Hand Sanitizing
The purpose of developing a strong immune system is to have a strong line of defense should your body be exposed to certain bacteria, viruses, germs, etc. Obviously we should take the necessary actions to bolster our immune systems as much as possible. However, there are also some front-line defense methods we can use that can help reduce the chances of our bodies even being exposed to these microorganisms in the first place.
Washing your hands with soap and water is one of the best ways to avoid contaminating yourself with these harmful organisms that you have come into contact with. Soap and water may not always be readily available so in those situations it is highly recommended that you use follow a practice of hand sanitizing. Simply spritz some anti-bacterial spray or gel onto your hands and rub it around on your hands until it dries.
Some people think that being too persistent with their hand washing and hand sanitizing efforts will cause their immune system to not be able to build up a resistance to these sicknesses because it is never exposed to them. My personal opinion is that you can never completely avoid interaction with germs, bacteria, and viruses since you can’t control all the people around you. If they sneeze or cough around you those organisms could become airborn and still enter your nasal passages where they can infect you with a flu or cold. By continuously washing your hands and using a good hand sanitizer you simply reduce the number of these exposures that you receive by not physically introducing the germs into your nose yourself by touching it with contaminated hands.
To summarize, you can’t go wrong by washing your hands with soap and water frequently and especially when you know you have been in a contact with an infected person or in a high risk area (school/office/etc.). If you don’t have access to soap and water it definitely won’t hurt you to use a hand sanitizing product in those situations.
