Since we were little boys, our parents told us the importance of washing our hands. Just a few moments over a sink, with warm water and some soap, we were clean. But, as adults, this lesson seems to be lost on some, causing major healthcare issues.

The American Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean, running water. If clean, running water is not accessible, as is common in many parts of the world, use soap and available water. If soap and water are unavailable, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol to clean hands.

The Basics: When should you wash your hands?

  • Before, during, and after preparing food
  • Before eating food
  • Before and after caring for someone who is sick
  • Before and after treating a cut or wound
  • After using the toilet
  • After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has used the toilet
  • After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
  • After touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
  • After handling pet food or pet treats
  • After touching garbage

Sex and Hygiene

This might seem like a touchy subject, but basic actions like hand washing can prevent the spread of bacteria, viruses, and germs that may cause illness or infections. One of our site’s most common Google search terms is “how to wash my gay penis.” We’ll take this question just a bit further and discuss some easy steps to help prevent disease and infection that can be cured with soap and water.

  1. Wash your hands before touching someone for sex. Throughout the day, we handle many things and people that might not be as clean as we would want. We use our hands to do everything from opening doors and holding straps on public transport to shaking hands, eating, and using the toilet. We don’t want those germs and bacteria to be transferred onto our sexual partners’ outer bodies, but not inside them.
  2. Wash your penis before having sex. Think about all you do with your hands in a day. Now think about how often you touch your dick to piss, re-adjust or change clothes. All those germs from your hands have directly been transferred to your penis. This is especially important if you engage in oral sex and/or condomless sex.
  3. To douche or not to douche. We took a long look at this pre-game practice and listed our thoughts here, but even a quick shower or cloth around the anus is a good idea to keep bacteria from the anus from transferring to parts of another person’s body. If you enjoy condomless sex, this should decrease the amount, but not all.
  4. Wash your hands after having sex. After reading the above, this should seem like a no-brainer. But it needs to be stated. Hepatitis A, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Herpes, and Chlamydia all have strains that can be transmitted from dirty hands. This includes LGV, a nasty anal infection transferred by the penis or hands from one guy to another after touching an infected butt. THIS DOESN’T MEAN HAND WASHING PREVENTS STDs, RATHER THAT SOME CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO YOUR HANDS, SO YOU SHOULD WASH THEM BEFORE TOUCHING YOUR FACE/EYES/ANUS.
  5. Wash your penis after and between having sex. This is another fundamental concept, but so many guys don’t do it. After you have sex, it is essential to wash your cock, and this is even more important if you are having sex with multiple partners. You don’t want to transfer germs or bacteria from one guy to another just because you didn’t want to take a time out and wash your junk.

Washing up for sexual hygiene is no different than doing it for work, going out, or just staying clean. Even after sex, your penis is no different than it was before sex, so the same basics apply. Soap + warm water = clean. Yes, even if you are topping and the bottom is, let’s say, not so fresh. Shit happens, and it cleans up very easily.

Hand washing is more about preventing germs and bacteria from transferring from one guy to another during physical contact than anything else. No, it isn’t an effective method of STD prevention, but it can keep you from catching colds and even the flu. In our current climate of hook-up culture, you don’t know where his hands have been, so throw him a bar of soap and point him towards the bathroom.

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