Quote:
Originally Posted by CDSmith
There are plenty of ways and places on the body that bacteria and "germs" can exist. Your hands do not have to be one of them, and shouldn't. Any health care professional will tell you that frequent handwashing every day is healthy and helps prevent the spread of germs, ecoli, staph infections, the rhinovirus (colds) and a host of other ailments.
People that never or rarely wash their hands infect all sorts of things, door handles, salt/pepper shakers, other people's hands during a handshake, even themselves when they happen to rub their eye with their dirty fingers. A lot of people cough into their hands, a couple of handwashings during the day wouldn't kill them. NOT washing them might, or might kill someone else though.
I see your point about building up a tolerance, but it doesn't have to (and shouldn't) include the hands.
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Tolerance is a big deal. I know by saying this, people will make assumptions that "I am not clean," which isn't the case and the epicenter of why I don't usually have this conversation. However, the largest issue we face today is all the "sanitizer" products. What people don't realize is that by diffusing the life of certain germs, others live on and mutate and then create a nasty strain. The best thing people can do is wash their hands with regular, old fashioned soap. This washes way the germs, as opposed to breaking down the cell walls (huge difference).
Sanitizers are for health care workers, not for the general public. I am willing to bet if you ask your DR, he would agree (not that you don't). I just went in to the DR for a rib injury. He noticed I had a slight cold. He asked if I wanted antibiotics. When I said no, he replied with "good call."
I also think the pure level of stress some people have these days over door-knobs, hand shakes and planes is enough to amount to sickness as well. Stress tends to shake up the immune system. We have people at our office that apply hand sanitizer all day. They take off the most time from work due to being sick every year.
I wash my hands, with soap, after the bathroom, before I eat, if I touch something questionable. I grew up in a normal family with a mother that would say, "time for dinner, kids, wash your hands." I didn't grow up in a family where I wasn't allowed to play on the monkey bars because I would catch a cold. I didn't grow up living in fear of touching a door-knob.
I don't get sick that often at all. I get what you are saying about your hands, and I agree. My point is more based around the whole movement to kill off germs nine-hundred times a day. Look at the history of Penicillin and look at the light it was cast in some 40 years ago. Now look. : )
Anyways, good topic.