Community Chat

[GingerPeach]

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@Lucky Charm wrote:

So are hand sanitizers good or bad? 

Doctors and nurses squirt some on their hands as soon as they enter a patient's hospital room. 

There's always a bottle at the 'checkout' in doctor's offices, dentist's offices and even at the lab where I got my blood work done last month. 

Are the hand sanitizers good (or unnecessary and these healthcare professionals just haven't gotten the memo yet)?

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Here, from earlier in this thread:

@Ladybug724 wrote:

What about hand sanitizer--anti-bacterial gel?  I use that all the time.

@Ladybug724@Ladybug724

It's said that as long as the sanitizer is alcohol-based, it's not going to cause bacterial resistance or mutations as other chemicals may. 

The best is just washing hands with soap and water, however.

 And since it's not meant to replace soap and water, I'm sure you're never going to give that up!

Here's hoping everyone has a healthy fall and winter.

[GingerPeach]

@Ladybug724 wrote:

What about hand sanitizer--anti-bacterial gel?  I use that all the time.

@Ladybug724@Ladybug724

It's said that as long as the sanitizer is alcohol-based, it's not going to cause bacterial resistance or mutations as other chemicals may. 

The best is just washing hands with soap and water, however.

 And since it's not meant to replace soap and water, I'm sure you're never going to give that up!

Here's hoping everyone has a healthy fall and winter.

[chrystaltree]

The thing wiith hand sanitizer is that most people don't even use it correctly.  And they don't use enough of it.   So, it isn't nearly as effective as good old warm soap and water.  A hand sanitizer should be alcohol based with 60% alcohol.  And you should remove your rings and use about a dime size of it and rub your hands briskly together, the friction is crucial.  Also, you have rub it all over and around your finger nails and in the crevices of your knuckles for minimum of 30 seconds.  Then, the thing that no one does.  You must let your hands competely air dry without touching anything until they dry.  If you don't do it that way, you don't get much protection from a hand sanitizer.  That's why healthcare professionals are advised to scrub our hands with warm soap and water.  We have dispensers in our dept at work and it makes those of us know better.  People walk by, squeeze a little onto their hands (they never take rings off), rub it around and then.....open up a door or touch a box or touch a railing.  So, the little bit of  hand sanitizer did nothing and they just touched a door knob which just added more germs to the ones they already had.....   But they feel protected...lol     

[debic]

I gave up years ago using what's good for you this week.  I use what I like, sometimes  it's antibacterial and sometimes it's not.

I rarely jump on the new fads of anything.

[GingerPeach]

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@debic wrote:

I gave up years ago using what's good for you this week.  I use what I like, sometimes  it's antibacterial and sometimes it's not.

I rarely jump on the new fads of anything.

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As stated earlier, the science about triclosan has been there from the beginning.  

This isn't really a case of everyone choosing to do what they want.  It's knowing the difference between the kinds of effects these choices might cause.  Other things you might choose aren't going to affect your community hospital by creating drug-resistant bacteria.

[RedTop]

I learned to be a hand washer during my 27 years of working in a hospital. Washing hands with soap and water is the preferred method of cleaning your hands, but if you have touched a common surface and cannot wash your hands, use an alcohol wipe, or hand sanitizer for the time being. I carry plain alcohol wipes in my handbag, as well as having hand sanitizer in my vehicle. I always clean my hands with something after leaving the doctors office, grocery store, bank, or if I have pumped gas, etc. We all know to keep our hands away from our face, but I also keep large bottles of peroxide in both bathrooms for wiping down surfaces, and disinfecting toothbrushes after each use, all year round. I wipe down the surfaces in my bathrooms daily. I clean every door knob in the house weekly; more frequently if needed, and I go with the "one wipe, one swipe" rule. I have watched people clean multiple surfaces using one disinfecting wipe, which is not the correct way to clean, or disinfect. I clean my phone, Ipad, computer keyboard, and TV remote at least weekly. It is also important to change out washcloths, handtowels, dish cloths, kitchen sponges, etc., frequently to avoid spreading germs and bacteria.

[Apple Head]

I fell last week in some mud and really hurt my knee with a big abrasion.   I had nothing to clean it with, so I used Ivory soap and water.

When I called the doctor and reached the dr on call at my PCP's office, he said I should use antibacterial soap (the kind they use in the hospitals).    I asked a pharmacist and she said no way.   She said even the ER's don't use that soap unless it's surgery.    She said it would have harmed me more.

This is the same doctor that did my Mom's colonoscopy once and came out to tell us he "thinks" she has colon cancer.    She didn't, nothing was wrong.   Doctors like that need to leave the profession.   He is such a jerk.

[beach-mom]

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@Lipstickdiva wrote:

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@beach-mom wrote:

Years ago when Bath and Body Works started using "anti-bac" everything, It was their "catch" word for everything current and in fashion.  DH told me to stop buying it. I called the main office over and over, asking them to bring back the regular soaps as a choice for those of us who wanted to stay away from antibacterial soaps. They basically told me this was the future, and they were sorry but the regular soaps were discontinued. Finally, a few years ago, they started to bring some back as a choice, and I could once again buy them. DH would never let us use anything antibacterial in our home. 

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I didn't know they brought back the regular soaps.  I went to their website and nothing says anti-bacterial on it.  All the hand soaps say either Deep Cleansing or Gentle Cleansing.  Are the deep cleansing the anti-bacterial soaps?  I can't find ingrediants for either.    

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They took out the triclosan, which is the antibacterial property, and added aloe and vitamin E. The deep cleansing soaps are no longer antibacterial soaps, and I don't think the gentle cleansing foaming ones are either. 

The first time I noticed the regular ones were back was when they came out with the limoncello hand soap a few years ago. I was so happy! There is a lot of controversy about all of this, but I'm going to listen to my DH, who knows what he's talking about! 

[ChynnaBlue]

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@chrystaltree wrote:

The thing wiith hand sanitizer is that most people don't even use it correctly.  And they don't use enough of it.   So, it isn't nearly as effective as good old warm soap and water.  A hand sanitizer should be alcohol based with 60% alcohol.  And you should remove your rings and use about a dime size of it and rub your hands briskly together, the friction is crucial.  Also, you have rub it all over and around your finger nails and in the crevices of your knuckles for minimum of 30 seconds.  Then, the thing that no one does.  You must let your hands competely air dry without touching anything until they dry.  If you don't do it that way, you don't get much protection from a hand sanitizer.  That's why healthcare professionals are advised to scrub our hands with warm soap and water.  We have dispensers in our dept at work and it makes those of us know better.  People walk by, squeeze a little onto their hands (they never take rings off), rub it around and then.....open up a door or touch a box or touch a railing.  So, the little bit of  hand sanitizer did nothing and they just touched a door knob which just added more germs to the ones they already had.....   But they feel protected...lol     

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When hand sanitizers first started becoming popular in stores, the local news did an interesting report on antibacterial soaps and things that were being sold as antibacterial goods, like antibacterial cutting boards.

They had people use soap, hand sanitizer, and just water and had them rub vigorously vs not and even spraying the hand sanitzer on. They found that the rubbing action was crucial and rubbing hands under water without even using soap was about as good as using soap (Soap just helps make water wetter.) That stuck with me and I always rub well whether I use a gel or a soap. The hand sanitizer removed the most germs if rubbed in well. If sprayed on and not rubbed in, it didn't make much difference.

Most sanitizing sprays like Lysol say that you need to let the product air dry and leave it alone for 30 seconds, so I've always done the same with my antibacterial gels. I use way more than a dime size, rub very well, and then let it air dry.

The antibacterial cutting boards were useless and I don't even see them sold in stores now.

This is from a 2009 segment on Good Morning America and they didn't do all the same testing, but the results for the tests they did matched what I recall from the local news. The GMA report talks about washing for 20 seconds or more, but don't mention how important the rubbing is, which is too bad. http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/ConsumerNews/washing-hands-soap-hand-sanitizer/story?id=8941662

I know that when I'm in a restroom at work or anywhere else, I seem to be washing my hands 3 times longer than anyone else. I'm not OCD about it, but I've seen some people barely get their fingers wet and then dry them off and leave. Yikes!

[ROMARY]

I have a bottle of sanitizer in my car.  Use it as soon as I can, after shopping.  Also, I carry those small individual packets of anibacterial wipes at the table before eating in restaurants.  I'm sure the chairs have loads of germs, therefore the wipes.

[Stray]

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@Ladybug724 wrote:

What about hand sanitizer--anti-bacterial gel?  I use that all the time.

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Over use can be detrimental....it should only be used in the absence of soap and water never as a substitute.  It drives me crazy in hospitals when hand sanitizer dispensers are right next to soap and water and they select a dispenser.  When you wash your hands with soap and water, the friction causes you to cleanse your hands properly as well as the soap.  Also sanitizers have alcohol and can dry your hands and cause small cracks providing an entry point for bacteria.