Dirty Hands

[tecumseh]

Since I started doing intraocular procedures in my office I have become somewhat of a germaphobe. Which got me to thinking about the value of hand washing after going to the bathroom in public places and concluding it is usually best NOT to wash your hands after urination if you are a guy. BEST option is to hit the hand sanitizer on the way out the door, you can also wash your hands and then hit the hand sanitizer if it makes you more comfortable. The problem is after coming out of the bathroom stall and doing #2 the first thing a person touches is the sink faucets if it is not motion activated. So these sink knobs have got to be crawling with germs and if you wash your hands well with soap and water and then touch the same knobs again you will be recontaminated and since male urine is sterile your hands are now more likely to harbor pathogens than before if all you did was pee.

The other problem with hand washing and touchy dirty surfaces is they are someone else's germs. If you get some from handling your johnson, well they are your germs you are already exposed to them. Ophthalmology led the way on the phasing out of the traditional hand scrubs and getting people to accept that hand sanitizer was just as good even better than a surgical scrub and I can tell you what is done in restrooms falls far short of a surgical scrub.

The other somewhat silly thing as any dentist would know is that people's mouths are filthy. Your hands are extremely contaminated by wiping them across your mouth and nose, and yet people blow their noses and don't feel they have to run off and wash their hands.

[Indoor66]

Since I started doing intraocular procedures in my office I have become somewhat of a germaphobe. Which got me to thinking about the value of hand washing after going to the bathroom in public places and concluding it is usually best NOT to wash your hands after urination if you are a guy. BEST option is to hit the hand sanitizer on the way out the door, you can also wash your hands and then hit the hand sanitizer if it makes you more comfortable. The problem is after coming out of the bathroom stall and doing #2 the first thing a person touches is the sink faucets if it is not motion activated. So these sink knobs have got to be crawling with germs and if you wash your hands well with soap and water and then touch the same knobs again you will be recontaminated and since male urine is sterile your hands are now more likely to harbor pathogens than before if all you did was pee.

The other problem with hand washing and touchy dirty surfaces is they are someone else's germs. If you get some from handling your johnson, well they are your germs you are already exposed to them. Ophthalmology led the way on the phasing out of the traditional hand scrubs and getting people to accept that hand sanitizer was just as good even better than a surgical scrub and I can tell you what is done in restrooms falls far short of a surgical scrub.

The other somewhat silly thing as any dentist would know is that people's mouths are filthy. Your hands are extremely contaminated by wiping them across your mouth and nose, and yet people blow their noses and don't feel they have to run off and wash their hands.

I think the world of you, T, but that post makes my skin crawl. I think steam is the only answer.

[cspan37421]

Whether you wash your hands after #1 or not (who remembers the joke with the punch line, "At my school we learn not to pee on our hands" ?), it seems to me that the benefits of hand-washing are easily negated if you end up having to grab the door handle of the bathroom to get out. Perhaps most people who grab that handle upon exiting have washed their hands - but it seems exceedingly unlikely that it's 100%. In my casual observations it's not much more than 75%.

One trick I learned a few years back which ought to help when available is to wash your hands, dry them, then take an extra paper towel and use it like an oven mitt to open the door, then toss it in the hopefully-nearby trash bin once the door is open and you can hold it with your foot as you exit.

Of course, better than this are those bathrooms that have no door but instead an S-shaped corridor that lets you walk in there yet maintains privacy. Many airport bathrooms are like that, and a few highway rest stops.

[weezie]

You guys are great. Ladies don't make messes in ladies rooms for heaven's sake. What's going on in those men's rooms! UGH!!!
What the heck are you fellows talking about?!

[Indoor66]

You guys are great. Ladies don't make messes in ladies rooms for heaven's sake. What's going on in those men's rooms! UGH!!!
What the heck are you fellows talking about?!

Every ladies room I have ever used has been a mess - but maybe that is for another thread (or forum).

[rthomas]

My theory is that if you don't die, your immune system gets stronger. And we all will die sometime.

[cspan37421]

My theory is that if you don't die, your immune system gets stronger. And we all will die sometime.

another is

if you die, your immune system wasn't strong
if you don't die, your immune system was strong.

Of course, it can be trained a bit, such as with vaccinations.

I once heard a professor at a med school hold forth on the immune system for a couple hours. Stuff that promises to "boost your immune system" typically either cannot do so, or if it does, it's not at all necessarily a good thing. Your immune system is in delicate balance; you don't want it so strong that it attacks your healthy bits (such as with auto-immune disorders).

Just throwing it out there; I don't know enough to have a strong opinion - except that I'm pretty skeptical of claims supplements make on labels.

[weezie]

Every ladies room I have ever used has been a mess

Indoor! No men in the ladies room. Yes, we can takeover the men's room when we so desire but absolutely no grown men in the ladies room.
The very idea!

[rthomas]

another is

if you die, your immune system wasn't strong
if you don't die, your immune system was strong.

Of course, it can be trained a bit, such as with vaccinations.

I once heard a professor at a med school hold forth on the immune system for a couple hours. Stuff that promises to "boost your immune system" typically either cannot do so, or if it does, it's not at all necessarily a good thing. Your immune system is in delicate balance; you don't want it so strong that it attacks your healthy bits (such as with auto-immune disorders).

Just throwing it out there; I don't know enough to have a strong opinion - except that I'm pretty skeptical of claims supplements make on labels.

Maybe the best thing for your immune system is to work in a children's daycare.

[Indoor66]

Maybe the best thing for your immune system is to work in a children's daycare.

All that super immunity will serve one well in the psyche ward.

[cspan37421]

Maybe the best thing for your immune system is to work in a children's daycare.

Maybe, but again, suppose it doesn't change your immune system so much as it helps determine who is fit to do that kind of work and who is not?

Just a wild-*** guess.

ps - indoor66 - LOL!

[theAlaskanBear]

This thread made me think of the South Park episode about peeing in water and not washing hands...

[rthomas]

Who has a cat? Petting a cat is worse than peeing on your hands.

[Lid]

Your problems solved: the perfect bathroom trip.

I will always be grateful to my brother-in-law for introducing me to the wonders of Rhett and Link.

[BlueDevilBaby]

Who has a cat? Petting a cat is worse than peeing on your hands.

How about petting a dog with MRSA? Foster has MRSA infection in his ears and was operated on to basically remove his ear innards because of it. He is now totally deaf. I have to wear gloves to treat his ears and even pet him. Talk about constant hand washing. Crossing my fingers that my own dogs and I do not get infected. At least his strain is responding well to antibiotics.

[Turk]

The joke that comes to my mind is the one about washing hands BEFORE handling the sacred merchandise...

[tecumseh]

Ladies bathrooms a little different and they go to the bathroom different.
This study seems to confirm what I felt http://www.gainesville.com/article/2...CLES/111029548

So don't touch anything hit the hand cleaner on the way out and open the door with your foot or shoulder.

FYI male urine is sterile and you just have to know how to jiggle it properly of course mine requires two hands. LOL

[captmojo]

I maintain an extremely clean nether region.

[Indoor66]

I maintain an extremely clean nether region.

Bravo to you but that is not the area in question.

[captmojo]

Bravo to you but that is not the area in question.

I'm sorry. I should have written it as a plural.

All those regions. Even the supernatural ones.