But Don Schaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers, has been studying hand washing for years and says the conventional wisdom on hand hygiene shouldn't be ignored. "It doesn't matter whether you're peeing or you're pooping, you should wash your hands," he told Business Insider.
When you urinate, bacteria from feces may spread onto your hands. If you won't wash them, you could contaminate anything you touch, Ken Galinger writes.
The importance of hand-washing
coli and norovirus (just to name a few) can get onto your hands after using the toilet or changing a diaper — and then, in turn, onto other things. “You can leave the bathroom with twice the bacteria on your hands as when you entered,” Dr. Allan says.
The same goes with not washing hands after toilet use. If you don't, you can transfer any germs or parasites, either in your system or left in the bathroom by someone else, to other people you encounter.
Over half (58%) of US adults say they always wash their hands with soap after going to the restroom at home. A quarter (25%) say they wash with soap most of the time after a trip to the bathroom at home, while 10% do this some of the time and 4 percent rarely do.
Should guys wipe after they pee? While most men are content with shaking after they pee, it's a good idea to make a small wipe or dab to ensure that there is no remaining urine. This will help keep your urethra and your undies clean!
Is The Water In The Toilet Dirty? The water in your toilet bowl is actually clean. Sure, it is full of bacteria, but that is because it contains sewage—which, by definition, is wastewater that contains human waste. However, the water itself is relatively clean and poses no health risk.
Hand washing protects your health by helping to remove dirt and germs that get on your hands during almost any activity. If you don't wash your hands, the germs on your hands can get into your mouth, nose, eyes, cuts and scrapes, even your food, and make you sick.
You don't need to wash your hands after literally EVERY time you go to pee. Poop? Yeah, makes sense to wash after that. Wash your hands throughout the day in general because it's good to do.
'When men use the toilet they often use fewer 'touch-points' than women – for example if they are just using a urinal – they won't be needing to flush a toilet or lock a toilet door. So they can end up thinking there aren't really that many germs for them to be taking outside.
You see, when you don't clean yourself down there after peeing, the urine droplets stuck in your pubes get transferred to your underwear. This gives rise to a foul odour. Moreover, it also gives birth to bacteria in your underwear, increasing the risk of urinary tract infections (UTI).
Some people may think that not flushing a toilet may be beneficial. They might consider toilet flushing less sanitary and a waste of water and money. However, flushing a toilet after using it plays a role in helping keep people healthy and adding to cleanliness. US Environmental Protection Agency.
Hand sanitizer is better than nothing, but do your best to wash with soap and water every time you've used the restroom, sneezed, coughed, or blown your nose. You should also wash with soap and water before you eat or prepare food for anyone else.
To keep yourself healthy, make sure that you or your partner always wash your hands before engaging in any sexual acts involving the hands. And after you're done, be sure to urinate to flush out any bacteria that might have made its way inside.
“The rationale is that when toileting, it's possible to have fecal material and fecal bacteria get onto your hands,” Ellison told Dollar Shave Club. “So it's wisest to always wash with soap and water even after urinating.
Yes, You Still Need to Wash Your Hands When You Use the Bathroom at Home. Here's how to do it right. We all know the drill: After you use the bathroom, you wash your hands. But we're willing to guess that in the comfort of your own home, you've skipped this important post-pee step.
You should wash your hands: after using the toilet or changing a nappy. before and after handling raw foods like meat and vegetables. before eating or handling food.
Nonetheless, evidence suggests that washing hands for about 15-30 seconds removes more germs from hands than washing for shorter periods 15, 17, 18.
One USDA study found that up to 97% of people don't wash their hands correctly. Only 3% of USDA study participants washed their hands correctly. While 58% of people wash with soap and water, very few people wash their hands for long enough.
Scientific studies show that you need to scrub for 20 seconds to remove harmful germs and chemicals from your hands. If you wash for a shorter time, you will not remove as many germs. Make sure to scrub all areas of your hands, including your palms, backs of your hands, between your fingers, and under your fingernails.
Pathogens are not transmitted via skin contact
Even if many public restrooms do not look inviting - sitting on toilet seats cannot transfer germs if the skin is intact. Admittedly, sanitary conditions are not inviting in many public restrooms.
Your local Clearwater plumber assures homeowners that water from the toilet bowl cannot back up into the tank; water in the tank is just as clean as water from a faucet. If you clean the bowl and flush it several times, even the water in the bowl will be clean.
But in an emergency, the Red Cross says you can also get water from your hot water tank, your pipes, ice cubes in your freezer, and, as a last resort, the reservoir tank of your toilet (not the bowl).
The nervous system releases neurotransmitters in the body called catecholamines in an effort to restore blood pressure. This creates a mixed signal between the two components of the sympathetic nervous system, which causes you to shiver when you pee.