hand washing myths... wtf is going on.

[jennnh]

this girl at my work
who thinks she knows everything (shes very book smart but no common sense)

well today my emet came up in conversation (my hand sanitizer etc) and everyone was being VERY supportive of me... than she chimes in...............

she goes, you know you may not get sick now but you WILLl fall ill with a super bug... your body has no defense against anything. YOU WASH YOUR HANDS TOO MUCH. (i wash them when i get home, when i go to the restroom, when i eat, and when they are dirty)
I work in a bank so i touch money so i do sanitize my hands after each customer to avoid the spread of bacteria. she says that im hurting my body bad and i will end up being violently ill....


ugh i could freak out.

as my previous post from last night said.... i have been feeling yucky since last night and was afraid i was s*...i never got ill and ate this morning and afternoon (light stuff, toast and cereal bar) so now im totally on edge... and feel like im doomed and am deff. going to get ill because i wash my hands.......

[spilled_milk]

Truth is, we emets probably do wash our hands way too much. BUT, that doesn't mean that washing your hands is bad for you! It's just excessive.

[wordmister]

If you're using hand sanitizer after each customer, it stops working after a few coats.

[Erica1649]

What a bitch...lol (sorry for the blatent profanity) but gee, she obviously doesn't understand how you feel...

Don't keep her in your head...think you are a fighter and keep doing what you are doing...truth is, maybe we do wash are hands too much (more so now cause of the season) but if it helps you feel better in your mind, then you do what makes you comfortable...don't listen to her...people like that really irk me!!

I've been washing and sanitizing nonstop, sucks though cause my hands are super chapped

[stopthissong]

Hand sanitizing is no different from washing your hands with soap and water which is what most people do when their hands are dirty or before they eat or before they prepare food. Your just being health wise which is what everyone is meant to do. I wouldn't bother listening to her. Hope your good.

[paulinek]

If you're using hand sanitizer after each customer, it stops working after a few coats.

If you don't mind me asking, do you have any proof of this? i.e some sort of study or article? It is just I have never heard of that before and a statement like that could worry alot of emets who feel safe using sanitisers.

Sanitising after each customer is a tad excessive though and depending what sanitiser you are using could dry your hands out causing them to crack and dry cracked hands do harbour more bacteria than nice smooth moisturised ones, which is another reason not to overwash them - although in your case it doesn't sound like you are overwashing at all. As long as you don't put your fingers in your mouth then there's no need to sanitise so often.

Just one thing about sanitisers - if you are using them to protect against colds and general bacteria then any type is fine, however to protect against norovirus it needs to contain benzalkonium chloride (or another similar sounding one which i can't remember the name of) normal alcohol based gels do not protect against norovirus. Some wet-wipes contain it, i think in the US i;ve heard people mention pink wet-ones (i'd check that though) and in the UK Sainsburys Toddler Wipes have it in.

As for your colleague she is talking nonsense - i think she is getting confused as i have seen articles in the papers about how that as we are so "clean" these days that children aren't building up immunity to certain illnesses and also about the overuse of antibiotics possibly leading to the creation of superbugs that aren't treatable with standard antibiotics, but the thing with stomach viruses are that the only way you can get immune to one is to actually get one and even then the immunity is only short lived, so being super hygienic doesn't make you any more at risk of getting ill than the next person.

[jennnh]

Thanks everyone, I use gold bond the benzo based one that does not dry my hands out at all. And I use it when handling money. Not all the checks etc I'd say I use it 8-9 times per shift as people are coughing sneezing etc and it's gross. Haha but I feel she was way out of line and my supervisor was even like um that makes no sense the customers can hear you please stop. Haha

[olschesky]

i have seen several news stories on tv about using hand sanitizers.......they do say that you shouldn't use them on younger children.....it does seem to affect their immune systems......we all need a little bacteria to fight off disease.......it makes sense if you think about it.......too much of a good thing is too much.......

as long as you keep your hands away from your face.......that just normal hand washing is sufficient.....i admit i keep gold bond in my car.......i clean nasty apartments for a living and i'm a smoker......when i get ready to smoke i use the lotion.....if i'm not going to smoke i wait till i get home and wash my hands.....

for almost 40 years of my being emet i thought sv was airborne and NEVER worried about my hands being dirty, etc........so never got into the whole handwashing ritual.......and i'm thankful for that.......but was always scared of being in large places with lots of people i didn't know........now that i know what causes a sv it's much easier for me to socialize, etc........

[BenBHartnett]

What a bitch...lol (sorry for the blatent profanity) but gee, she obviously doesn't understand how you feel...

Don't keep her in your head...think you are a fighter and keep doing what you are doing...truth is, maybe we do wash are hands too much (more so now cause of the season) but if it helps you feel better in your mind, then you do what makes you comfortable...don't listen to her...people like that really irk me!!

I've been washing and sanitizing nonstop, sucks though cause my hands are super chapped

I agree. How awful for someone to be like that when someone has a fear of something. I wash my hands when I need to. I used to be obsessive with washing my hands but that stopped. Not sure what did it. I'm super careful with putting my hands near my mouth.