Hold it – wipe it – squeeze it – rub it. This hand sanitizer is boogie. Okay, so maybe I won’t try and turn it into a craze for the next Gangnam style dance. However, I think it already is. Hand sanitizing is a popular practice and is available at grocery cart stations, banks, schools, and other public places where your hand could potentially touch where someone else’s hand is – or already has – a hand. And you have no idea where those hands were first. Just the idea catches you the nearest available sanitizer, which may very well be in your pocket, jacket or purse.
Hand sanitizer is the practice of using pathogens, virus insects and bacteria to prevent their sneezing, wheezing and sometimes, attacks on us humans and our children. Good or bad, we are a germ-free society. Awareness of disease, disease, and even death in microorganisms is one of the more beneficial discoveries in medicine. Some have questions on the mind and lips – have we taken it too far?
Here’s the opinion – yes we have. But I say this mostly because sterility can be unhealthy, both physically and emotionally, which has been shown by the development and stress of severely lethal antibiotic resistant bacteria, which some people put on themselves to avoid germs – The constant tension of disinfecting every inch the atmosphere there. Awareness is good, there is no paranoia to the extent of exaggeration. In relation to hand sanitizer, there is both good and bad.
One of the arguments against using hand sanitizers is that their use can prevent the build-up of adaptive immunity in children. Adaptive immunity is the function of the immune system that creates a defense against parasitic microorganisms that have previously infected the body. In other words, it is good that your children fall ill. It protects them later in life.
It is a matter of debate whether using hand sanitizer has a strong negative effect on adaptive immunity. Research suggests that the use of hand sanitizer cuts down on sick days taken by schoolchildren, but it is unclear whether the disease cuts the amount of sickness of children throughout childhood.
Triclosan. bad. It is an antibacterial, antiviral, and antifungal used in many consumer products including hand sanitizers. There is no complete evidence that triclosan is safe for use by humans. Animal studies have shown that triclosan alters the regulation of hormones. However, data show effects in animals have always been shown in humans.” Do not predict the effect. Other studies in bacteria have raised the possibility that triclosan contributes to making bacteria resistant to antibiotics. ”
The good thing is, trichlosan is not necessary even in a hand sanitizer. The main ingredient in the most effective hand sanitizer is alcohol. The material must be at least 60% ethanol (alcohol) for the product to be 99% effective.
Alcohol Good or Bad?
Pure ethyl alcohol (ethanol) is, dibetopolynically, a better alternative than isopropyl alcohol (isopropanol). Issues arising with either of these alcoholics are questions of antibiotic resistance and a concern that microbiomes (beneficial microorganisms on the skin) may be affected. There seems to be no resistance developed by alcohol to bacteria – thus there are no alcohol resistant bacteria as there are antibiotic resistant bacteria.
The effect that alcohol has on the skin is not certain. Concern is similar to antibiotics and their disruptive effects on intestinal flora. The jury is still out on this. I recommend leaning towards caution and limiting, or no use of sanitizers, so as not to compromise the natural flora of the skin.
Now, let us monitor the obsessive hand. Alcohol can be drying to the skin and interacts with the lipid barrier – the protective compound layer – of the skin, which provides a barrier and partial immunity to the skin. One report showed no breakdown of the lipid barrier with health professionals using alcohol-based sanitizers when the sanitizer also included moisturizer. Many sanitizers contain aloe or glycerin which will count as a moisturizer.
I caution with the continued use of alcohol sanitizers and highly recommend, if asked for sanitizing, using a hand cream periodically throughout the day that contains lipids similar to skin blockages.
In the end I must say that you should avoid doing anything with triclosan in it. Wash your hands often – although it can irritate the skin more than an alcohol sanitizer if the soaps are too harsh, which is. If you must use an ethanol-based alcohol sanitizer, do so only when necessary. Stop paranoid and germophobes, this can cause unnecessary stress.
