Am I the only one...

[j]

who....won't touch any door handle or knob in a public restroom?

Does anybody else use elbows, forearms, or feet to flush the urinals?

I just got to thinking after posting on a Michael Moore thread (it makes me sick to think about the germs multiplying on his filthy body). if anybody else is on the "cautious" side when it comes to public restrooms.

Another...After washing my hands, I never dispense the paper towels with clean hand. Its either elbows or I drip dry.

Then there's the door to get out. If I time it right, somebody else gets the door, if I'm on my own, I slip my hand inside my sleeve before grabbing diseased handle.

OK...Now tell me I have another phobia to add to my list

[Yankeegirl]

When I flush the toilet at a public restroom, I flush it with my foot.... i never touch the doors, and I let my hands drip dry...

[j]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew it would take another Yankee!

[GalvestonDuck]

Ditto on all counts.

[j]

Interesting.....because I can tell you this much..I was thinking about this on my trip home from Chicago. I was in an Ohara airport restroom, and trust me, I was the only one in the row of urinals that I saw use a little "caution". (not that I was looking up and down...had to say that before chad did .

[SouthernWx]

Yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew it would take another Yankee!

I'm a southerner and am the same way...use my elbow or foot to flush the toilet. I saw what hepatitis did to my aunt Ruby (ended her life), so I'm extremely cautious when using public restrooms. Most times, I use a paper towel to open the bathroom door after washing my hands...because some use the restroom and don't wash their hands afterwords.

[Amanzi]

Im guilty of being a foot flusher, in fact I have passed the habbit onto my son, who now foot flushes at home as well

Oh speaking of public rest rooms. I only let my son use the ladies room when he goes shopping with me. I cant take the cart into the restroom and the baby is usually in the cart, so it gets difficult. I usually peek in first then send him in while I wait outside. I just feel it is safer to send little ones into the ladies than the men's. Maybe Im neurotic, but it puts my mind at ease a little.

[Deenac813]

I flush the toliet with my foot, wash my hands, shut the water off with a paper towel and use the paper towel to open the door. I have seen too many people not wash their hands! UGH!

[southerngale]

I flush the toliet with my foot, wash my hands, shut the water off with a paper towel and use the paper towel to open the door. I have seen too many people not wash their hands! UGH!

That's exactly what I do too. I'll do anything to avoid touching the faucets and door handle after I wash my hands. And then after I leave the restroom, I use hand sanitizer that I keep in my purse. lol

[coriolis]

Same here. Even at work. I wash my hands and then use the paper towel to open the door. I hate those electric hand dryers because there's no paper towel.

[streetsoldier]

"It's a jungle out there..."

[Brent]

I hate those electric hand dryers because there's no paper towel.

So do I.

[azskyman]

Well...I do my best not to use railings when going up and down steps, and in bathrooms, use the back of my hand to flush and open doors with push down handles.

My wife brings along some of the moist hand wipes when we travel. We've been known to wash the food trays on the back of the seat in front of us when flying.

Try as we do, we occasionally get a bug...but it is not because we are careless about public cleanliness.

After a year in Vietnam without running water or toilets...I have since had a great appreciation for them when needed in public, but some are mighty nasty.

[Goofzilla]

yeah, i do all these things, I use papertowels to open public restroom doors, etc. it's disgusting if you think about it.

[Anonymous]

I try to flush the urinals as fast as I can with just a little bit of my hand. I flush the public toliets with my foot. I wash my hands and use towels and then push open the door with my shoulder or just open it.

[Jupiter]

I don't even touch the faucet to turn the water off with my bare hands...If your hands were dirty when you turned the faucet on, you left germs there and if you use your hands to turn it off, you might as well not washed them. I don't touch ANY door handles, those same people who touch the bathroom doors and leave them filthy also touch the entrance and exit door to the building the bathroom is in. The best bet is to touch nothing in the restroom and bring your own hand sanitizer or hand wipes. When you get back to your car and out of areas touched by people like Michael Mooron use the hand sanitizer.BTW the paper toilet seat covers have all kinds of bacteria on them , when people flush the fecal matter and bacteria fly through the air and the next paper toilet seat cover is right above the toilet. You touch it and it is now on your hands.
My husband used to laugh at me, now he agrees. He used to have a cold 2-3 times a year and the flu once a year. Now even without a flu shot he hasn't had a cold or flu the entire time we have been together (6 years)

[MGC]

I hate using public restrooms. The thought of breathing the mist of a just flushed toilet makes me sick. I wonder how many germs are in the mist of a just flushed toilet?........MGC

[SouthernWx]

Thank goodness the public restrooms at the local Wal-Mart here in Douglasville and at Arbor Place mall are automated...they flush automatically as you leave, the water in faucets comes on if you place your hands underneath, and there are no doors (restrooms are reached by curved hallways so no one can see inside).

[streetsoldier]

Other than judicious personal hygiene, these things do not cause me undue concern. If I survive, fine...if not, it doesn't matter anyway.

[GalvestonDuck]

I don't even touch the faucet to turn the water off with my bare hands...If your hands were dirty when you turned the faucet on, you left germs there and if you use your hands to turn it off, you might as well not washed them. I don't touch ANY door handles, those same people who touch the bathroom doors and leave them filthy also touch the entrance and exit door to the building the bathroom is in. The best bet is to touch nothing in the restroom and bring your own hand sanitizer or hand wipes. When you get back to your car and out of areas touched by people like Michael Mooron use the hand sanitizer.BTW the paper toilet seat covers have all kinds of bacteria on them , when people flush the fecal matter and bacteria fly through the air and the next paper toilet seat cover is right above the toilet. You touch it and it is now on your hands.
My husband used to laugh at me, now he agrees. He used to have a cold 2-3 times a year and the flu once a year. Now even without a flu shot he hasn't had a cold or flu the entire time we have been together (6 years)

Those hand sanitizers aren't always the best bet and we discouraged their use in the ER. It's better to use a clean paper towel to turn off the faucet after washing your hands and to open the door. Soap, water, and vigourous rubbing of the hands was the best bet to kill germs and cleanse the skin.

The problem with hand sanitizers is that the harsh chemicals in them also strip your skin of oils that keep the hands from drying and cracking. Some people have reactions like eczema and dermatitis. Those conditions, as well as simple cracking of the skin, only serves to open it up to more infection. Furthermore, most of them are anti-bacterial and do nothing to kill viruses like hepatitis and the flu. Finally, the jury is still out on whether overuse of antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers does that same as overuse of antibiotics -- helps the bacteria build an resistance to it and become stronger, superbugs. The "last resort" antibiotic Vancomycin is now no longer effective against certain strains of enterococci. Many hospital-acquired staph aureus infections are resistant to all antibiotics except Vancomycin, but it's only a matter of time.

Once we run out of antibiotics to fight diseases, what are we going to do?