Antibacterial products may cause more illness than they prevent!

There is a growing concern in medical community and it is Antibacterial soaps, lotions and had sanitizers. The initial concept was developed as a way to allow us to sanitize our hands when coming into contact with other people. This certainly makes sense. However, the only way that these products can be effective is if you are sure that you are killing all of the germs on your hands and body.

If you are like most people, you only wash to your wrists when washing your hands and in many cases, you don’t wash the back of your hand. The typical hand shake contacts both the palm and the back of the hand if you don’t believe me shake someone’s hand and see what parts your hand touches and what parts their hand touches. Pay attention to where the tips of the fingers are.

If you use antibacterial products but only to a specific point on the hand, there is a little line where the bacteria is getting a small dose of the antibacterial agent without being killed. Because you are not killing all of the bacterial you are stimulating an immune response that leads to acquired resistance.

This is seen in Bacteriostatic products which are designed to reduce the ability for the bacteria to grow and replicate. Many products on the market have this type of antibacterial. Triclosan is just one of the most common ones that you will see.

For this reason you should only use Bacteriocidal products. These products by definition kill the bacteria on contact. You should look for products that have alcohol as their active ingredient preferably 80-90% in strength.

I personally stay away from anything that doesn’t have alcohol in it. In fact, if you can’t use an alcohol based antibacterial, you are better off just washing your hands with regular soap and warm water.