Antibacterial soap not as good as we thought!

[disney1990]

The Dr. told me today, when I brought DD6 in for the 4th time in 3 months- that she's being tested for low immune system problems. Apparently, there are more and more people with problems due to 'low immune systems'. He said there is a new study that was just done.

All of this antibacterial soap/lotion/foam is actually causing us more harm than good. It's not only killing off the bad germs, it's killing off the germs that our body needs in order to have a healthy immune system. Our body needs certain bacteria in order to stay 'regulated' and this antibacterial EVERYTHING that we're using is not helping our kids. if it kills off ALL bacteria, our body's can't fight off the bad bacteria and that's why so many kids are sicker and get sick more often now days.

NOW, don't get me wrong. Antibacterial stuff is OK to use on occasion- but he said that good old soap and hot water do the trick better. which, I've used most of the time anyways- but I'm certainly more aware of problems with using antibacterial wipes/foams/soaps now more than I ever have been.

I know there is a fine line between healthy/non-healthy in schools- but our school district is actually looking to GET RID of antibacterial all together (my DD's Dr. said) because the teachers/educators/school staff are relying too heavily on it instead of using the plain old soap and water. The reason why kids are getting so ill and more ill more often now days is not because of the fact that they aren't 'getting rid' of germs. It's because they are 'getting rid of too many bacteria/germs' and their bodies can't fight for themselves.

Now, I'm all for being clean. I'm all for my kids washing and being 'bad germ free'...but I do believe that our society has gone a little overboard with this antibacterial stuff and it's hurting us more than helping us. I know that they have it in hospitals (which is about the only place that it SHOULD be used 24/7 according to DD's Dr.)...but when it comes to ridding germs- I'll be going old-fashioned from now on out (for the most part!!!)...

I'll be getting rid of all the anti-bacterial soaps in my home- it's overkill for a home. Only using it when we're out in public with no other choice.

There are many good soaps (both liquid and bar soap and foams) that do not contain antibacterial ingredients...Those are what we SHOULD be using so our kids can be healthier and have better immune systems!

I have been trying to tell people this for years. We don't need antibacterial in laundry soap, dish soap, hand soap. All we need is soap and water. The ingredients in the antibacterial products are in every single stream, river, lake, etc. in the United States and we need to stop using them.

 

[FireDancer]

Pasteurizing.

That's what I meant. The brain had stopped working at midnight I guess.

 

[binny]

I will admit to being a *wee* bit germaphobic but even I dont use all the anti bac baloney thats out there.

I am trying to kill off a case of coxsackie disease in my house right now. My kids have been exposed to plenty of germs in their lifetime, because I dont watch everything they touch. But moving to a new area exposes them to a lot of new viruses and such that they didnt have exposure to before. This has been brutal in my house the last few weeks. So I have been trying everything to get rid of it! Unfortunately there is no way to clean the air efficiently and thats how this is spread so I have to do my best with being the hand washing attendant for everyone


I will also admit to only buying white sheets for my own bed because I like to bleach them, thats where my germaphobe self kicks in.

 

[cabanafrau]

I totally agree with you. I have a family who we do a lot of things with- they have three kids who are around the same ages as my girls. The mom is totally freaked out about germs. She carries the wipes EVERYWHERE, she's got the gel out a lot too. Yet, her kids are sick ALL OF THE TIME!!! She can't figure it out! I see a lot of parents doing this- and I've always believed that it's a bit 'overkill'...Don't get me wrong. My kids wash their hands before they eat, after they touch animals, after they've been to 'germ filled' places (mcDonald play area for sure)...but I believe that soap an water clean better than anything.

I have the 'bottle of germ killer' that almost everyone with kids has- but I'm now understanding that I need to cut down to almost not even using it AT ALL! I won't be buying anymore of it- that is for sure!

I've read the same story on here dozens of times & shook my head about the people completely sanitizing their hotel rooms -- yet still manage to repeatedly get sick on their Disney trips. Honestly, besides living in a hermetically sealed bubble, life is messy -- particularly with kids. Soap and water and common sense go a long way.

 

[npmommie]

The Dr. told me today, when I brought DD6 in for the 4th time in 3 months- that she's being tested for low immune system problems. Apparently, there are more and more people with problems due to 'low immune systems'. He said there is a new study that was just done.

All of this antibacterial soap/lotion/foam is actually causing us more harm than good. It's not only killing off the bad germs, it's killing off the germs that our body needs in order to have a healthy immune system. Our body needs certain bacteria in order to stay 'regulated' and this antibacterial EVERYTHING that we're using is not helping our kids. if it kills off ALL bacteria, our body's can't fight off the bad bacteria and that's why so many kids are sicker and get sick more often now days.

NOW, don't get me wrong. Antibacterial stuff is OK to use on occasion- but he said that good old soap and hot water do the trick better. which, I've used most of the time anyways- but I'm certainly more aware of problems with using antibacterial wipes/foams/soaps now more than I ever have been.

I know there is a fine line between healthy/non-healthy in schools- but our school district is actually looking to GET RID of antibacterial all together (my DD's Dr. said) because the teachers/educators/school staff are relying too heavily on it instead of using the plain old soap and water. The reason why kids are getting so ill and more ill more often now days is not because of the fact that they aren't 'getting rid' of germs. It's because they are 'getting rid of too many bacteria/germs' and their bodies can't fight for themselves.

Now, I'm all for being clean. I'm all for my kids washing and being 'bad germ free'...but I do believe that our society has gone a little overboard with this antibacterial stuff and it's hurting us more than helping us. I know that they have it in hospitals (which is about the only place that it SHOULD be used 24/7 according to DD's Dr.)...but when it comes to ridding germs- I'll be going old-fashioned from now on out (for the most part!!!)...

I'll be getting rid of all the anti-bacterial soaps in my home- it's overkill for a home. Only using it when we're out in public with no other choice.

There are many good soaps (both liquid and bar soap and foams) that do not contain antibacterial ingredients...Those are what we SHOULD be using so our kids can be healthier and have better immune systems!

this is true about antibacterial soaps. not needed, soap and water is just as effective IF, and its a big if, if you wash for 20 seconds at least. you have to really get the soap all over and in all parts of your hands,most people don't wash nearly that long.

the biggest reason for mutant bugs is overuse of antibiotics in this county.

and my last 2 cents is that alcohol sanitizers are fine they do not create resistance in bugs, they only kill the top layer on your hand, the germs do not build up a resistance to the alcohol.
and the hand sanitizers don't kill ecoli, so washing after the potty is always best

 

[disney1990]

I will admit to being a *wee* bit germaphobic but even I dont use all the anti bac baloney thats out there.

I am trying to kill off a case of coxsackie disease in my house right now. My kids have been exposed to plenty of germs in their lifetime, because I dont watch everything they touch. But moving to a new area exposes them to a lot of new viruses and such that they didnt have exposure to before. This has been brutal in my house the last few weeks. So I have been trying everything to get rid of it! Unfortunately there is no way to clean the air efficiently and thats how this is spread so I have to do my best with being the hand washing attendant for everyone


I will also admit to only buying white sheets for my own bed because I like to bleach them, thats where my germaphobe self kicks in.

Personally, I find that most people that are Germaphobic get sick more than other people do. My DH and I are about as from from Germaphobic as you can be. We use the comforter in hotels, we walk on hotel room floors barefooted, etc. And, neither one of us ever get sick.

 

[angie@dvcstore]

Good information, thanks for sharing

 

[binny]

we really havent been sick though up until now. We normally deal with 2 colds a year type thing.
But like I said I dont go overboard with stuff either so maybe thats why.

 

[manning]

Yes - this information has been falling on deaf ears for a long, long time now.. It's basically common sense.. Your body can't build up immunities to germs and illnesses if you totally avoid exposure to germs.. You need a healthy balance between the good and the bad.. The sickest kids I know are the kids of parents who are germaphobics and insist on antibiotics for everything from the sniffles to a tummy ache..

I never got sick except for a bout with cancer. When I was a little kid I loved crawling under the bed. The standing joke was we didn't have to dust under the bed as I took care of it.

 

[Judy from Boise]

I do think there is a difference in trying to eliminate germs from our enviornment (futile) and doing good hand hygiene prior to touching your mucous membranes or eating. Hand sanitizer is a great and convenient alternative in that latter case, especially if soap and water isn't available.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Oh, yeah. We use hand sanitizer when we don't have soap and water available- like if we go on a picnic and we're getting ready to eat or if we are eating on the run (like in the van)- which doesn't happen a lot in my family- but we keep a small bottle in the van. Another time we'd use it is in an airplane. I actually bring wipes with me on the plane to wash of the tray table and arm rests before my girls sit down, because I know my 6y.o. will take down the tray table and lay on it- as well as put her snacks on it. BUT, the thing with hand sanitizer is that there are some WITHOUT anti-bactirial stuff in it. That is the kind people should buy- it's an alcohol cleaner.

I think it will take me a while to NOT bring wipes on a plane with me- but if that's the only place I use them, I think I'm doing well!

 

[Judy from Boise]

the action of alcohol is to denature the integrity of the cell wall of bacteria.......and kill it! I guess i don't understand how that isn't "anti-bacterial"? I think planes are my exception in trying to control the enviornment too ! They are nasty.

 

[mykidsand_i]

when I talk about 'antibacterial' I am talking about the products (soaps, foams, gels, creams) that are sold with added products that are (but not limited to): triclosan, triclocarbon, Anything that is manufactured by the 'drug industries' to 'kill bacterial growth'...yes, alcohol does that as well, but I guess I should have said it differently. There are 'anti-bacterial free' hand sanitizers and there are some that have alcohol in them WITH ADDED anti-bacterial products. I stay away from the added 'anti-bacterial' crap in it...and my family doesn't use it everywhere we go (which is the biggest problem people have now days according to most Dr.s)

 

[Luv'sTink]

When my son broke his arm last year, we had a heck of a time getting the pain PILLS down him because he is so rarely sick he never had to take pills before and didn't know how.

As I sit here reading this, a though flashed into my head....last night after baseball practice a mom brought muffins and ALL the boys ate them and dare I say it? didn't wash their hands! didn't even think of it.... he does have hand sanitizer in his bat bag...LOL!

We were country bumpkins when we were young, rarely went to the doctors and ate stuff off the vine, tree and garden without washing them so it doesn't bother me as much as it does others, oh well....

 

[disney1990]

My Mom was raised in the country, on a farm. Her philosophy was "you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die". I raised, roll in the dirt, climb trees daughters. They are now in their 20s and 30s. They aren't gemophobics and are very seldom sick.

Thanks Mom!

 

[FireDancer]

My Mom was raised in the country, on a farm. Her philosophy was "you have to eat a peck of dirt before you die". I raised, roll in the dirt, climb trees daughters. They are now in their 20s and 30s. They aren't gemophobics and are very seldom sick.

Thanks Mom!

I was a suburban kid but almost all of that applied. Our neighborhood was surrounded by woods and we spent a lot of time out in them. My parents didn't care if we got dirty (unless we were dress up for something) and getting outside and playing was as much a mandate as doing our homework. We were at my maternal grandparents a lot and being the proper degos that they were they had a huge garden. We would pick food, rinse it with the hose if it was dirty, and eat it.

I think the over sanitizing of everything is along the same lines of the over medicating and over vaccinating mentality that we have in this country. We have survived as a species and will continue to do so.

 

[disney1990]

I was a suburban kid but almost all of that applied. Our neighborhood was surrounded by woods and we spent a lot of time out in them. My parents didn't care if we got dirty (unless we were dress up for something) and getting outside and playing was as much a mandate as doing our homework. We were at my maternal grandparents a lot and being the proper degos that they were they had a huge garden. We would pick food, rinse it with the hose if it was dirty, and eat it.

I think the over sanitizing of everything is along the same lines of the over medicating and over vaccinating mentality that we have in this country. We have survived as a species and will continue to do so.

Yes, I totally understand. We use to take our girls strawberry picking in the spring. I can't tell you how many strawberries were picked and eaten right there in the field.

 

[englishteacha]

As someone with a sensitivity to chemicals, I'm so glad this is getting out. I wash my hands often with soap and water, don't use hand sanitizer, and my house gets cleaned with soapy water. Like another poster, the only place I use anything labeled anti-bacterial is on the toilet, just because it sure is easy to wipe it down with a Clorox/Lysol type wipe. (Cleaning the toilet is gross enough!) I think many people are using sanitizers in place of hand washing. My students sometimes have visibly dirty hands and they swear they are "clean" because they used hand sanitizer. No, dirt that has been sanitized is still dirt.

 

[SandrA9810]

I think the last time I used hand sanitizer was at Christmas time when we were picking out our christmas tree. I asked for some gojo (the orange hand cleaner), but he didn't have any, just a small bottle of hand sanitizer. Which I was shocked actually worked fairly well on removing the tree sap.

I haven't big sick one time in the past year. And I'm far from a germiphob. I remember playing outside as a kid and picking up the garden hose when we got thirsty.

Dirt is healthy for ya.

 

[Mandychelle79]

Ive never fallen for the ant-bacterial band wagon I also dont wipe down the cart before my kids sit in it, let my kids play with worms.

But I cant use anti-bacterials at home, as we have a septic and dad worries about killing the bacteria we need