The LIVESTRONG.COM Development team staying strong with sanitizer.
Hand Sanitizer is becoming a bigger trend by the minute—and with flu season on the way, and the Swine Flu epidemic earlier this year, it seems like it'll be hard to keep hand sanitizers on drug store shelves (seriously, if you don't already have stock in Purell, buy now).
But I know from school that there is such a thing as good bacteria and bad bacteria—and we need to be exposed to some bacteria in order to build a strong immune system.
My wife, who works in the medical field, says that overuse of hand sanitizers can deplete your hands of the bacteria needed to fight off certain yucky things…like fungus.
A recent NY Times article by Tara Parker Pope focusing on ways to stave off the flu, says that scientists watching a group of Cal Berkeley students studying, found that on average the students touched their eyes, noses, and lips 47 times during a three-hour period, which is once every four minutes. And that's when they were stationary! Think of what you do every day at work. You get a cup of coffee, sit down and type at your desk. You might have lunch at your desk (which is supposedly filthy), shake a new employee's hand, and rub your eyes— all without ever knowing that you're exposing yourself to potential infection.
So I want to know what you think. Are you willing to risk infection in order for yourself or your children to build up your immune system? Or are you going to slather on the sanitizer and just accept the fungus among us?
Sound off in the comments.
Member Comments
by katzenfinch on September 23, 2009 at 6:14 PM
Somehow, I've managed to live for 57 years without hand sanitizer. I don't think I get sick any more often than the average person, and perhaps less. I'd rather build up my immune system than depend upon chemicals to protect me from infection --- that really seems like a no-brainer to me.
by valbourgoin on September 23, 2009 at 9:58 PM
I agree with katzenfinch. I am a nurse and we get in-services constantly about hand washing. Also, keeping in mind that the hand sanitizers have a "life expectancy" of about 5 times of use. If you use it more than 5 times in a row, without a proper 20 seconds of hand-washing, the sanitizer loses its effect, creates a sticky film on your hands, creating a new niche for bacteria to start mutiplying again! Nothing beats a proper, good hand-washing with foamy soap and hot water!
by Busysewin on September 24, 2009 at 7:29 AM
I personally think my hands are cleaner with a good sudsy handwashing in a sink. Hand sanitizer to me is like when my mom used to pull that hankie out her purse at church, put it to her tongue and then wipe the last of my milk mustache off. Looks good, but not really clean
by efsuffolks on September 24, 2009 at 9:31 AM
I agree...
I think they are pointless and that frankly we are getting too worried about sanitization and not building immune systems.
A story about that though... I'm spending all week with my FIL in the hospital...
My husband and I visited him all weekend and when my husband left he'd use the sanitizers and I did not. He's not got the flu... and I do not....
by pepin909 on September 24, 2009 at 10:13 AM
I joke all the time about why I don't get sick, but I really do think it has something to do with not using anti-bacterial products much. I think we give far too little credit to our bodies natural ability to fight germs.
by jlaydbak on September 25, 2009 at 10:05 AM
Colds & flus are transmitted airborne. You catch the virus by breathing the same air as an infected person. The virus can spread as far as 10 airplane rows in a short period of time. Just being at the store, at work, around your kids, or in any public place will expose you to viruses. You don't breath through your hands, so hand sanitizer does very little to protect you from a virus like the cold or flu.
by q-licious on September 28, 2009 at 11:12 AM
I agree that washing my hands feels cleaner (although I think people overdo that sometimes as well). But, I still keep a little bottle of hand-sanitizer in my purse for those "in just case" scenarios, and when I worked at a pet store, I used the hand sanitizers there frequently. They were more convenient than trekking to the other side of the store every time I touched something that might have some nasty germs.
I certainly don't feel like my immune system has suffered from its use.
Of course, that could also be because I had a chance to develop a healthy immune system as a child.
by jonkeelty on September 29, 2009 at 5:39 PM
I live in Hong Kong and you can't walk more than 50 feet in a shopping mall without seeing a gel dispenser! I am also a teacher and we have then in every room in the school. I have to say that with all the sniffing, snuffling and sneezing going on around me during the flu season, I am glad that we can kill at least some of the germs before they get onto the public surfaces!
A good friend ( who worked in HK on the Human Genome project ) pointed out to me that the psychological effects are just as important - the "nasty" smell of the gel makes you more aware of your hands and less likely to touch your eyes or nose - in the same way that wearing a facemask or gloves ( as we did during the SARS outbreak ) makes you more aware of your hands and less likely to touch the highly infective areas like nose, mouth and eyes.
by lesliemoniot on September 30, 2009 at 12:02 PM
I went to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science to see the exhibit "Expedition Health" and did an experiment while I was there that showed what sorts of things actually kill bacteria, from hand sanitizer to dish detergent to bleach, and the only thing that killed it was the bleach and another household cleaner. Not one product that was labeled, "kills 99 percent of bacteria," or "anti-bacterial," did anything to the little germies, sooo I'm gonna go with No on this one. In fact, they showed a video of how it can actually make things worse, by killing good bacteria that might actually protect you from the bad bacteria. I'll wash my hands thanks. No sense wasting money on hand sanitizer that makes your hands all filmy and gross if it doesn't even work.