View Full Version : Germophobia
catherine
7-31-12, 12:43pm
Does anyone else feel that the current germophobia is antithetical to simple living? Don't get me wrong.. I don't appreciate living in filth, but IMO we've swung way too far the other way.
While I certainly expect doctors and nurses to wash their hands with antibacterial soap when they examine me, I think that people who carry around little hand sanitizers and use them with the fervor of an OCD sufferer is a little crazy. I notice in my work doing qualitative interviews, now the research facilities put out, not only water, but also hand sanitizer. Between interviews they come in with Clorox and swab down the table. I'm hesitant to even put out my hand to shake hands these days. And when I do interviews in which I have to pass materials to the doctors, I will typically make a show of sanitizing my hands just to make him/her feel more comfortable.
I believe in the hygiene theory that attributes some of the growth in allergies to us being "too clean." Also, my permaculture teacher was saying how studies have shown that when we put our hands in dirt, such as when we're gardening, we get a kick of endorphins. But these days, we're all about making sure our kids don't get dirty.
So--fear of germs: how much is too much? Where do you draw the line?
ApatheticNoMore
7-31-12, 1:18pm
I was surprised to see people say they think bulk bins are unsanitary. I use the bulk bins all the time. :) I'm not very squeamish.
I dont have any issues with doctors and nurses being hyperclean and aware. There are some really bad germs that are spread by medical professionals and I want to avoid that. At home, pretty much anything goes. We are sort of "clean" but I am not afraid of germs. Anyone with pets needs that little ability to ignore most bacteria/germ fears. I mean we all know where the cat tongue has been.
I remember as a kid playing in dirt all the time, like the Peanut's character, and even tasting it. We did not wash our hands all the time at home or school.
I was surprised to see people say they think bulk bins are unsanitary. I use the bulk bins all the time. :) I'm not very squeamish.
Funny... I remember years ago being in a natural food store with my two "Irish twins" who were about 5 and 6 at the time. They were fascinated by the fresh peanut butter maker. A guy who looked kind of hippie-ish noticed them inspecting it.. and said, "This peanut butter is great! Try it!" and to demonstrate, he stuck his finger under the spout, snagged a big drip of peanut butter off, and licked it. Then he looked at them like, "You do it now!" They just had that "eew, gross!" look on their faces. But I never did hear of anyone getting sick from that peanut butter maker.
I agree completely. Unless you're Bubble Boy, you were meant to get out in the sun, get dirty, expose yourself to all kinds of pathogens (to build up immunity), and come home to a nice greasy mammoth steak. The mainstream media (and their advertisers) feed on the fears they generate in gullible consumers.
I'm trying to be less grossed out by things. I think our immune systems do need the stimulation!
When DD got a bad case of mono when she was 18, I read up on it. It sounds like our teenagers get such bad symptoms from it because they aren't exposed to enough germs when they are young. Most people in other countries get the virus as babies, and have no symptoms then.
I do think we over-do "cleanliness" in the U.S. Its probably because if you convince people germs are everywhere, you can sell them anti-germ products.
Its hard to know where to draw the line. Plus, if you're raised to have a high "ick" factor with alot of things, its hard to lose that. I still can't go to a restaurant where I can see into the kitchen though. haha
Travel to countries like India and China will or should cure one of germ phobia. We followed normal rules like eat food hot and no salads and no one got sick for over 30 days (note that one the second day I was chowing down on salad at a buffet). I however became a vegetarian when I could not figure out what animal the bones came from. Luckily at the end of the trip is when I discovered how they test milk in cans for quality. (They stick their hands in it and see what it looks like dripping off.) I would still go back. In India, never ever ask to see the kitchen.
Oh, and in Egypt I have great photos of a cow carcas hung in the door of a butcher shop on the street and a cart laden with meat and covered in flies. Did not get sick there either other than a bad case of heat exhaustion. Americans have such worries.
Agree. I'm convinced that many of my food intolerances and my body's exaggerated responses are due to many doses of antibiotics and other very strong drugs taken over the years which have wreaked havoc with my system. Ironic, since I was born in a village without electricity, indoor plumbing or any medical establishment of any sort. And I was a very healthy child in that environment. Now it seems every little thing makes me sick. My poor body.
Wildflower
7-31-12, 6:52pm
They always say wash your hands thoroughly and you won't get sick. Well, I do and still I seem to get every bug or virus going around. It's crazy.
I was on low dose chemo years ago. I washed my hand 24/7 like they told me to do. I still had some type of infection the entire time....if you're on chemo it's hard to even go out in public cause you'll pay a price for it. :(
treehugger
7-31-12, 7:20pm
I was on low dose chemo years ago. I washed my hand 24/7 like they told me to do. I still had some type of infection the entire time....if you're on chemo it's hard to even go out in public cause you'll pay a price for it. :(
There are definitely real reasons and situations where more than hand washing with plain soap is necessary. Patients on chemo and dialysis and those with HIV are examples of that. All the more reason for the rest of us to practice smart (rather than extremist) hygiene and allow our healthy immune systems do their jobs. Healthy people overusing antibiotics and hyper-cleaning hurts society at large and makes daily living harder for the immuno-compromised.
I have certainly seen though that this is a topic that defies logic. I know plenty of smart, otherwise logical people who are germophobes, and all the statistics available will never convince them that they don't need anti-bacterial soap for daily use or that paper towels are not "more sanitary" than reusable hand towels (i.e., healthy people don't actually get sick from using a non-disposable towel), etc.
Kara
Tussiemussies
7-31-12, 8:05pm
Definite have germ-grossness. Also like CathyA I cannot eat in a restaurant unless kI can see the kitchen, and I won't use public facilities like a public pool, hotels. I try my very hardest not to use public bathrooms.
I have seen many things on television that were in all of these situations that were just disgusting.
Dr. Oz on one of his shows said that you cannot get ecoli off your hans unless you wash them for 10second, which I do only because of that.
Also he said that if you flush your toilet with the lid open, there is a fine mist of water that you cannot see wit your eyes that goes all over. They did a test on two viewers bathrooms and found ecoli on one toothbrush and the woman couldn't understand how. That was Dr. Oz's answer.
So I do all these things only because of what I have seen on Tv with my own eyes or what Dr. Oz has had shows about...
It might sound extreme but I feel comortable with it and don't do any of it for ritual sake.:)
Traveling in the third world cured me of germophobia. In fact, when I came home it made me a little sick how much cost and energy goes into maintaining EVERYTHING so sterile and ritually disinfected. The media's obsession with every single tiny thing that might be un-sterile is a little scary to me.....sure there are horror stories, but blowing them up out of proportion, or making them seem like death is awaiting you on every doorknob, well, it seems to sell more ad space and more Clorox, for sure. We keep a clean house, not an autoclaved one. If we had compromised immune systems, that would be different -- but like Catherine I personally think that may be WHY we don't have immune system problems.
I draw the line at personal bottles of hand-sanitizer, however, I, too, was born with germ-grossness, and am comfortable with my natural-self Re: being a little extra fussy (than most) when it comes to hygiene/cleanliness/sanitation.
A friend told me a story of her friend who was diagnosed at an ER with MRSA. The first thing her doc told her was to get rid of all of the antibiotic soap, hand sanitizer, cleaners, etc. that she had at home.
And I second the idea that being exposed to germs early makes you healthier. I raised a son who was allowed to play outside and get as dirty as he liked in a normal childhood play kind of way, and he was - still is - as healthy as a horse. Never a single ear infection or even a diaper rash.
Contrast that with a mother I saw recently at a mall who was scolding her young daughter not to touch the escalator handrail.
Can we find a happy middle ground here?
It is my personal opinion that Dr. Oz had done a great injustice by being the current tabloid medical fear spreader. There is really nothing new in his programs and of course there are germs. When he had the show about picking your nose causes brain infection, I turned him off and refuse to watch any more. Some of things you can catch are like winning a national lottery. Statistically insignificant.
Proud to say here that I've never seen a "Dr OZ" show.
I agree that obsession with germs is silly. I keep my toothbrush in a drawer in the bathroom for the reasons mentioned by Tussie, but that's probably my only concession to germs floating around.
At work there were ridiculous hand sanitizers installed some years ago in each department. That's when there were all of those scares about super flu. I didn't use it then, and gradually those things disappeared. I just rolled my eyes with their coming and going.
In my youth my hands were always sticky, I seldom washed them. It used to make my parents crazy. I would tell them "I don't believe in the germ theory" to tease them.
My daughter told me about the toothbrush/toilet connection years ago so i too keep my toothbrush in the cabinet. don't watch Dr. Oz but my sister does and occasionally she will text me with some new thing I should/shouldn't be doing. She is a germaphobe, unfortunately, and watching Oz doesn't help. Actually, it might have been the cause of her phobia!
I actually don't like open bins of beans, etc... in stores. It's just that, there you are and you look over and some one's 6 year old is busy playing in the beans and I just know where that kids fingers have been! My kids were 6 once! If the bins are set high enough to keep little kids out, then I have no problem.
I don't go into public pools because I have always thought of them as human piss soup, which is what they are. I know there is enough chlorine in there to gas a small city, but I just don't care to swim in other people's pee!
Other than that, I don't have a phobia about germs. I wash my hands when I come home from the store, etc... but that's it. I don't sterilize my house with all the anti-germ products, or carry hand sanitizer around. Besides, if I ever feel I need it, I can always count on my sister to have a bottle in her purse!:D
Not to poke at anyone here, but i know some heavy-duty germophobes and the question I always want to ask them is how they were ever talked into whatever they did to have (and raise) a baby.
I will also say that Clorox is my friend. The vast majority here wouldn't live with the little dogs I have who pee here and there randomly. While I have changed to cleaning up floors with white vinegar often, I still pull out the Clorox ver often.
It's not about avoiding germs at all costs, it's about not living inside of a toilet. Sometime they squat and pee on a towel on the floor which I consider a huge victory. Towels then go into the wash, a "pee towel" load.
Gross? You bet. Not only do you not EVER want to eat on my floors, I'm not sure anyone should even walk barefoot on them.
I will also say that Clorox is my friend. The vast majority here wouldn't live with the little dogs I have who pee here and there randomly. While I have changed to cleaning up floors with white vinegar often, I still pull out the Clorox ver often.
It's not about avoiding germs at all costs, it's about not living inside of a toilet. Sometime they squat and pee on a towel on the floor which I consider a huge victory. Towels then go into the wash, a "pee towel" load.
Gross? You bet. Not only do you not EVER want to eat on my floors, I'm not sure anyone should even walk barefoot on them.
haha! Thanks for your honesty--my dog has the same "dysfunction." She's usually such a smart dog, but somehow, if we are off routine and she doesn't get out at 6:30am, 4:30pm and 10:00pm, we watch where we're walking. I have baby gates blocking my living room because that's her favorite relief zone, but sometimes I forget to shut them. Don't know what to do about it, but, yes, a big gallon of white vinegar and Clorox is my friend, too. I'm just glad we don't have carpets.
treehugger
8-1-12, 12:13pm
At work there were ridiculous hand sanitizers installed some years ago in each department. That's when there were all of those scares about super flu. I didn't use it then, and gradually those things disappeared. I just rolled my eyes with their coming and going.
We went through that at work, too, a couple of winters ago. Obviously, washing ones hands regularly is a good thing. But bottles of hand sanitizer in every room, in a non-hospital setting? The hand sanitizer specifically to ward off the flu was especially eye-roll inducing, since those sanitizers are advertised as being anti-bacterial, and everyone (I hope) knows that the flu is a virus.
Kara
domestic goddess
8-1-12, 12:50pm
At work I wash my hands frequently and use hand sanitizer. At home, I'm more lax, and rarely ever sick. I do take reasonable precautions, though, and we usually use non-antibacterial hand soap. Not always easy to find, but it is out there, and you can make your own from non-antibacterial soap slivers. My granddaughters play outside, and they can get dirty with the best of them, but I think it is exposure to fresh air (in the Chicago area?!) and sunshine that boosts their immune systems, not to mention the exercise they get that keeps them generally healthy. When the majority of the kids at school are out due to illness (this happened last year) there they are, in the classroom and enjoying the extra attention of their teachers.
DD was just at Legoland, where the Legos are in big bins, and they just reach in and get the Legos they want to build something. I guess they have little competitions throughout the day, and they award a small prize to the winner. When Alana was there, the challenge was to build your favorite food. She built a 'smore, then had extra time, so she built a slice of watermelon, and that is what she entered in the contest. And she won! So she got her little Lego keychain with her name stamped on it. She had a great time, and hasn't been sick.
No one handles food around here unless they've washed their hands and, of course after bathroom trips and babies' diaper changes, and the like, but otherwise we aren't too compulsive about it. I try to be more careful about touching my face, though, because I've had a very bad eye infection a few years ago. Don't want to repeat that!
I had a library patron whom I overheard telling this little boy in a very sweet way "you're not going to touch my baby with your filthy little hands, are you?" She also caught me doing a double dip with a tasting spoon in some lemonade and called me on the carpet in front of all the storytime moms. I told her I was not sick and that some of these kids could actually benefit from some immune system building and she left, not to come back. The other moms were telling me that they didn't find my behavior horrific in fact they do it themselves.
Originally posted by SteveinMN.
Not to poke at anyone here, but i know some heavy-duty germophobes and the question I always want to ask them is how they were ever talked into whatever they did to have (and raise) a baby.ROTFLMAO! What a real-life reminder this thread is! Hmmm... and to think how fast I adopted the traditional practice of finger-dipping elastic openings of rubber pants to diaper-check little bottoms after I became a mom!
Originally posted by Peggy.
I don't go into public pools because I have always thought of them as human piss soupNow that's funny! LMAO!
IWhen he had the show about picking your nose causes brain infection,
If picking one's nose causes brain infections I'd imagine just about every kid on the planet, and a lot of adults, must be walking around with brain infections.
I am reading a very interesting book right now related to this topic. It is called The Wild Life of Our Bodies by Rob Dunn. Humans have only lived for a very short time in such sterile environments as we do now. In the past we interacted with all sorts of animals, predators, insects, parasites, etc. Sometimes, they killed us, but if we lived, our bodies and health were stronger for it. I was surprised to read that way back when...most humans had parasites and they served a purpose. The book states that we have become so separated from the natural world of which we are designed to be a part of - that we are suffering the consequences with outcomes like auto-immune diseases, allergies, intestinal problems, asthma.
I am reading a very interesting book right now related to this topic. It is called The Wild Life of Our Bodies by Rob Dunn. Humans have only lived for a very short time in such sterile environments as we do now. In the past we interacted with all sorts of animals, predators, insects, parasites, etc. Sometimes, they killed us, but if we lived, our bodies and health were stronger for it. I was surprised to read that way back when...most humans had parasites and they served a purpose. The book states that we have become so separated from the natural world of which we are designed to be a part of - that we are suffering the consequences with outcomes like auto-immune diseases, allergies, intestinal problems, asthma.
I read of a really interesting study about allergies. They conducted it in East and West Berlin, back with the Wall was still up. They figured, it was a great way to test because the people were homogenous ethnically, but their living conditions were very different. What they found was the people who had the least incidence of allergies were those who lived on farms. But that wasn't the only variable. The people who had the least allergies were the farm families who actually had pigs roaming around inside their homes.
Tussiemussies
8-4-12, 10:40pm
I read of a really interesting study about allergies. They conducted it in East and West Berlin, back with the Wall was still up. They figured, it was a great way to test because the people were homogenous ethnically, but their living conditions were very different. What they found was the people who had the least incidence of allergies were those who lived on farms. But that wasn't the only variable. The people who had the least allergies were the farm families who actually had pigs roaming around inside their homes.
Eeeewwwweeee Catherine that is just so gross. I wonder if people with pot-bellied pigs as pets have less allergies?
I know when we first had dogs I was highly allergic to them, hives etc. but after 3 months ny body grew accustomed to them and since then haven't had any issues with dogs and that was 25 years ago!
I'm always highly amused by the folks who can't bear to open a public bathroom door when leaving with just a bare hand. They use multiple paper towels. If there's not a trashcan by the door (where they pitch the paper towels, while propping the door open with their body), some will just throw the paper towels on the floor. I've seen it happen.
Tussiemussies
8-4-12, 11:13pm
Tradd, you would be laughing at me, most definitely. I do the same thing, but would never leave towels on the floor.
Well, I have to say, I do adhere to decent standards of cleanliness, but I don't do hand sanitizer and I don't elbow my way out of public bathrooms, and (knock on wood) I am never sick, even though I travel 65000 miles a year utilize many, many public facilities and am exposed to many differing air qualities, during which much of the time I'm on the road, I'm sleep-deprived. I might get a little cold once a year but nothing debilitating. So what do you germphobes think is going to happen? Benign stuff like a cold, or something more serious? In other words, what exactly is the fear? Or is it just a mental "ick"? Just curious
Originally posted by Catherine.
So what do you germphobes think is going to happen? Benign stuff like a cold, or something more serious? In other words, what exactly is the fear? Or is it just a mental "ick"? Just curiousFor me it's the "ick" factor!
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2025 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.