During the era of COVID, using hand sanitizer daily is a normal thing because that is the way to help ward off viruses. However, the fact of the matter is, the real protection against viruses is to wash your hands with soap and water well, for 20 seconds with a good lather-up.
Hand sanitizer is fine if you are out and about and have no access to soap and water. However, there are things you should know about if you were to use it daily. That is because there are 10 things that can happen to your body if you use hand sanitizer each day.
Daily Use Of Hand Sanitizer Disrupts Your Microbiome
You want bad bacteria and viruses killed off. However, if you are using hand sanitizer constantly, you are also killing off the good bacteria that you need as well. Therefore, it is disrupting your microbiome and it can disrupt your bodily functions badly. If you are constantly sick with digestive problems, for instance, this is one cause for that.
Dangerous Bacteria Can Easily Develop
If you become ill with a bad bacterial infection that does not go away with the help of antibiotics, then it is likely the result of the daily use of hand sanitizers. If you use it daily, then bad and stronger bacteria only develop that are antibiotic-resistant. Keep that in mind each time you use hand sanitizer.
You Will Increase Your Chances Of Eczema
Effective hand sanitizer contains at least 60 percent alcohol and this can cause plenty of problems for your skin if you are constantly exposing it to the substance. You will end up with cracks, blisters, dryness, redness and you will need to be treated for eczema. Because frequent use of hand sanitizer will cause that to happen.
Causes Other Skin Disorders And Irritation
Even if you don’t necessarily end up with eczema after using hand sanitizer daily, you can still end up with extreme skin sensitivities. Your skin will dry out easily and become extremely irritated and it will itch. This will increase the chances of developing skin infections as well since there will be open wounds from scratching it all of the time.
Fertility Can Be Affected
For anyone that is in the child-bearing age group hoping to have kids one day may find themselves struggling to conceive if they use hand sanitizer daily. Hand sanitizers that contain triclosan, in particular, can hinder fertility and cause birth defects if there is a pregnancy. If you are past the child-bearing age but you have adult children that are wanting to have kids of their own, then you will want to warn them about the risks of using hand sanitizer daily.
Hormonal Problems Can Happen
You could find yourself struggling with hormonal problems if you use hand sanitizer daily. It is due to the presence of triclosan which as you already are aware causes fertility issues. But it does wreak havoc on your hormonal levels which can cause many illnesses to occur.
Your Immune System Is Affected
The triclosan also causes your immune system to become weaker as it wreaks havoc on its function. Therefore, this means you will catch more colds and viruses easily and have a hard time fighting them off.
You Will Deal With Horrible Pain If You Have Cuts
If you have open wounds on your hands such as a papercut, then using hand sanitizer daily will keep that pain alive which will affect your overall function. All you will focus is on the pain and that will hurt your overall productivity. It can also cause the healing process of the wounds to take much longer as the alcohol in the hand sanitizer can delay healing.
It Can Impair Your Muscles
Your muscles can become much weaker if you use hand sanitizer daily because the triclosan will cause damage to the tissues. If you find yourself struggling to take steps and to carry groceries, then this can be a reason that you are struggling.
You Can End Up With Alcohol Poisoning
This is more of a concern for children than adults because of their size, but alcohol poisoning can happen by inhaling fumes and putting your hands into your mouth before it dries up. This can happen on an accumulative basis as it means it won’t happen if you were to ingest a small amount of it or sniff it once. But over time, alcohol poisoning is a risk if it keeps happening.
The best thing to do is to wash your hands with soap and water and only use hand sanitizer when you must. Try not to use it on a daily basis if you can help it because there are these risks associated with it if you do.
