Is it worth carrying alcohol hand wash and regularly using it for health reasons? I’m unsure how real the threat actually is for people with normal lifestyles.
Small bit of anecdotal evidence: I’ve started using it once I got to my latest work environment as soon as I noticed that the place is basically perpetually-contaminated and, well, plain dirty. Carrying a small bottle around to use whenever you’re about to unexpectedly end up putting your hands on your face is also something I was taught to do.
Turns out that it’s useful in both cases for me, since it’s easy with a bit of experimentation and discipline to strongly correlate to a 90% prediction accuracy times when you don’t disinfect your hands before putting them on your face and getting sick within a week with some germ/virus/bacteria-related illness.
For me, the “time gained” and general utility of avoiding minor illnesses like a cold or flu far surpasses the cost of the disinfectant, and I’ve seen no evidence that there are health-detrimental side effects if used “reasonably” (AKA only when strictly needed before eating or some similar criteria of less-than-X-times-a-day).
Mind, though, as stated above: It’s only me, so YMMV. Anecdotal evidence and all that.
Is it worth carrying alcohol hand wash and regularly using it for health reasons? I’m unsure how real the threat actually is for people with normal lifestyles.
Small bit of anecdotal evidence: I’ve started using it once I got to my latest work environment as soon as I noticed that the place is basically perpetually-contaminated and, well, plain dirty. Carrying a small bottle around to use whenever you’re about to unexpectedly end up putting your hands on your face is also something I was taught to do.
Turns out that it’s useful in both cases for me, since it’s easy with a bit of experimentation and discipline to strongly correlate to a 90% prediction accuracy times when you don’t disinfect your hands before putting them on your face and getting sick within a week with some germ/virus/bacteria-related illness.
For me, the “time gained” and general utility of avoiding minor illnesses like a cold or flu far surpasses the cost of the disinfectant, and I’ve seen no evidence that there are health-detrimental side effects if used “reasonably” (AKA only when strictly needed before eating or some similar criteria of less-than-X-times-a-day).
Mind, though, as stated above: It’s only me, so YMMV. Anecdotal evidence and all that.