Thread: Do you use hand sanitizer?

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

+1. I've read that too much anti bacterial use can create super bugs. OTOH, whenever I shake hands with anyone I always go wash my hands with regular soap and water. TBH I would rather never shake hands with anyone but whaddaya gonna do ?

Whaddaya gonna do? Bow.

The buses in Bangkok also have hand sanitiser canisters installed. But the process you have to go through to use it is grab the dirty hand rail with one hand, trying to keep your ballance while the driver is trying to throw the passengers around. While holding on for dear life squish the hand sanitiser on one hand then change hands. Grip the dirty hand rail with your now slippery and sanitised hand and go through the whole process with the other hand. Then when you get off the bus as you're walking to the door grab hold of anything, dirty hand rails or other passengers, within reach as the driver slams on the brakes to avoid killing a group of motorcycle taxis. This all has to be done in a crowded bus at temperatures well over 35c (I think that's somewhere around 100f for you Americans).

use them several times a day.
I do not agree that they are useless and one needs the small germs for the immune system.
We breathe enough, the hands spread other things that are not at all innocent like cold or even the flu in comparison.

Originally Posted by mainaman

use them several times a day.
I do not agree that they are useless and one needs the small germs for the immune system.
We breathe enough, the hands spread other things that are not at all innocent like cold or even the flu in comparison.

This is a great point.

Nope, never use it normally. The only time in recent memory was after going to a petting zoo with the kids and the faucets were broken so they laid on some anti-bacterial sanitizer.

I used to get sick quite a lot (just colds, maybe the flu every other year), but since I started washing my hands more the illness has almost completely gone -- I've suffered only one or two colds in the last two years.

I wash hands when I get into the office, before lunch, and before dinner (and obviously after the men's room!). That's it, and boy has it made a difference!

I don't believe we need to live in such sanitized conditions. Just making a little more effort to have clean hands is all that's needed (as well as a decent diet) to minimise the sniffles and flu.

I subscribe to the superbug/decreased immunity/allergy causing hypotheses, plus alcohol based sanitisers are unlikely to have much effect on viruses, they will usually destroy bacteria though.

I just did a quick search that is kind of interesting.

Washing the hands with regular soap and water temporarily eliminates some of the body’s good germs while it gets rid of the bad germs. The same is true when using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. However, in both cases, the body quickly replenishes the good germs on the hands – often moving them in from just up the arms (where there are fewer harmful germs). So there is no harm in using regular soap or alcohol-based products. In fact, regular hand cleaning improves the proportion of “good germs” on the hands.

There is no risk of antibacterial resistance when using regular soap or alcohol-based products. The alcohol in sanitizers evaporates quickly and completely, leaving no residue behind to which organisms could adapt. Some scientists are concerned the ingredients in antibacterial soap, though, may cause resistance. (Aiello et al: Consumer antibacterial soaps: effective or just risky? Clin Infect Dis, 2007).

I use them if they're available, but I use antibacterial soap at home which has been shown to be equal to hand sanitiser. Normally washing with regular soap is enough for most people, but I dabble in feces filled diapers several times a day so some extra precautions are needed.

You do not practice good hygiene only for your OWN good but for those of OTHERS as well, particularly very young children ... but the well being of all is socialist ideology isn't it?

Originally Posted by xman

but the well being of all is socialist ideology isn't it?

This is true .... let them pull themselves up by their own bootstraps ... but wash their hands after they have done so.

i was reading a MacLeans article the other day and they had the statement that went something like "people should stop being so ignorant and take responsibilty for their own health but more importantly the health of others by getting the H1N1 shot". it seriously made me angry because it was such a manipulative statement. (sorry to get off-topic a bit as this isn't an H1N1 thread but its my thread and i'll do what i want ). they try to make it seem like that is the only humanly decent choice, yet in the arguements about both H1N1 and hand sanitizers (i think there is a bit of overlap there) people never mention all the natural and very OLD remedies that are out there and are proven to be just as effective if not more effective. i'm calling it what it is right here and now: its all about sales and money.

(just my opinion though, so i hope it offends no one )

I have an allergic break out when I use hand sanitizer or any anti bacterial soaps. My hands will blister up from it.

A friend of mine says this means I must be a microbe since that stuff is all anti-microbial.