If you feared wearing a mask to places during the pandemic and the reason for that was you worried that if you were not exposed to any germs, your immune system would weaken. Therefore, if you were to catch a virus after the pandemic, you would not fare too well as if you were by having a stronger immune system. The fact of the matter is that, no, your mask will not weaken your immune system. Neither did the lockdowns that you had to endure during the times of the pandemic since you were not around others. The same applies to your home after you clean it.
If your home is naturally clean because you not only put away the clutter but you scrub the floors, countertops, bathrooms, and vacuum the floors and carpet, you may worry as well that your clean home is not helping your immune system. You may worry that you could end up catching nasty bouts of illness as a result. However, once again, that does not apply.
Does that mean that, due to this fear, you should not wash your hands before you eat? Absolutely not. That is because you could end up with a norovirus-like illness and if you don’t wash your hands before eating regardless of the hygienic state of your home, you will ingest a harmful microbe that will wreak havoc on your digestive system. That would be the case regardless of how strong your immune system is. Therefore, there are several things you need to understand to help you realize that your clean home is not hurting your immune system (and neither is mask-wearing).
A Child Needs Exposure To Germs To Strengthen Their Immune Systems More Than Adults
A child needs development for everything imaginable which goes from walking, talking, eating on their own, self-care, and strengthening their immune system. Think about the hygiene hypothesis. Children need exposure to microbes so that they build a strong immune system. But once again, that does not mean you should not clean your house either for your child. Your child always finds ways to pick up germs and bugs, and that is why they get sick so often, especially in the first decade of their life. That is necessary for their immune development in addition to getting vaccinations which helps to prime their immune system.
As adolescents, their immune systems are strong and as long as they are healthy, the frequency of illness they experience becomes no different from adults. However, unless you keep your child in a sterilized bubble all of the time without them going outside, you do not have to worry about their immune systems stagnating if you keep your home clean. Even if you were to homeschool your kids. Your kids will find a way to pick up bugs and so will you. Where are you likely to pick up bugs?
The Outdoors Has Plenty Of Microbes
Therefore, that is the main reason you do not need to worry about your clean home messing with your immune system. When you go outside, you will pick up many microbes which will keep your immune system strong and the same goes for your child if you have a young one. You may not know it but you are catching viruses all of the time when you go outside. Viruses that may not cause you to get sick but are putting your immune system to work. Besides, your clean home doesn’t mean it is sterile.
Therefore, you should not sterilize your home (unless you are caring for someone with an immune deficiency condition). If you sterilize your home, then you are going to be more prone to catching superbugs. Therefore, good old soap and water will do the trick. You can use vinegar and other cleaning agents as well on floors, bathrooms, countertops, and so on. None of that will cause your home to become microbe-free. Therefore, even your clean home has germs. Maybe fewer of them, but they are still around. You and your immune system are fine.
