Washing of Hands after Bathroom Call

[gallahadesquire]

And, unless you know some magic way to have sex I don't know of, those same genitals are soon going to be your hands or mouth or heaven knows where. The guy's hands are the least thing I'd be worried about, but then I'm the poster child for anti-germophobia.

 

anti-germophobia? You're against germophobes?

[+ Gar1eth]

On A Different But Related Subject

 

This talk of washing hands after using the Necessary Room has reminded me of something. So here is a story and my PSA for you-and I'm not referring to prostates. In my almost hometown in the early 80's my Dad and about 50 other people developed Hepatitis A from a cook or salad bar server who didn't wash his hands- or didn't wash his hands well enough after doing #2. So I wanted to remind everyone that as men who have sex with men (MSM's in the medical, sociological, and public health jargon) we should all be getting vaccinated for Hepatitis A and Hepatitis B. My Dad was sick as a dog with Hepatitis A for weeks.

 

Gman

[AdamSmith]

http://d24w6bsrhbeh9d.cloudfront.net/photo/anYqevq_460s.jpg

[Steven_Draker]

Interesting graph by Adam Smith.

 

I'm curious to why he didn't wash his hands:

- he was thinking it wasn't necessary

- he forgot/was distracted

- he was being too lazy

- some other cause

...

[Phil_musc]

Actually the older I get the less I care what somebody who happens to be in the restroom (love that euphemism) with me might think as to whether or not I wash my hands. As has been pointed out earlier here, urine is sterile - if I dribble a bit on myself during the process, isn't it just possible that my hands might be cleaner at that point than they were when I began the operation? There have actually been times when using a public facility at McDonald's or some other such place devoted to haute cuisine that I've been known to wash my hands BEFORE I whip it out to take care of business. I didn't want to get French fry grease on my equipment. But then when some stud trucker saw me doing this and said, "Hey, Bud, I'll suck you off if you leave a little ketchup on it," well, that was all the inspiration I needed to give up in this silly procedure. Of course, when McDonald's took all the paper towel dispensers out in the name of cleaner restrooms and environmental protection, well that just made washing off the French fry grease too cumbersome and inconvenient. Now I look on it as leaving a condiment on the hot dog for the next lucky guy who wants to sample my wares. Guys have been so grateful, I've been written up on walls and on the Trucker/cocksucker Gazette - most flavorful cock of the month club. I've had my fifteen minutes of fame. Really, you all should pay attention here - think of it as my tip of the month to you all.

 

Now about that Hand-sanitiser - don't get me started on what that is doing to thousands of years of building up immunity. Go ahead, Francois, take a walk on the wild side. Ditch the hand-sanitiser and let your body develop it's own defenses to bacteria. You'll be glad you did.

[tom1980]

The idea that urine is sterile is a myth. See, for example, the following article from the Journal of Clinical Microbiology: http://jcm.asm.org/content/50/4/1376

 

For those looking for a simplified explanation, this article is good: http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/2012/09/24/mommy-why-do-i-need-to-wash-my-hands-if-i-only-pee/

 

I especially like the following pictorial explanation (from the second article) of why one should wash his hands after using the restroom:

 

http://www.mindthesciencegap.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/goatargument1.png

[corndog]

Although we're taught to wash our hands for our own health, I think it is really something we do for society as a whole. If we were doing it for our own health, it would probably make much more sense to wash before using the toilet. However, for the health of society, we have a social contract to wash our hands afterwards. It really isn't that important exactly when people are expected to wash, just that people wash often.

 

It's like the tradition of changing your smoke detector batteries whenever daylight savings begins or ends -- there isn't anything magical about those dates for smoke detectors, but regimenting the process ensures that it gets done.

[traveler1954]

As a surgeon, I know you are quite right. But sometimes the act of washing hands and using a paper towel to touch environmental surfaces takes care of the germ situatiom as well as the perceived adherence to standards of cleanliness.

 

 

 

Depending on my perceived "cleanliness" of a public restroom, I usually do not wash my hands after peeing.. I think my wee-wee is cleaner than touching public faucets, wet sinks and exit door handles.

[gallahadesquire]

The idea that urine is sterile is a myth. See, for example, the following article from the Journal of Clinical Microbiology: http://jcm.asm.org/content/50/4/1376

 

This is about female bladders. Male urine is almost universally sterile.

Reason? Different plumbing.