Hand Sanitisers and Immunity

In the Indian market, it was not easy to locate a hand sanitiser few years back. Today, common brands like Dettol and Himalaya have come up with their own versions of Hand Sanitisers. I have seen people, especially cleanliness freaks, using hand sanitisers as a full-time solution. They even carry miniature versions along with them in their purse. However, fulltime use of an alcohol-based hand sanitiser might prove that you are not using your common sense when needed. It is just like using a calculator to find out 1+1, when you dont need it to do such a simple calculation.

Then
During our school days, parents would insist us to wash our hands before touching the food after returning from the play ground or school. The is age-old option is the best and nothing can replace this practice.

Next, came the era of anti-bacterial soaps. I prefer to use an anti-bacterial soap on my wounds rather than as a daily-use soap for hand and body wash. However, the handwash bottle at my sink is an anti-bacterial one - which was not intentional. The benefit of using an anti-bacterial soap is that it does kills the harmful germs, but killing the harmful germs is not going to grant you immunity. Contrary to what we think, it decreases the immunity of our body. You need to be exposed to harmful germs to develop immunity against them. I remember my uncle saying that you shuld not drink boiled water all the time; it will hamper your immunity.

I also remember my little cousins coming down from USA and falling sick all the time. So the aboe theory stands correct in such cases. US, being a cleaner and germ-free place when compared to India, is not contributing much to the immunity of people who live there. Maybe they dont realise that as long as they stay there. In short, I must say that coming to India will give people from such cleaner countries a check on immunity :D.

I fell sick continously when I had moved to Mumbai 4 years back. The same theory applies here too - Bangalore being a cleaner place left me with less options to fall sick with contaminated food and water, whereas Mumbai was the other extreme. This also points to the fact that people born and brought up in Mumbai, who thrive on street food, manage to stay fine amidst all sorts of contamination - Rock-solid immunity in a way!

Avoid Overuse
Using hand sanitisers won't boost your immunity nor grant you a disease-free life, but if you have been to public places like malls or theatres, carrying a handsanitiser is useful as it helps in killing harmful viruses and even prevents the spread of it. Moreover, it comes handly when you cannot find water to wash your hands when needed.

Nowadays, hand sanitiser companies are taking advantage of the swine flue scare and other such aliments that can be contracted from public places. But using a hand sanitiser as a full-time option, especially on kids is not advised as it may lead to other side effects. Kids who bite nails or lick their fingers can consume the product and in the long term, it may cause other health problems.

To get the best results, rub a small amount of the product on your hands and allow it to dry completely, and remember, never overuse a handsanitiser. Trust our good old soap and water!