Avoiding Germs - Quirky Techniques

I don't do any of this except the same in the bathroom. My entire family is rarely sick and we do NOT vaccinate OR get flu shots. My dtr is in 6th grade and has missed 3 days of school....ever...and has not thrown up since she was a baby, my son, same thing. Hubby and I get head colds here and there but never the flu. I do keep a bottle of hand sanitizer that sits in my dashboard of the van and I will pass it around after we leave a store. But other than this, and all of us taking daily multivitamins and Omega 3's, we don't do anything else.

The way we prevent getting sick is we take general precautions against germs and we keep our immune systems boosted with vitamins, healthy foods, exercise and we try to handle our stress. We also stay home if we are sick to avoid spreading our germs.

I hate to tell you, but germs are EVERYWHERE! They are in the air, they are on your clothes, on your hair. The reason you get sick ISN'T because you touched germs. It's because your immune system is down due to stress or poor diet.

If germs were the ONLY factor in getting sick, then why is it that certain people in your family can catch a cold but not the others? Is it just because those people didn't "touch the germs?" How ridiculous! Many illnesses are airborne anyway.

I wash my hands before teaching, after teaching, after using the restroom (of course!), before & during cooking and after eating etc. I usually SIT on public restroom toilets!! THE HORROR! I touch the door handle when I leave! I take reasonable precautions, I'm not going to lick the door handle or eat gum off the street.

The best thing you can do is handle your body--not the germs. They are EVERYWHERE! We like Emergen-C as an immune system booster in the winter. Your bodies usually need extra vitamin C during cold and flu season.

We are not sick very often in our family. We get the occasional cold, maybe 2 times a year. And usually it's only one of us, not all 3.

If taking your precautions makes you feel better, then by all means do it. But taking care of your mental health and keeping your body strong really are the best things you can do about illnesses.

I don't avoid germs period. No sanitizer, no antimicrobial soap. I don't wipe anything. Hand washing after the bathroom and after coming in from playing outside. That's it.

Regular exposure to germs is important for the immune system - if you are hyper-hygienic you are at higher risk for developing allergies and autoimmune disorders AND you are more likely to get sick and for your illness to get more serious - because your immune system is "asleep". Use it or lose it - that's how biology works!

We are rarely sick and have not had to see a doc for illness in years (and that with a 4 year old!).
Good luck.

I don't use triclosan soaps or hand sanitizer, I don't wipe down shopping carts, phones, doorknobs, or light switches, I sit on public toilet seats, I don't use paper towels to touch bathroom surfaces, I let the dogs lick my face. We evolved in a germ-filled environment, and it's constantly trying to avoid contact with any germs at all that weakens our immune systems and makes us more vulnerable to illness. Basically, I wash my hands with plain soap and warm water after using the bathroom or cleaning the litter boxes, and before cooking or eating.
Germs are everywhere, and there are very few potentially fatal germs that can be picked up by casual contact.

Honestly, I don't do anything...other then wash my hands, of course. I just got sick this week for the first time in I don't even know how many years. A decade? It works for me. My son also got sick for the first time ever (2.5 years old) but only felt bad for a day or two. Not that I purposefully place us around sick people, or don't use common sense...but we need germs to build antibodies. I do keep Clean Well hand sanitizer with us, so if anyone around us in public seems not well. That's about it!

Th best thing we can go to avoid sickness, of thoroughly was hands, cough into elbows, and don't go out when sick...so that we don't spread our own germs!

Handwashing is our number one prevention method. This means every time we come into the house (from pretty much anywhere except a walk) we automatically wash hands. Keeping Kiddo's hands out of his mouth is one we are working on.

I pack a fair amount of cloth napkins (2 per person) for us to use when we are out and about with snacks and lunches. This provides a clean placemat at public tables and a clean napkin for faces. I use wipes for hands before a meal if there isn't a place to go wash up.

I use the 'elbow for the door' trick a lot, out and about. Or pull my sleeve over my hand if necessary (some places here have air dryers for hands instead of paper towels).

When I had my preschool, the kids used cloth wipers I'd made for drying their hands. One wiper per visit. This ensured germs weren't passed around, and I washed the handles of the taps a couple times a day.

Also, people don't always remember, but teaching kids (and other adults in our lives) to cover their coughs and sneezes *inside their elbow and not using their hand* is important. So often, kids might use a tissue too late but not wash their hands; many viruses are droplet-borne, so catching the majority of the droplets on the inside of the elbow naturally decreases the risk of passing along the virus.

And my husband is an IT guy, which means he's touching other people's keyboards on a daily basis. He washes his hands directly after working on someone's computer, because keyboards are disgusting. And we all get vaccinated for the Flu each year. Perhaps we are germaphobes? I can live with that...

Nothing quirky, I just keep hand sanitizer in my purse for me and the kids when we are out and can't wash our hands.

I don't use the paper towel trick in bathrooms or the salt shaker thing or elevator thing. I haven't gotten sick yet. Like Bug said, we build up immunity by being exposed. Not that I intentionally try to get exposed.

I personally think people worry too much about germs to the point that we will get to a place where even the smallest germ will hurt us. We need to be exposed to everyday germs.

Funny--I have done all that you mention above (except calling out my floor in the elevator. That is just plain rude to me, and I ignore people who do that. I have a whole different soap box on elevator etiquette.), and I think that it all makes sense. My baby likes to chew on my elbow, so I am careful where I lean. I'm nursing, so when I use the toilet, I lift the lid with tissue so I don't touch my clothes with toilet hands. At work, I use a paper towel to close and open the door, and I rub my shoes on the carpet outside the restroom and spray Lysol on my shoes and the carpet around my desk. I keep gloves in my car for when my husband refuels. My husband is annoyed with me right now because once he takes a sip of my bottled water, it's his, unless I am prepared to drink it right away. I just don't like closing someone else's germs up in the bottle. I wash my eggs before cracking them. My husband washes off anything that is new to our refrigerator, at my request. I'm more relaxed about this now that he's older, but the baby's got separate dishes and could use no others. I don't like other people handling my baby's toys. (My 17yoSS likes to play with his little ball when he watches TV--tossing it into the air, rolling it around--and I can't stand it.)

Another post reminded me: I keep my keyboard and mouse disinfected. When the IT guys comes, I redo it. I hate signing for packages using those things that everybody in the world has used (like the credit card machines in stores). Sometimes I just don't sign. Sometimes I use gloves. I don't mind if I'm gonna wash my hands right after, but if I've just come from the restroom...NO, NO, NO. I use napkins to handle the doorknobs at the stairwell. I always have my own pen. I do not let other people handle my phone. Cell phone--no, you may not use it. When I show off pics on my cell phone, I do not allow people to touch it. They say that cell phones are super dirty, but not mine. I even alcohol it down at the end fo the day, sometimes during the day, depending on the day. When I was at home with a brand new baby, my husband was not allowed to use my laptop unless he washed his hands first.

Like I said, I'm not afraid of germs. i just think that it's gross to touch where everybody else has touched. And my immune system is out of this world.

Daily probiotics for the whole family. And we all use the NeilMed sinus rinse whenever we feel "off". And I use paper towels in bathrooms and at the gas station (for the gas pump) to avoid touching other people's germs.

I try my hardest not to touch stuff directly out in public. I will use my coat sleeves.

I also will not use my fingers to hit elevator buttons, light switches or anything else that requires finger touches. I use my foot to flush the toilets and will use my elbows for bathroom doors if I have too. I have been known to do the paper towel on the knob thing as well.

I actually am a clinically diagnosed Germa-phobe(not the medical term....but for spelling sake). So these may sound nuts, but it is how my brain allows me to function.

I also wash my hands constantly.

I do not share anything, when it comes to food and drinks.

I do not kiss my kids on the mouth, in fact the only one I do kiss on the mouth(no tongue)is my husband.

I feel like a nut when I type all this out...but I am SO used to it, that it is just apart of my daily life and who I am.

We've had a lot of problems with skin infections, so I like all these ideas for keeping germs away! Talk to someone who's had MRSA, or a similar hard to treat infection or who's had C-diff after taking antibiotics for a skin infection and they wont call you paranoid for trying to keep your hands extra clean!

Hand washing! And I do the paper towel for the faucets and door handles.
I'm amazed at the people that pee n' go! (no hand washing at all!)

And I always flush a public toilet with my foot or with tp.

and I have been known to push revolving doors with my sleeved arm.

I am not really a germaphobe at all, but I will flush public toilets using my foot instead of my hand. I still wash my hands after. I will touch anything else, but I am really diligent about washing my hands.

I sneeze/cough into the inside bend on my arm and teach all kids to do the same it's polite. A sneeze/cough can travel approximately 20 feet and a dirty kleenex can have live bacteria for a week come on people let's be polite