put on eye cream
Put on moisturizer
Put lotion on legs, arms and hands
Put on deoderant
Dress
Put on foundation
Put on powder
Put on blush
Put on eyebrow pencil
Put on eyeshadow - color depending on what I am wearing
Put on eyeliner
Use eyelash curler
Put on mascara
Put on lipstick
Put on jewelry
Put on shoes
Fix hair

Whew. I'm set for the day now. I hate doing that stuff. Then at night:

Put hair up out of the way
Take off eye makeup with cotton ball and baby oil
Wash face with Noxema
Wash face with scrub
Brush teeth
Clean ears
Take bath and shave legs and armpits
Dry off
Put on deoderant
Put lotion on hands, arms, legs
Put on nightgown
Put Rogain on thinning spots on hair
Brush hair
Put on eye cream
Put on moisturizer


I wash my hair once a week because as I'm getting older it's not as oily, and I use a lot of hairspray so that helps too.
I also pluck my eyebrows once a week.

I used to do my nails but I just dont bother now.

Frances