Are we too sanitary?

Rydia

Rydia

Throwing rocks at emo kids
Veteran
Joined
Jan 21, 2007
Messages
3,212
Age
38
Location
The Land of the Summons
Gil
0
Everyone I know has anti bacterial hand soaps in their houses. I know several people who squirt hand sanitizer on their hands several times a day, especially after coming in contact with another person. People are sometimes given antibiotics for every little sickness including those that are viral. My brother in law freaks out any time a stranger bumps into him because he's afraid that he is going to get sick. And he constantly washes his two year old daughter's hands with anti bacterial wipes. (And they sometimes go right into her mouth after, not sure if that is a concern)

I'm no expert on germs or anything, but couldn't this lead to the creation of super germs? I understand that it's probably necessary if you're around someone with a compromised immune system, in a hospital, an epidemic is going around, or even in a public restroom which can be pretty nasty. But for all day use?
 
im not

but its nice stuff to have around when the trash is kind of leaky and you don't actually feel like getting your hands wet or whatever
 
The funny thing is that they are damaging themselves, when you dont let the immnune system handle infections and such then the system cant create an effective way to counter attack another afflictions and it isnt able to deal with similar situations and in the end the simplest things can kill you like a cold.

Im not sanitary and thats why im alive, a relative of mine was that and died from a infection.
 
I have a phobia when it comes to getting sick (I tell people I'm germaphobic but that's not actually true. I'm technically emetophobic). So yeah, I know I am way too obsessed with having my hands sanitized. I wash them constantly with soap and water (I don't really use the anti-bacterial stuff since I fear stomach viruses in particular, and most anti-bacterial sanitizers do not kill them). But if I'm on the go I will use one just to be careful.
 
Well.. Why cant people just stay on the Healthy zone and leave the extremes..Not 8 or 80. Washing your hands before eating, after going to the bathroom or having them dirty on some kind of activity is good enough.. You dont need to wash your hands everytime you touch anything, thats really unhealthy as it will get your immune system underdeveloped.
 
You shouldn't use hand sanitizer, at least not very often, because it kills good bacteria along with bad so your hands are left vulnerable.

I've also heard that it is okay to not wash your hands all the time because then you learn to fight off bacteria. But that doesn't mean you don't wash after you use the bathroom ;)
 
Hello Rydia I am glad to see a thread on this topic posted. Medically related topics have a way of peaking my interest. Many people have developed this sort of paranoia, coercing their minds that every fomite or person is a carrier of “germs” which are harmful to them. To appease themselves they consistently go through the rigorous motions of over washing their hands, applying sanitizers, and avoiding contact with others. This can prove to be of more harm than good. For one they are placing limitations on their own lymphatic function by not “teaching” their bodies to respond to pathogens efficiently. So when the time comes for them to be sick it may hit them really hard in comparison to someone else due to delayed response, allowing the pathogen to build strength. In addition to the constant slaughter of microbes, the beneficial bacteria are destroyed in the process as well. The absence or limitation of beneficial bacteria can pose vulnerability to transient flora on the skin. I cannot come to grips though with how people want antibiotics for every discomfort, cold or cough. Think methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, anyone…

In my personal experience in the OR, hand washing is a constant practice to minimize the spread of infection or contamination of surfaces and equipment. Dammit am I done yet?! Case and point (finally right?), hand washing and awareness are important but, moderation is as well. As many may have heard, “a little dirt can’t hurt,” there is some truth to it.
 
Ugh people and their 'OCD'. It's fucking annoying.

So long as you wash your hands after you go to the loo or touch something gross you'll be fine. Stop acting like everyone else is filthy and disgusting. You're just as filthy as everyone else...
I highly doubt hand sanitiser is going to keep you from getting any super catchy diseases/sicknesses anyway. The funny thing is, using too much of that shit is going to help you catch colds easier because it weakens your immune system, so have fun with that.

Oh and to answer the question, yes I think some people are getting a little too sanitary. In a bad way.
 
I think the only people who are too clean are those who have a phobia of germs. I think the majority of the world, generally speaking, has standards that are lower than acceptable for hygiene. I mean, look at a lot of cities for example. People have messy homes, can be too lazy to bathe, and a popular one is neglecting oral hygiene. There are a lot of cases that aren't even extreme. It's pretty normal to leave a few dirty dishes in the sink over night, or whatever. I think those who are "too" clean are the obsessive ones.
 
In the same way we build our muscles by exercising, and get weak when we don't, so to does our immune system build or grow weak according to how much it endures.
When we are over-sanitary, we are disallowing our immune systems to take on that 'exercise', and if one gets sick nonetheless, they get sicker then others.
So it's really counterproductive because even though you may become sick less frequently, the intensity of being sick increases.
 
I am not, but it's what the world is slowly becoming...

I can't watch TV nowadays without seeing a soap or disinfecting wipe commercial.

Being clean is all good and dandy but your body also NEEDS germs to stay healthy! Being constantly clean is NOT a good thing. Washing your hands and shit is good but don't let cleaning and disinfecting consume your life.
 
So basically, my opinion is that- like everything related to the body, including oxygen and water- being clean is something that must have a select balance.

For example, cleaning oneself too much can kill beneficial bacteria in the body...

Then we have the immune system benefits and the need of its build up.

Still, I feel a guideline of cleanness should be installed into your regime.
 
You see the movies with the chick who has hand sanitiser in her hand bag and toilet seat covers etc etc etc. This is what some, but not all of the world are coming to.

I'm in between. I never carry hand sanitiser. I don't like the idea of putting something onto my hands that I can't wash off. Doesn't feel right.
But I will lay down sheets of toilet paper on public toilets so that I don't have to sit on the same seat other gross butts have sat on.

If my hands feel a bit gross I'll give em a wash.

I've seen some people who go to hotels and have to have the sheets washed and everything wiped down by themselves personally.

I do think about the fact that other people have slept in the hotel bed I'm about to sleep in, but not to the extent that I need to go that extreme.

I personally haven't seen too much of this cleanliness frenzy, but it could be the area I live in. :hmmm:
 
Well.... After reading Kandy's post, I guess I'm not too sanitary. When we went to that hotel, I didn't even think about whether or not we should clean the sheets. I just wanted to sleep. XD Anyway, I am forced to use Hand Sanitizer by Mom. She is the one that's too sanitary, and she's making us do everything she is to keep away all sicknesses. When me or one of my brothers gets even the slightest cold, she freaks out. As for us as humans, I'd say...... Yes. We're too sanitary.
 
Some people take it a bit too far. My mum was very obsessive about it. She gave me a little tub of squirty soap one day telling me to take it around with me. She gave me hand wipes aswell :lew: I never took them of course, i was nowhere near as ocd as she was. I keep clean however. I wash my hands after ive used the toilet and i tend to wash them when I come home after being out somewhere. It is true that money is filthy and although Its not gunna do me any harm at all it sometimes stinks so il give my hands a quick run under the water or whatever. If anything theres too many people who aren't sanitary enough. There are far too many minkers out there who dont even wash and take a shower, let alone wash their hands. Some people genuinely do stink of just filth and you can see it on theyre hands that they havent washed in a long while. Dirt under the nails and in between fingers etc. There isnt really any excuse for being like that unless your a tramp in which case its probably not top of your to do list.
Being too obsessive aswell isnt healthy. When staying clean starts to interfere with your life you know that you have to seek help because despite being clean, obsessions take a toll on your mental health which is just as, even more important than your physical health.

I would rather shake the hand and have dinner at the house of an obsessed clean freak though than dine with a big smelly sod with crusty curly tae nails and a beard littered with mayonnaise and cronflakes, and a husband just as dirty.
 
Eh, I'm not so bad. I wash my hands before eating and after going to the toilet, and after doing anything that involves getting messy.

Also, if I ever shook someone's hand and they went to use that hand sanitizer crap, I would be very much insulted. I did use hand sanitizer on a regular basis, but that was back when the little one was in nappies all the time. It was just so much easier keeping some in his changing bag whilst out and about. Now that he pretty much uses the toilet by himself now, we just have some in a dispenser that's easy for him to use because he can't reach the sink. :lew:

On the whole "germaphobia" as some people have put it. I hate going to public toilets because I'd always see some filthy bastards not washing their hands after using the toilet. It generally makes me want to avoid those people like the fucking plague. You will also never catch me shitting in a public toilet. The idea of sitting on those seats revolts me. :mokken:
 
HA HA HA!!!! I am probably one of the worst OCD people...well, not really, but...

I cant STAND it when people give me food and use their bare hands, touching it, to give it to me! Even friends, but if it were a lover, I wouldn't mind. xP I also don't like sharing drinks or biting off from where someone bit off and yes, even with friends and a lover! XO I dunno...I've just been warned so many times as a kid about sharing different saliva and getting mouth sores or whatever oral disease they may have that I just...*shiver*. Also, what if their breath smells? What if they put their mouth somewhere or ate something before that you wouldn't want swirling around in your mouth? *Double shiver* Speaking of swirling in your mouth - BACKWASHING! BLEGH! No matter what, even if you're super careful, there IS backwash in there people!!!! Anything that touches the lips... Ha, ha - I don't show (or try to) these phobias to people most of the time, though, because I feel (or know) that they would get offended by me and I especially feel bad because they don't do any of that to me. Oh, yeah, oh, yeah - I also wash my hands after closing or opening the trash lid. Yup. Because that thing is dirtay! XO

I DO wash my hands frequently, but only because I have to use the bathroom a lot and am considered the dishwasher of the house. I'm not big on hand sanitizers, especially since I was told by my previous chemistry teacher that the more you use that stuff, the more germs actually like it and eat it up as they get used to it, but I DO think it's a nice product to have when there is no sink nearby or you just sneezed into your hands (by accident, only, I hope - USE YOUR THE ELBOW OF YOUR ARM, PLEASE!!!!). And I LOVE hand wipes! Unlike the hand sanitizers, they're also good for when your hands are really dirty, like from BBQ sauce when you eat ribs or something. xD

That's me, but yeah, I do think people who use those products frequently or EVERY SECOND are too much. I may be the way I am, but I'm not THAT extreme.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top