September 14, 2024 • 27 mins
Welcome to this episode of Ability Radio, brought to you by the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands. Join hosts Kishma B. Francis and guest Dr. Trisha Harris as they delve into the crucial topic of hygiene and its various aspects.
Dr. Harris, a medical provider serving St. Croix and St. Thomas, provides a comprehensive overview of personal, environmental, and sleep hygiene. Learn the importance of proper hand washing, dental care, and maintaining a healthy routine to ensure overall well-being.
Discover the connections between hygiene, nutrition, and mental health, and gain valuable tips on creating a bedtime routine, managing stress, and improving sleep hygiene. Dr. Harris also emphasizes the significance of addressing mental health openly and seeking professional help when needed.
Tune in for practical advice and insights to help you enhance your hygiene practices and improve your health. For more information, contact the St. Thomas East End Medical Clinic or Frederikstead Healthcare Center in St. Croix.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
The views expressed on this program are not necessarily those of WTJX,
its board, staff, or underwriters.
Good day and welcome to Ability Radio. My name is Kishma B. Francis. I am one of your hosts.
Ability Radio is brought to you by the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin
(00:24):
Islands. We have two locations, one on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix.
Today, we're going to talk about hygiene. And with me, I have Dr.
Harris. So, Dr. Harris, can you introduce yourself to our listening audience?
Sure. Good morning, and thank you for having me on the show.
I greatly appreciate it.
I'm a medical provider here in St. Croix, actually in St. Croix and in St. Thomas.
(00:47):
I work with populations from 0 to 100, so I'm seeing family medicine,
surgery, and emergency medicine. And so definitely involved with the medical
health of the community.
Thank you again for having me. No problem. So today we're going to talk about hygiene.
Hygiene has been an important topic to our community.
(01:12):
We're the Disability Rights Center of Virgin Islands, and we are a protection
and advocacy agency for individuals with disabilities.
Also, we're a parent training information center. So we try to get out as much
information as possible.
So can you just explain to our listening audience what proper hygiene looks like?
(01:34):
Sure. If you were to look at someone just face to face, of course,
looking at their outside ability, it means cleanliness.
Hygiene is definitely something that's cleanliness. It has multiple,
multiple layers, including with our personal hygiene, but there's also environmental
hygiene, sick hygiene, and also sleep hygiene.
So very, very many layers. When we think of it, though, we always think about cleanliness.
(01:58):
So brushing our teeth, bathing, and hand washing, which is one of the basic levels of hygiene.
And I'm glad you said sleep hygiene because a lot of people don't know that exists.
So can you touch on sleep hygiene for a little bit, please?
Sure, definitely. So sleep hygiene is the ability to rest when it's time to rest.
(02:19):
We have 24 hours in the day, probably 18 or more of those hours we're up and
we're working, but there's a time for the body to settle down and to rest.
As a provider here, I see a lot of people who have insomnia,
sleep disturbances, mainly because of just a lot of stimulation.
We have assimilations from our phones, our laptops. We're actually sleeping
(02:42):
with our phones and our laptops.
It's the first thing that we see in the morning and the last thing that we see at night.
And there is a time for the body and the brain to calm down.
You have what we call a circadian rhythm.
And once that is interrupted by introducing other things, it does disrupt the
sleep hygiene of what we're doing and what we need to do.
(03:04):
And so one recommendation is definitely turning off all of the social media
platforms, whether it's your phone, whether it's your laptop,
to make sure those are put away at least an hour or two before bedtime.
And actually preparing a bedtime routine, taking showers, you know,
using aromatherapy in your room, having white noise, such as,
(03:26):
you know, beach or anything that you can put on an Alexa or an iPhone or something or radio.
So that way you're preparing the mind to go to sleep. It really does affect
our health because while you're sleeping, things are being replenished.
You're growing your hair, you're growing nails, you're replenishing your skin,
you're digesting, you're growing.
(03:46):
So very, very important for kids and for teenagers that they're getting enough
rest. And if you don't, you are actually interrupting that circadian rhythm.
So a lot of things go back to proper sleep hygiene and establishing a routine,
which includes decreasing stimulus in our lives towards bedtime.
And I like the fact that you said create a bedtime routine, which also includes your personal hygiene.
(04:13):
How important is it to bathe before going to bed or brush your teeth before going to bed?
Very important. And so hygiene really is about, we have our natural body odor,
which actually has no smell.
It's when other organisms, what we call microorganisms, microorganisms are introduced.
(04:35):
That's when the body odor comes to play.
So that can be by bacteria, which is foreign to us. It can be virus,
which is actually very known to us.
It can be a parasite, or it can be fungus.
And so those are four of the most common microorganisms that implant onto our
skin, our hair, our nails, that can cause body odor or us having not proper hygiene.
(04:59):
Hygiene so when are you supposed to let's start
with hand washing hand washing is something that should be
done as soon as you walk into the house right before you
start touching everything you've been out and about during the day you want
to make sure you're washing your hands also before during and after meal prep
because again you're now preparing food that you and others are eating before
and after well after you use the restroom and then also after we handle anything
(05:22):
like pets or carpentry, mechanics,
anything that's outside, we should be washing our hands.
How long do we wash our hands? About 20 to 30 minutes. Usually for kids,
I always tell them, just sing the birthday song.
By the time you get to the end of the birthday song, that should be good enough.
And there is a technique, washing your palms together, washing the back of your
(05:43):
hands. And actually, hand washing should also include the wrists.
What people don't include in hand washing is the nails.
So just because you wash your hands, that does not mean your nails are clean.
And so it really is important to keep your nails very short.
That means cut them, but also file them. Because when you cut your nails,
(06:05):
you actually make them sharper. So you want to file them as well.
The nails, including acrylic nails, carries a lot of germs.
It can be a fomite actually. So you can wash your hands, but be carrying germs
and bacteria under your fingernails.
And if you rub your eyes, your nose, or your mouth, then you've just inoculated yourself.
You're just passing on that bacteria. And those are the ways that they can get
(06:27):
into your body, through your eyes, your nose, and your mouth.
So it's really important, hand washing, that you are including the nails.
Even putting a little nail brush at home beside your sink is a good way to do it.
But really, I say, just keep your nails short and clean, because that way it
definitely doesn't decrease the amount of bacteria that it has the ability to
(06:48):
pass on to you or into others. Bathing, again.
I personally am a person who literally sheds my clothes at the doorstop because
of what I'm working with.
We know COVID is something that's very real to us, but you can carry bacteria.
Most cultures, actually, you leave your shoes at the door.
They don't even come in because of the amount of microorganisms that we can
(07:08):
carry within our home and pass on within ourselves.
So, again, bathing should be a daily activity, morning and night,
but at least night when you come in, so that way you're washing off all of the
bacteria from the days and things and you're not carrying that into your home
so that it can spread amongst your home as well.
You asked about dental care. Dental care is very, very important as well.
(07:29):
Not only brushing your teeth, but seeing a dentist at least twice a year, every six months.
And dental health is really tied to heart health.
And that's research shows that those who have that poor dentition,
cavities, they will eventually eventually have heart sometime,
some form of heart disease, because that bacteria goes into the bloodstream
(07:50):
and it actually can develop microorganisms that will live on the valves of the heart.
And the valves of the heart are very important for the flow of the blood.
And that flow goes not only to the heart, but to the major organs and to the brain.
And so if you're getting bacteria within the heart, it's going to pump bacteria
to the remaining parts of the body. So it really is important that we're brushing
(08:12):
our teeth at minimum twice a day.
When I grew up, it actually used to be after every meal.
But we try to push at least morning and night and after any sugary meals or
drinks to make sure you brush your teeth.
You can add flossing as well because some people have closer teeth and food
can get stuck in between the teeth.
And then following up with a Listerine or a mouthwash that has fluoride as well
(08:37):
to, again, help to wash away that bacteria.
And no, again, that's just maintenance. A few minutes after you brush your teeth,
just the natural microorganisms in your body that helps to fend off the bad
bacteria, they come back.
But again, definitely keeping that down is a prevention. We definitely want to prevent things.
You said some things that the hand washing, washing your wrist,
(09:00):
cleaning your nails, that's something that I miss.
I'll admit it. So now I'm going to put it into my practice. is and the heart health with the teeth.
I've heard it before, but the way you explained it is like, okay,
yeah, yeah, it's really serious.
So do you think nutrition is tied to hygiene?
(09:20):
Of course, I mentioned there's actually environmental hygiene as well.
So what you eat, sometimes people are brushing their teeth and brushing your
teeth does include brushing your tongue.
Because again, that's your mechanical mechanism to rotate food in your mouth.
And so people forget to brush their tongue.
So you should also be brushing the inside of the corners of your mouth,
(09:41):
as well as your tongue. But some people, regardless of that,
they continue to have an odor, what we call halitosis.
And it's just a bad odor of the breath. And that really is not really coming
from the breath, it's coming from the body. And it is about how you eat.
You know, are you eating a well-balanced diet? Are you eating fruits and vegetables?
If not, those things will exude not only out of your mouth, but also through
(10:05):
body odor. So, yes, we do need to eat healthy because if not,
and if we're not sleeping well, you start to gain weight.
It starts to affect your hormone levels.
Women can have something called PCOS where they have a lot of hormones.
Teens, especially, they're already going through puberty and they will have
different changes in their hormones.
And so eating a non-healthy diet, and that includes eating out,
(10:29):
fast food a lot, not preparing your meals, not doing meal prep,
can lead to definitely health environments.
Other things that we have to consider, especially living on an island with the
environment, is things like water supply and resources, right?
We are very dependent geographically on what is brought into the island.
(10:49):
So unless you're growing your own crops and growing your own food,
what's in the grocery store, that is what they have to offer.
We can't drive to the next town.
We can take a ferry boat over to the next island, but usually the diet is similar.
So we have to make a conscious effort to make sure that we are doing what we do in our environment.
(11:10):
I always say where you live determines when you die.
And that's because of the resources that we have available. So if fruits and
vegetables are not available, for instance, in the inner city,
then what options do you have? And that is the fast food.
We also have to look at water. I know we do a lot of water supply for drinking,
but we also have to think about how our cistern systems are made.
(11:31):
I have a lot of patients who come in with skin problems, they have mold in their homes.
And so because we live in environments that do not have central AC,
we gather our rainwater.
But if the cistern is not clean and not cleansed and maintained.
Then that also does affect our environmental hygiene as well.
(11:53):
Definitely, especially if they're not maintaining their cisterns.
And they're not because it leads to a lot of skin problems and I've seen it in I've seen it,
not confession time but I've seen it so when we talk about nutrition we talked
about nutrition we talked about access to clean water basically what else is
(12:17):
there when it comes to hygiene um.
We talked about sleep hygiene. So I would say sick hygiene. And that's something
that should be very near and dear to us because we've had COVID, right?
But COVID is one of many things that can be spread.
And so we have our natural hygiene, again, personal hygiene,
talked about environmental hygiene and sleep hygiene, but also taking those
(12:38):
extra precautions when you are sick or when you are around other sick individuals
or taking care because we have a lot of caregivers who are taking care of their
parents who might be sick.
And so that does involve a different layer, a higher level of hygiene.
We're familiar now with wearing masks, something that probably five years ago
would have been foreign to us. We wouldn't even think about putting on a mask.
(12:59):
But now someone starts coughing, someone gets COVID, we're running for the mask.
And that's a good thing. That's definitely not a bad thing. And so you may have
to use that not only in your work environment, but also in your home environment.
If you have a cough, if you're sneezing, you need to do so not within your hand,
but also within your sleeve, right? Because again, we talked about the hands.
(13:19):
The hands carry a lot of bacteria.
So you don't want to sneeze or cough into your hand and then you're touching
that doorknob or the handle because now you're spreading those germs onto other individuals.
And it can spread exponentially, very, very quickly to where it can be out of control.
So definitely cough and sneeze within your sleeve, not in your hand,
(13:41):
and make sure that you're wearing a mask so that you're protected if someone
else is sick, but also You protect those around you who are not sick.
If it's in a home environment, you have multiple people living in a home,
we always ask to go down to one plate, one fork, one spoon, one cup for the individual who's sick.
They really should kind of partition themselves off into a certain area or a
(14:03):
certain room in the house. So that way, again, you keep the home clean for other individuals.
And I say, start wiping down your home, you know, frequently,
not just when someone gets sick. You want a prevention, right? Prevention.
Better than cure. And again, water, bleach, you don't have to get anything this
fancy, just wiping things down.
If you have children, oh my gosh, they're cute, but they are carriers.
(14:25):
So the tablets, the phones, they are the biggest fomites to carry bacteria in.
And they don't know, they're touching their mouth, they're touching their phone,
they're eating, all the things that we talked about. And so they're inoculating themselves.
And you wonder why, why does she stay sick? Why won't this cold go to wet?
And they're just those microorganisms and then opportunistic bacteria,
which means the immune system is already low.
(14:47):
And then other bacteria take the opportunity to jump on while the immune system
is low to infect that person.
And so you want to really kind of wipe down those things daily, multiple times a day.
If you have six children and they're using a lot of toys, those toys need to
be bagged up, spray them with Lysol, put them in a trash bag,
go down to one or two toys that they're playing with.
(15:09):
So that way, those things are not being constantly reinfected.
And you also have to make sure if your kids are in daycare, that your daycare
is being accountable and doing the same thing, right? Because usually that's what happens.
They're going off to daycare, someone's sick, and then they're coming home and
now infecting the whole household, whether there are other kids there or not.
And so hold your healthcare providers, your schools, your daycares accountable too.
(15:32):
Ask them, what's the process if someone's sick?
Are they sent home? Do they keep them there?
How do they clean daily Not only the place that they're feeding them themselves,
but also the toys and the tables and the mats that they're playing on.
Because those definitely can be fomites, not only for bacteria,
but COVID can stay on those surfaces for 8 to 24 hours.
(15:56):
And so you can see how someone can get sick, even if they were not there that
day, just from the preceding day. And you made a good point about reinfection
because I've seen it a lot.
I've heard a lot of parents where my child was sick last week and then I'm sick
and now my child's sick again this week.
So it's all about taking the proper care and just cleaning the toys and,
(16:18):
you know, quarantining the toys too. too, making sure everything's clean.
And especially if they go to school, you know, finding out, like you said,
about what's their cleaning process, you know, as far as what happens when a child's sick.
So we have a program at the Disability Rights Center, and we offer hygiene products
(16:41):
to the students in the school.
And we tend to stay away from scented products.
Can you just talk about scented products and what it does to the body?
Sure. It's nice to smell lovely, but we live in a day and age where we have a lot of allergies.
And that has to do with, just again, health.
(17:01):
So we have a lot of people with allergies and those items that we include in
scented products, people can react to them.
So we try to stay away from them, not only in the schools, but also in the healthcare provider.
I can have an asthmatic come in, smell my perfume and immediately go into an
asthma attack. So you have to be careful of scented products.
So when you do giveaways and masks, we do like to use more white or clear,
(17:25):
non-colored, non-scented products. We can find, they're out there.
And we encourage parents, if they've seen that in their children,
to also make sure that their detergent includes those same things.
So very mild, again, color-free, dye-free products to prevent those allergies.
But if you guys are going out to community, I think it's a wonderful thing,
(17:48):
but always being aware. It's like food now, right?
You have to ask people, you know, are you vegan, gluten-free?
We have to ask those things because, again, we want to make sure that we're
providing help and we're not providing any harm when we do go to aid the community.
Yes, definitely, definitely. Definitely. So I just wanted to,
you know, these are some tidbits that I got from our conversation so far.
(18:09):
I got washing the wrist, you know, while you're washing the hands,
you wash the nails, cutting and filing, you know, and also having a brush nearby to wash your nails.
Also we talked about heart health and the proper oral hygiene and talked about
(18:31):
bathing leaving your clothes at the door making sure you bathe you know at night to wash off all of the.
Microorganisms and your body odor doesn't smell so those are just some recaps
you know I just wanted to recap and give some tidbits of what I've learned.
(18:52):
But I have a confession. I have poor sleep hygiene, very poor sleep hygiene.
If there's someone out there that's struggling with that, what can you suggest?
My problem isn't the electronics. It's just that my mind is constantly going. Well,
(19:16):
first and foremost, if you tried just some basic routine things,
tried to get in order and it's still there, you should definitely go see a healthcare
provider because there can be some underlying things as well.
Coffee drinkers, I would say not to drink coffee afternoon again,
because it's a stimulant.
So it's something like that, that will keep you up, you know,
realize people are drinking three, four or five, you know, before eight o'clock,
(19:38):
like, don't talk to me. I haven't had my coffee.
And so that is something that's just dishonest. And they utilize coffee, not only to keep them...
Going on through the day, but they do so because they're not sleeping.
So you ask yourself, well, what came first? Is the coffee a stimulant?
And now you can't sleep well at night, but now you're sleepy during the day.
So now you need the coffee to keep you up.
(20:00):
So it can be a cycle and a health care provider can help you and assist you with that.
And caffeine, any caffeine, I'm using coffee as an example, but people are just
as addicted to Coke, you know, so those things with caffeine can keep you up.
And then when it's the time for you to kind of rest and go to sleep,
you're not getting those things.
But go in, get basic labs. We check your thyroid because sometimes if you have
(20:21):
an overactive thyroid, again, you can be up.
Stress, we haven't really talked
about mental health, but mental health is definitely one there, right?
So if you're someone with depression or anxiety, there might be other reasons
why the brain just will not calm down.
And so that needs to be not only addressed by a healthcare provider,
but also probably a behavioral health provider as well.
(20:42):
And so mental health is, that could be a trigger or your body's telling you,
hey, something's wrong.
So always, always listen to your body. But definitely, like I said,
try to go through the routine, see a healthcare provider.
You don't have to do it by yourself. And then think about other underlying things
like depression or anxiety that can also cause your mind to be elevated.
(21:04):
Stress is another thing, right? Let's talk about stress.
Yeah, so stress. That's another thing, right? We're stressing about things,
we're busy at work, and we're, oh, what do I have to do tomorrow? What do I have to do here?
And so stress is a big part of why people...
Don't sleep as well. And most of the time it's because you're taking on things
(21:24):
that are out of our control, right?
Or you're taking on the burdens of other individuals.
I talk to a lot of moms who have grown children. They're like,
my son, how old is your son? 29. That's a grown man.
You did your part. So taking on the burden of others or trying to control things
that are outside of your control, instead of thinking of or using what we call coping mechanisms.
(21:48):
Mechanisms and so we have to deal with coping mechanisms for some
people that's sports right they can go walking they can
go jogging they need to do a craft they can
go swimming i'm a diver so i usually will go diving
but you have to find a work-life balance you really do if you are working and
and your job is a part of your stress you have to find a balance because even
(22:10):
if you're at a certain job and you leave that job you might go to another job
with another problem so you have to to learn those coping mechanisms on.
How do I disengage, disembark, leave work at work? It'll be there when you get there tomorrow.
And now I'm going into my comfort zone. And that's what your home should be. That's your temple.
That's a very sacred place. So you don't let people in there.
(22:31):
You don't let things in there. You leave that at the door. You pick it back
up when it's time to pick it back up.
So knowing how to deal with stress, finding coping mechanisms,
finding a small circle of trust and support.
And if it needs a high level finding a provider or behavioral health provider
or psychologist or psychiatrist, those are things that we need to do.
(22:52):
Not very well spoken about in our culture, but we need to start speaking about
it because definitely the heart,
the health of our community really does start with us as individuals.
Yes, you've made some very good points. I am a caregiver to my parents and I've
noticed that I try to take on their burdens.
(23:12):
And even though they're in bed by six o'clock, I'm still stressing about different things.
So yeah, you got me. You got me.
The work-life balance needs to be a lot better.
What suggestions or do you give when it comes to mental health because by the
(23:36):
way the conversation just went it sounds like mental health is related to hygiene,
So give us some suggestions. Help us out, especially me.
Well, one, we need to speak about it. I think, again, I mentioned culture.
So culturally, we just need to speak about it. And we don't.
(23:58):
You know, you had Uncle Such and Such, they used to keep it in the back room,
but no one really spoke about it.
And I think we are getting to the generations where they don't,
you know, Gen X, you know, they don't care.
They speak about everything. thing. And so we do need to speak about those things.
We do need to seek healthcare providers if it's not trust amongst the family
(24:18):
or you want family to know business, but to reach out.
And that's something that we have to do internally because it's like,
oh, we don't talk about it.
And when I was a kid and went, it doesn't mean that it was wrong.
It doesn't mean that it was right.
So we really have to have an awareness, a community awareness about mental health
and And really what it does to us, because it really does affect our overall
(24:40):
health if we're not aware about it.
If we're not aware, we can't address it, right?
So you have to admit that there's an issue before we can address it.
And there's several ways to do that because, again, you have different generations.
Different ages, and how do we work about it.
I had a patient today, not to disclose that, but I said to her,
she's a caregiver like you.
(25:01):
And I said, once a man, twice a child.
Child and and it's hard for us as as
caregivers or where our parents are aging to address
that because this is the person who took care of me they counseled me
they and now it's just reverse and we have to
be prepared for that as well because you know she's like why is my mom eating
and why is she because that that's not where she is anymore so we have to really
(25:23):
meet each other where we are we have to be aware we have to talk about it having
shows like this so that you you You plant the seed and put it in the air for someone to say,
you know what? I'm going to go to a doctor or I'm going to.
Bring someone to a doctor. And that's what we see most of the time,
even with men is that the women are bringing them to the doctor.
(25:44):
Women will be more outright to come.
But when I see a man in the office, it's either his wife, his mother,
his girlfriend, or his daughter that's bringing him.
I mean, they have to really have something falling off before they come.
Other than that, someone is bringing them. And usually after that,
they may get comfortable, but we may have to be that for our community.
(26:05):
Because again, the strength of our community is us as individuals.
So it really is looking at, you know, something's wrong. Hey, let's go.
I'm going today. Let's go. Let's encourage each other because it really is affecting
our community as a whole.
And Dr. Harris, you've said so many great things. And as we wrap up,
if you could just give, how can people, you know, reach out to you or the clinics you work at?
(26:29):
Just give us some contact information, that would be great.
Sure. So in St. Thomas, I work at St. Thomas East End Medical Clinic.
So it is located in Tutu Mall.
And then we can actually share information with you as well on how to do that.
In St. Croix, I work at Frederickstead Healthcare Center. They're both federally
qualified health centers.
And so we have multiple locations in St. Croix. But again, if you can call,
(26:53):
we can make an appointment either in St.
Croix at Frederikstead Health Center or in St. Thomas at East End Medical Center.
We will definitely be happy, happy to see you.
So, Dr. Harris, thank you so much. This program has been brought to you by the
Disability Rights Centers of the Virgin Islands.
(27:14):
We have two locations in Thomas and St. Croix, Ability Radio.
And I thank you, Dr. Harris. You have a great day.
Definitely. Thank you. The views expressed on this program are not necessarily
those of WTJAC's board, staff.
Music.
The views expressed on this program are not necessarily those of WTJX,
its board, staff, or underwriters.
Good day and welcome to Ability Radio. My name is Kishma B. Francis. I am one of your hosts.
Ability Radio is brought to you by the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin
(00:24):
Islands. We have two locations, one on St. Thomas and one on St. Croix.
Today, we're going to talk about hygiene. And with me, I have Dr.
Harris. So, Dr. Harris, can you introduce yourself to our listening audience?
Sure. Good morning, and thank you for having me on the show.
I greatly appreciate it.
I'm a medical provider here in St. Croix, actually in St. Croix and in St. Thomas.
(00:47):
I work with populations from 0 to 100, so I'm seeing family medicine,
surgery, and emergency medicine. And so definitely involved with the medical
health of the community.
Thank you again for having me. No problem. So today we're going to talk about hygiene.
Hygiene has been an important topic to our community.
(01:12):
We're the Disability Rights Center of Virgin Islands, and we are a protection
and advocacy agency for individuals with disabilities.
Also, we're a parent training information center. So we try to get out as much
information as possible.
So can you just explain to our listening audience what proper hygiene looks like?
(01:34):
Sure. If you were to look at someone just face to face, of course,
looking at their outside ability, it means cleanliness.
Hygiene is definitely something that's cleanliness. It has multiple,
multiple layers, including with our personal hygiene, but there's also environmental
hygiene, sick hygiene, and also sleep hygiene.
So very, very many layers. When we think of it, though, we always think about cleanliness.
(01:58):
So brushing our teeth, bathing, and hand washing, which is one of the basic levels of hygiene.
And I'm glad you said sleep hygiene because a lot of people don't know that exists.
So can you touch on sleep hygiene for a little bit, please?
Sure, definitely. So sleep hygiene is the ability to rest when it's time to rest.
(02:19):
We have 24 hours in the day, probably 18 or more of those hours we're up and
we're working, but there's a time for the body to settle down and to rest.
As a provider here, I see a lot of people who have insomnia,
sleep disturbances, mainly because of just a lot of stimulation.
We have assimilations from our phones, our laptops. We're actually sleeping
(02:42):
with our phones and our laptops.
It's the first thing that we see in the morning and the last thing that we see at night.
And there is a time for the body and the brain to calm down.
You have what we call a circadian rhythm.
And once that is interrupted by introducing other things, it does disrupt the
sleep hygiene of what we're doing and what we need to do.
(03:04):
And so one recommendation is definitely turning off all of the social media
platforms, whether it's your phone, whether it's your laptop,
to make sure those are put away at least an hour or two before bedtime.
And actually preparing a bedtime routine, taking showers, you know,
using aromatherapy in your room, having white noise, such as,
(03:26):
you know, beach or anything that you can put on an Alexa or an iPhone or something or radio.
So that way you're preparing the mind to go to sleep. It really does affect
our health because while you're sleeping, things are being replenished.
You're growing your hair, you're growing nails, you're replenishing your skin,
you're digesting, you're growing.
(03:46):
So very, very important for kids and for teenagers that they're getting enough
rest. And if you don't, you are actually interrupting that circadian rhythm.
So a lot of things go back to proper sleep hygiene and establishing a routine,
which includes decreasing stimulus in our lives towards bedtime.
And I like the fact that you said create a bedtime routine, which also includes your personal hygiene.
(04:13):
How important is it to bathe before going to bed or brush your teeth before going to bed?
Very important. And so hygiene really is about, we have our natural body odor,
which actually has no smell.
It's when other organisms, what we call microorganisms, microorganisms are introduced.
(04:35):
That's when the body odor comes to play.
So that can be by bacteria, which is foreign to us. It can be virus,
which is actually very known to us.
It can be a parasite, or it can be fungus.
And so those are four of the most common microorganisms that implant onto our
skin, our hair, our nails, that can cause body odor or us having not proper hygiene.
(04:59):
Hygiene so when are you supposed to let's start
with hand washing hand washing is something that should be
done as soon as you walk into the house right before you
start touching everything you've been out and about during the day you want
to make sure you're washing your hands also before during and after meal prep
because again you're now preparing food that you and others are eating before
and after well after you use the restroom and then also after we handle anything
(05:22):
like pets or carpentry, mechanics,
anything that's outside, we should be washing our hands.
How long do we wash our hands? About 20 to 30 minutes. Usually for kids,
I always tell them, just sing the birthday song.
By the time you get to the end of the birthday song, that should be good enough.
And there is a technique, washing your palms together, washing the back of your
(05:43):
hands. And actually, hand washing should also include the wrists.
What people don't include in hand washing is the nails.
So just because you wash your hands, that does not mean your nails are clean.
And so it really is important to keep your nails very short.
That means cut them, but also file them. Because when you cut your nails,
(06:05):
you actually make them sharper. So you want to file them as well.
The nails, including acrylic nails, carries a lot of germs.
It can be a fomite actually. So you can wash your hands, but be carrying germs
and bacteria under your fingernails.
And if you rub your eyes, your nose, or your mouth, then you've just inoculated yourself.
You're just passing on that bacteria. And those are the ways that they can get
(06:27):
into your body, through your eyes, your nose, and your mouth.
So it's really important, hand washing, that you are including the nails.
Even putting a little nail brush at home beside your sink is a good way to do it.
But really, I say, just keep your nails short and clean, because that way it
definitely doesn't decrease the amount of bacteria that it has the ability to
(06:48):
pass on to you or into others. Bathing, again.
I personally am a person who literally sheds my clothes at the doorstop because
of what I'm working with.
We know COVID is something that's very real to us, but you can carry bacteria.
Most cultures, actually, you leave your shoes at the door.
They don't even come in because of the amount of microorganisms that we can
(07:08):
carry within our home and pass on within ourselves.
So, again, bathing should be a daily activity, morning and night,
but at least night when you come in, so that way you're washing off all of the
bacteria from the days and things and you're not carrying that into your home
so that it can spread amongst your home as well.
You asked about dental care. Dental care is very, very important as well.
(07:29):
Not only brushing your teeth, but seeing a dentist at least twice a year, every six months.
And dental health is really tied to heart health.
And that's research shows that those who have that poor dentition,
cavities, they will eventually eventually have heart sometime,
some form of heart disease, because that bacteria goes into the bloodstream
(07:50):
and it actually can develop microorganisms that will live on the valves of the heart.
And the valves of the heart are very important for the flow of the blood.
And that flow goes not only to the heart, but to the major organs and to the brain.
And so if you're getting bacteria within the heart, it's going to pump bacteria
to the remaining parts of the body. So it really is important that we're brushing
(08:12):
our teeth at minimum twice a day.
When I grew up, it actually used to be after every meal.
But we try to push at least morning and night and after any sugary meals or
drinks to make sure you brush your teeth.
You can add flossing as well because some people have closer teeth and food
can get stuck in between the teeth.
And then following up with a Listerine or a mouthwash that has fluoride as well
(08:37):
to, again, help to wash away that bacteria.
And no, again, that's just maintenance. A few minutes after you brush your teeth,
just the natural microorganisms in your body that helps to fend off the bad
bacteria, they come back.
But again, definitely keeping that down is a prevention. We definitely want to prevent things.
You said some things that the hand washing, washing your wrist,
(09:00):
cleaning your nails, that's something that I miss.
I'll admit it. So now I'm going to put it into my practice. is and the heart health with the teeth.
I've heard it before, but the way you explained it is like, okay,
yeah, yeah, it's really serious.
So do you think nutrition is tied to hygiene?
(09:20):
Of course, I mentioned there's actually environmental hygiene as well.
So what you eat, sometimes people are brushing their teeth and brushing your
teeth does include brushing your tongue.
Because again, that's your mechanical mechanism to rotate food in your mouth.
And so people forget to brush their tongue.
So you should also be brushing the inside of the corners of your mouth,
(09:41):
as well as your tongue. But some people, regardless of that,
they continue to have an odor, what we call halitosis.
And it's just a bad odor of the breath. And that really is not really coming
from the breath, it's coming from the body. And it is about how you eat.
You know, are you eating a well-balanced diet? Are you eating fruits and vegetables?
If not, those things will exude not only out of your mouth, but also through
(10:05):
body odor. So, yes, we do need to eat healthy because if not,
and if we're not sleeping well, you start to gain weight.
It starts to affect your hormone levels.
Women can have something called PCOS where they have a lot of hormones.
Teens, especially, they're already going through puberty and they will have
different changes in their hormones.
And so eating a non-healthy diet, and that includes eating out,
(10:29):
fast food a lot, not preparing your meals, not doing meal prep,
can lead to definitely health environments.
Other things that we have to consider, especially living on an island with the
environment, is things like water supply and resources, right?
We are very dependent geographically on what is brought into the island.
(10:49):
So unless you're growing your own crops and growing your own food,
what's in the grocery store, that is what they have to offer.
We can't drive to the next town.
We can take a ferry boat over to the next island, but usually the diet is similar.
So we have to make a conscious effort to make sure that we are doing what we do in our environment.
(11:10):
I always say where you live determines when you die.
And that's because of the resources that we have available. So if fruits and
vegetables are not available, for instance, in the inner city,
then what options do you have? And that is the fast food.
We also have to look at water. I know we do a lot of water supply for drinking,
but we also have to think about how our cistern systems are made.
(11:31):
I have a lot of patients who come in with skin problems, they have mold in their homes.
And so because we live in environments that do not have central AC,
we gather our rainwater.
But if the cistern is not clean and not cleansed and maintained.
Then that also does affect our environmental hygiene as well.
(11:53):
Definitely, especially if they're not maintaining their cisterns.
And they're not because it leads to a lot of skin problems and I've seen it in I've seen it,
not confession time but I've seen it so when we talk about nutrition we talked
about nutrition we talked about access to clean water basically what else is
(12:17):
there when it comes to hygiene um.
We talked about sleep hygiene. So I would say sick hygiene. And that's something
that should be very near and dear to us because we've had COVID, right?
But COVID is one of many things that can be spread.
And so we have our natural hygiene, again, personal hygiene,
talked about environmental hygiene and sleep hygiene, but also taking those
(12:38):
extra precautions when you are sick or when you are around other sick individuals
or taking care because we have a lot of caregivers who are taking care of their
parents who might be sick.
And so that does involve a different layer, a higher level of hygiene.
We're familiar now with wearing masks, something that probably five years ago
would have been foreign to us. We wouldn't even think about putting on a mask.
(12:59):
But now someone starts coughing, someone gets COVID, we're running for the mask.
And that's a good thing. That's definitely not a bad thing. And so you may have
to use that not only in your work environment, but also in your home environment.
If you have a cough, if you're sneezing, you need to do so not within your hand,
but also within your sleeve, right? Because again, we talked about the hands.
(13:19):
The hands carry a lot of bacteria.
So you don't want to sneeze or cough into your hand and then you're touching
that doorknob or the handle because now you're spreading those germs onto other individuals.
And it can spread exponentially, very, very quickly to where it can be out of control.
So definitely cough and sneeze within your sleeve, not in your hand,
(13:41):
and make sure that you're wearing a mask so that you're protected if someone
else is sick, but also You protect those around you who are not sick.
If it's in a home environment, you have multiple people living in a home,
we always ask to go down to one plate, one fork, one spoon, one cup for the individual who's sick.
They really should kind of partition themselves off into a certain area or a
(14:03):
certain room in the house. So that way, again, you keep the home clean for other individuals.
And I say, start wiping down your home, you know, frequently,
not just when someone gets sick. You want a prevention, right? Prevention.
Better than cure. And again, water, bleach, you don't have to get anything this
fancy, just wiping things down.
If you have children, oh my gosh, they're cute, but they are carriers.
(14:25):
So the tablets, the phones, they are the biggest fomites to carry bacteria in.
And they don't know, they're touching their mouth, they're touching their phone,
they're eating, all the things that we talked about. And so they're inoculating themselves.
And you wonder why, why does she stay sick? Why won't this cold go to wet?
And they're just those microorganisms and then opportunistic bacteria,
which means the immune system is already low.
(14:47):
And then other bacteria take the opportunity to jump on while the immune system
is low to infect that person.
And so you want to really kind of wipe down those things daily, multiple times a day.
If you have six children and they're using a lot of toys, those toys need to
be bagged up, spray them with Lysol, put them in a trash bag,
go down to one or two toys that they're playing with.
(15:09):
So that way, those things are not being constantly reinfected.
And you also have to make sure if your kids are in daycare, that your daycare
is being accountable and doing the same thing, right? Because usually that's what happens.
They're going off to daycare, someone's sick, and then they're coming home and
now infecting the whole household, whether there are other kids there or not.
And so hold your healthcare providers, your schools, your daycares accountable too.
(15:32):
Ask them, what's the process if someone's sick?
Are they sent home? Do they keep them there?
How do they clean daily Not only the place that they're feeding them themselves,
but also the toys and the tables and the mats that they're playing on.
Because those definitely can be fomites, not only for bacteria,
but COVID can stay on those surfaces for 8 to 24 hours.
(15:56):
And so you can see how someone can get sick, even if they were not there that
day, just from the preceding day. And you made a good point about reinfection
because I've seen it a lot.
I've heard a lot of parents where my child was sick last week and then I'm sick
and now my child's sick again this week.
So it's all about taking the proper care and just cleaning the toys and,
(16:18):
you know, quarantining the toys too. too, making sure everything's clean.
And especially if they go to school, you know, finding out, like you said,
about what's their cleaning process, you know, as far as what happens when a child's sick.
So we have a program at the Disability Rights Center, and we offer hygiene products
(16:41):
to the students in the school.
And we tend to stay away from scented products.
Can you just talk about scented products and what it does to the body?
Sure. It's nice to smell lovely, but we live in a day and age where we have a lot of allergies.
And that has to do with, just again, health.
(17:01):
So we have a lot of people with allergies and those items that we include in
scented products, people can react to them.
So we try to stay away from them, not only in the schools, but also in the healthcare provider.
I can have an asthmatic come in, smell my perfume and immediately go into an
asthma attack. So you have to be careful of scented products.
So when you do giveaways and masks, we do like to use more white or clear,
(17:25):
non-colored, non-scented products. We can find, they're out there.
And we encourage parents, if they've seen that in their children,
to also make sure that their detergent includes those same things.
So very mild, again, color-free, dye-free products to prevent those allergies.
But if you guys are going out to community, I think it's a wonderful thing,
(17:48):
but always being aware. It's like food now, right?
You have to ask people, you know, are you vegan, gluten-free?
We have to ask those things because, again, we want to make sure that we're
providing help and we're not providing any harm when we do go to aid the community.
Yes, definitely, definitely. Definitely. So I just wanted to,
you know, these are some tidbits that I got from our conversation so far.
(18:09):
I got washing the wrist, you know, while you're washing the hands,
you wash the nails, cutting and filing, you know, and also having a brush nearby to wash your nails.
Also we talked about heart health and the proper oral hygiene and talked about
(18:31):
bathing leaving your clothes at the door making sure you bathe you know at night to wash off all of the.
Microorganisms and your body odor doesn't smell so those are just some recaps
you know I just wanted to recap and give some tidbits of what I've learned.
(18:52):
But I have a confession. I have poor sleep hygiene, very poor sleep hygiene.
If there's someone out there that's struggling with that, what can you suggest?
My problem isn't the electronics. It's just that my mind is constantly going. Well,
(19:16):
first and foremost, if you tried just some basic routine things,
tried to get in order and it's still there, you should definitely go see a healthcare
provider because there can be some underlying things as well.
Coffee drinkers, I would say not to drink coffee afternoon again,
because it's a stimulant.
So it's something like that, that will keep you up, you know,
realize people are drinking three, four or five, you know, before eight o'clock,
(19:38):
like, don't talk to me. I haven't had my coffee.
And so that is something that's just dishonest. And they utilize coffee, not only to keep them...
Going on through the day, but they do so because they're not sleeping.
So you ask yourself, well, what came first? Is the coffee a stimulant?
And now you can't sleep well at night, but now you're sleepy during the day.
So now you need the coffee to keep you up.
(20:00):
So it can be a cycle and a health care provider can help you and assist you with that.
And caffeine, any caffeine, I'm using coffee as an example, but people are just
as addicted to Coke, you know, so those things with caffeine can keep you up.
And then when it's the time for you to kind of rest and go to sleep,
you're not getting those things.
But go in, get basic labs. We check your thyroid because sometimes if you have
(20:21):
an overactive thyroid, again, you can be up.
Stress, we haven't really talked
about mental health, but mental health is definitely one there, right?
So if you're someone with depression or anxiety, there might be other reasons
why the brain just will not calm down.
And so that needs to be not only addressed by a healthcare provider,
but also probably a behavioral health provider as well.
(20:42):
And so mental health is, that could be a trigger or your body's telling you,
hey, something's wrong.
So always, always listen to your body. But definitely, like I said,
try to go through the routine, see a healthcare provider.
You don't have to do it by yourself. And then think about other underlying things
like depression or anxiety that can also cause your mind to be elevated.
(21:04):
Stress is another thing, right? Let's talk about stress.
Yeah, so stress. That's another thing, right? We're stressing about things,
we're busy at work, and we're, oh, what do I have to do tomorrow? What do I have to do here?
And so stress is a big part of why people...
Don't sleep as well. And most of the time it's because you're taking on things
(21:24):
that are out of our control, right?
Or you're taking on the burdens of other individuals.
I talk to a lot of moms who have grown children. They're like,
my son, how old is your son? 29. That's a grown man.
You did your part. So taking on the burden of others or trying to control things
that are outside of your control, instead of thinking of or using what we call coping mechanisms.
(21:48):
Mechanisms and so we have to deal with coping mechanisms for some
people that's sports right they can go walking they can
go jogging they need to do a craft they can
go swimming i'm a diver so i usually will go diving
but you have to find a work-life balance you really do if you are working and
and your job is a part of your stress you have to find a balance because even
(22:10):
if you're at a certain job and you leave that job you might go to another job
with another problem so you have to to learn those coping mechanisms on.
How do I disengage, disembark, leave work at work? It'll be there when you get there tomorrow.
And now I'm going into my comfort zone. And that's what your home should be. That's your temple.
That's a very sacred place. So you don't let people in there.
(22:31):
You don't let things in there. You leave that at the door. You pick it back
up when it's time to pick it back up.
So knowing how to deal with stress, finding coping mechanisms,
finding a small circle of trust and support.
And if it needs a high level finding a provider or behavioral health provider
or psychologist or psychiatrist, those are things that we need to do.
(22:52):
Not very well spoken about in our culture, but we need to start speaking about
it because definitely the heart,
the health of our community really does start with us as individuals.
Yes, you've made some very good points. I am a caregiver to my parents and I've
noticed that I try to take on their burdens.
(23:12):
And even though they're in bed by six o'clock, I'm still stressing about different things.
So yeah, you got me. You got me.
The work-life balance needs to be a lot better.
What suggestions or do you give when it comes to mental health because by the
(23:36):
way the conversation just went it sounds like mental health is related to hygiene,
So give us some suggestions. Help us out, especially me.
Well, one, we need to speak about it. I think, again, I mentioned culture.
So culturally, we just need to speak about it. And we don't.
(23:58):
You know, you had Uncle Such and Such, they used to keep it in the back room,
but no one really spoke about it.
And I think we are getting to the generations where they don't,
you know, Gen X, you know, they don't care.
They speak about everything. thing. And so we do need to speak about those things.
We do need to seek healthcare providers if it's not trust amongst the family
(24:18):
or you want family to know business, but to reach out.
And that's something that we have to do internally because it's like,
oh, we don't talk about it.
And when I was a kid and went, it doesn't mean that it was wrong.
It doesn't mean that it was right.
So we really have to have an awareness, a community awareness about mental health
and And really what it does to us, because it really does affect our overall
(24:40):
health if we're not aware about it.
If we're not aware, we can't address it, right?
So you have to admit that there's an issue before we can address it.
And there's several ways to do that because, again, you have different generations.
Different ages, and how do we work about it.
I had a patient today, not to disclose that, but I said to her,
she's a caregiver like you.
(25:01):
And I said, once a man, twice a child.
Child and and it's hard for us as as
caregivers or where our parents are aging to address
that because this is the person who took care of me they counseled me
they and now it's just reverse and we have to
be prepared for that as well because you know she's like why is my mom eating
and why is she because that that's not where she is anymore so we have to really
(25:23):
meet each other where we are we have to be aware we have to talk about it having
shows like this so that you you You plant the seed and put it in the air for someone to say,
you know what? I'm going to go to a doctor or I'm going to.
Bring someone to a doctor. And that's what we see most of the time,
even with men is that the women are bringing them to the doctor.
(25:44):
Women will be more outright to come.
But when I see a man in the office, it's either his wife, his mother,
his girlfriend, or his daughter that's bringing him.
I mean, they have to really have something falling off before they come.
Other than that, someone is bringing them. And usually after that,
they may get comfortable, but we may have to be that for our community.
(26:05):
Because again, the strength of our community is us as individuals.
So it really is looking at, you know, something's wrong. Hey, let's go.
I'm going today. Let's go. Let's encourage each other because it really is affecting
our community as a whole.
And Dr. Harris, you've said so many great things. And as we wrap up,
if you could just give, how can people, you know, reach out to you or the clinics you work at?
(26:29):
Just give us some contact information, that would be great.
Sure. So in St. Thomas, I work at St. Thomas East End Medical Clinic.
So it is located in Tutu Mall.
And then we can actually share information with you as well on how to do that.
In St. Croix, I work at Frederickstead Healthcare Center. They're both federally
qualified health centers.
And so we have multiple locations in St. Croix. But again, if you can call,
(26:53):
we can make an appointment either in St.
Croix at Frederikstead Health Center or in St. Thomas at East End Medical Center.
We will definitely be happy, happy to see you.
So, Dr. Harris, thank you so much. This program has been brought to you by the
Disability Rights Centers of the Virgin Islands.
(27:14):
We have two locations in Thomas and St. Croix, Ability Radio.
And I thank you, Dr. Harris. You have a great day.
Definitely. Thank you. The views expressed on this program are not necessarily
those of WTJAC's board, staff.
Music.
Popular Podcasts
Cold Case Files: Miami
Joyce Sapp, 76; Bryan Herrera, 16; and Laurance Webb, 32—three Miami residents whose lives were stolen in brutal, unsolved homicides.  Cold Case Files: Miami follows award‑winning radio host and City of Miami Police reserve officer  Enrique Santos as he partners with the department’s Cold Case Homicide Unit, determined family members, and the advocates who spend their lives fighting for justice for the victims who can no longer fight for themselves.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.