Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, everyone and their mother is doing everything they can to keep their distance from others, avoid touching their face, and maintain squeaky-clean hands.
For many, that involves applying gobs upon gobs of hand sanitiser. But can too much of a good thing turn into a potentially unhealthy thing?
There are various theories speculating that OD’ing on hand sanitiser could lead to everything from the creation of viruses or pathogens that be killed by sanitiser or antibiotics to the idea that by using hand sanitiser all the time you’re reducing your body’s own ability to fight disease.
But there is no evidence to support those claims.
So to separate some hand sanitiser fact versus fiction, here’s everything you need to know about whether or not hand sanitiser could have negative effects on your health and immunity if you use it too often, with the help of Dr. Anne Liu, an infectious disease doctor and allergist/immunologist at Stanford Medicine.
Tell me: Is using a lot of hand sanitiser bad for my immunity?
Dr. Liu says there’s no such thing as washing your hands or using alcohol-based hand sanitiser too often during this pandemic. “There’s no scientific basis to think that hand sanitisers or soaps should affect one’s immune system or affect bacterial resistance,” she says. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends using a hand sanitiser with at least 60 percent alcohol when soap and water aren’t available, both in general and to protect against COVID-19.
The CDC also states: “Using alcohol-based hand sanitiser does not cause antibiotic resistance. … Alcohol-based hand sanitisers kill germs quick and in a different way than antibiotics. There is no chance for the germs to adapt or develop resistance.”
One way disinfecting your hands can leave you susceptible to pathogens is through its drying effect: “I have seen that some people’s hand-washing habits have left them with dry, cracked skin, and that can predispose to bacteria invading into the skin,” says Dr. Liu. “But as long as the skin barrier is intact, this shouldn’t be an issue.”
Which Is Better Protection Against COVID-19: Gloves Or Hand Washing, Or Both?
The easy solution here? Moisturise! Oh, and don’t just replace hand washing or hand sanitising with wearing gloves in public — they’re not an equal substitute. Gloves are just a barrier method, and can give you a false sense of security. “I see people out in public wearing gloves and touching all kinds of stuff at the grocery store, and then using the same gloves to adjust their glasses and dial on their phones,” says Dr. Liu.
If you do wear gloves out, you still need to avoid touching your face, wash your hands after using them, and disinfect the things you did touch while you had the gloves on, like your keys.
But I’ve heard embracing a germy world can be good for immunity. What’s the deal?
Again, there’s no such thing as cleaning your hands too much right now, says Dr. Liu. The convo about how germs are good for you derives from the hygiene hypothesis, which is the idea that exposing people, and in particular kids, to germs allows their immune systems to properly develop and helps them avoid health issues like asthma and allergies. Basically: This theory says it’s possible to clean and disinfect , that doing so could have detrimental effects on people’s health over time. But this doesn’t apply to the current pandemic situation, despite the misconceptions.
Do Disinfectant Wipes Really Kill Germs Effectively?
Here’s the thing: Regardless of where you come down on the five-second rule in the regular world, the current world is a totally different beast — don’t test the hygiene hypothesis by exposing yourself to COVID-19.
So can I keep sanitising my hands as I see fit?
You bet. Dr. Liu says to keep up the handwashing and hand sanitising, which are both excellent at killing COVID-19. “I don’t think that people need to worry too much about over-hand sanitising or washing their hands too much, as long as they’re taking care of their skin,” she says.
