Whether you're worried about the swine flu or you think it's being blown out of proportion, taking a few extra steps to keep yourself as germ-free as possible is always wise. The gym is no exception -- when you're working out, it's wise to keep hygiene in mind. Here are a few tips:

• Wash your hands. Before heading out to the gym floor, wash your hands well. Cleaning your hands before using gym equipment is a courtesy to other members. You may want to consider using hand sanitizer during your workout as well.
• Don't touch your face. Just think of all the times you brush a strand of hair away from your face or wipe off a bead of sweat. It might be hard, but resist the urge to touch your face. Your hands are great germ carriers; you don't want those germs coming in contact with your face.
• Wipe down equipment. Wipe down equipment with a clean towel before and after use. (It's not a bad idea to bring your own clean towel, either.) Some gyms also provide antiseptic spray bottles and paper towels.
  
• Bring your own bottle. Avoid the gym's drinking fountain; bring your own water bottle that you filled up at home instead.
• Bring your own mat. Instead of using the gym's yoga mat, bring your own. At a bare minimum, be sure to wipe down the gym's mat well before using it.
  
• Shower. Before leaving the gym, take a shower and scrub down well. (Be sure to wear flip flops in the shower.) If using a public shower isn't your thing, change into clean clothes and wash your hands well before leaving.

Not only will these simple steps help prevent contracting some other gym goer's nasty bug, it's just good gym etiquette.

When it comes to hygiene/etiquette, what is your biggest pet peeve about other gym members?

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We all want a set of beautiful pearly whites, don't we? But a white smile goes well beyond appearances; strong, healthy teeth are important for your overall health.

For sparkling white teeth, in addition to proper oral hygiene, avoid foods that can stain. The general rule of thumb is if it can stain a white t-shirt, it can stain your teeth. Coffee, red wine, and tea are common culprits.

But there are plenty of foods you can add to your diet to improve the health of your teeth. And -- bonus! -- the foods that are good for your teeth are good for your general health as well. Check out the gallery for a summary of the foods mentioned in the video.

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You've probably got a jar full of cotton swabs sitting in your bathroom somewhere, but according to experts from the American Academy of Otolaryngolgy (otherwise known as People Who Know About This Sort of Thing), you should probably just let them sit there a little longer and quit sticking them in your ears.

Leave earwax alone, is the message the group is trying to spread. Earwax is perfectly normal and, in fact, serves to clean your ears of dust and debris. It even has an antibacterial quality to it. The minute you start to "clean" your ears, you risk impacting the wax. Healthy people, say the docs, should not clean their ears as a matter of course.

Of course, earwax can sometimes get stuck. Hearing aids, ear plugs, ear buds, and aging all put people at risk for impacted earwax. If you think your earwax needs attention, experts recommend using ear drops specifically for that purpose or seeing your doctor. The strongly advise against putting anything (including a cotton swab) in your ear, or performing a technique called ear candling. If drops fail, see your doctor.

And if you're wondering what to do with those leftover cotton swabs, check out eHow for ideas on using them around the house.

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Ever hit the sack without washing your face? You might want to rethink your habits.

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Think you can't walk on a broken foot? How about trying to relieve ingrown toenail pain by cutting into your toenail? Those and other myths are being dispelled in a new report from foot experts.

Are bunions caused by those new shoes (or old ones)? Not according to foot surgeons, who blame those painful foot issues with the genetics that cause faulty foot structures in the first place.

It's interesting to see that 19 out of the 26 bones in your feet are in the toes themselves, and specialized surgeons are sometimes the only ones who can help correct foot deformities (as slight as they may be) and other issues that you may be blaming on other factors.

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Who has cleaner hands -- guys or gals? According to the most recent research, gals win it by a long shot. Surprised? I'm not -- women are just cleaner in every sense of the word. Well, at least from my experience.

It's kind of disgusting to hear that only 57 percent of guys who visited a restroom at Atlanta's Turner Field washed their hands after using the restroom. Anything touched in a public restroom is game for sending who-knows-what to your hands. Sound icky so far?

The researchers, who somehow managed to spy on public restrooms (the sinks only, we hope) noted that 33 percent of men did not bother to wash their hands after using the restroom, while only 12 percent of women failed to do so. Now, even though many restrooms have automatic flushers, is it still a good idea to practice actual hygiene? Of course.

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I think one of the best inventions of all time (except the wheel, maybe) is indoor plumbing. It allowed our standards of cleanliness and hygiene to improve tremendously and had an enormous impact on the health of our society. But how much do you really know about personal hygiene? Did you know that toothbrushing didn't become routine in this country until it was enforced for soldiers in WWII? That NASA recently spent $23.4 million dollars designing a toilet that would work in zero-gravity space? Or that certain monks in India are forbidden to ever wash anything other than their hands and feet?

And that's just the start, read this list of 20 things you didn't know about hygiene and see how much you really didn't know.

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We're getting pretty conscious of what good disease and infection control means in this country, what with instant hand sanitizers, toilet seat covers, and signs reminding us to wash our hands in public bathrooms. But somehow all that great effort flies right out the window when it comes to petting zoos, where the majority of safety precautions to limit people's exposure to organisms like E. coli, salmonella, cryptosporidium, and campylobacter are frequently not followed. The simplest of interventions, like washing hands when leaving the petting zoo, were not done by people as often as 77% of the time in a recent survey.

Now that you know there's no excuses: wash your hands! And save the snacks and drinks for later.

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Growing up, my grandfather who was an ancient physician used to keep sodas and other carbonated drinks under lock and key. No joke: it was water, milk or prune juice on a daily basis. Coca-cola was only for very rare occasions. Like this article points out, if you've ever seen a science fair project demonstrating the effects of soda on teeth, it's easy to see why he would want to limit the intake in such a way.

But Coke isn't the only thing you should watch out. Other sugary beverages like sports drinks or even fruit juice have an acidic base that is doubly dangerous for pretty smiles. A great suggestion for bypassing your teeth when drinking these things is to use a straw (it can also avoid staining them).

So what about bread, chips and all that other good stuff? Well apparently anything sticky like that can cling to teeth and cause cavities. Don't be surprised: they can hang out in your mouth for 20 minutes after eating! What can you do? Try brushing afterward, or if that isn't an option drink some water and chew sugarless gum to break up that clinging material. Those are some things to keep an eye on, but thankfully there's a "smile saver" list of foods that benefit a good smile too. These include apples, cheese and even tea! Read on for more.

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While buffets are tempting because of the low cost bargains and all you can eat amounts, ordering food from a menu can be much safer to eat. Other common sense rules to follow when going into a restaurant is to look at the overall cleanliness of the establishment and the hygiene of the people working there and that should give you a clue that foods are being handled properly and things are safe to eat. If you are in a state where health inspection grades have to be publicly displayed, be sure to check out their last inspection grade. A low score means it might not be that safe to eat there.

Unlike menu ordered food being prepared per order and coming out hot and fresh, buffets have foods resting in steam tables, ice baths, or salad bars. If improperly tended, these buffet stations can allow disease causing bacteria and viruses to flourish. Customers can come into contact with food on buffets including unattended children that might be tempted to poke a finger into the cake. And not to put down children, I have witnessed many an adult picking up food with their fingers instead of tongs or sneezing and coughing over the food. Pay attention to the warning signs that food is being neglected if you see dried out chicken or browned wilted salad. Another key thing to think about is if you are trying to diet and lose weight it is easier to stay on plan if you order from a menu. If you eat from a buffet, you will tend to over eat and break away from your diet plan.

While camping carries a mystique of healthy rigor about it, the very dishes we eat off of while vacationing in the wilderness may be teeming with tiny sick-making bugs. And it's our own fault.

The food blog Brownie Points pointed me toward the Science News article How to Wash Up in the Wilderness. A microbiologist, Joanna Hargreaves, conducted a study regarding dish-cleaning practices among backpackers and expedition companies and found that their methods were not removing all harmful bacteria. She hazards a guess that individual campers may have even poorer habits than the large expedition providers she followed.

The piece in Science News recalls a related 2004 study that found that 56% of backpackers studied on the Appalachian Trail developed diarrhea, and the risk was much higher among those who did not always treat their water before drinking it. But nearly half of the Appalachian hikers who did consistently treat their drinking water still got diarrhea. "So other hygiene lapses-including inadequate washing of hands, dishes, and eating utensils-are apparently major threats to health in the wilderness," concludes microbiologist Hargreaves.

I have to admit my own camp dish-washing methods pale in comparison to the three-bowl scientific approach she prescribes. If I recall our last camping trip correctly, we rinsed with boiling water...or swished...or something. Umm, maybe I'll mend my ways next time we camp thanks to this article.

[Photo by kwankwan.]

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