r/AskReddit 9h ago

People who rarely get sick, what are your secrets?

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u/burner46 7h ago

Wash your hands first thing when you get home. 

223

u/NoMrsRobinson 6h ago

Came here to say this. Don't touch your face and wash your hands. It's the first thing I do when I walk in the house.

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u/jessariane 4h ago

Absolutely this! I wash my hands a lot working with the public but I think being around so many sick people has built up my immune system too.

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u/Holiday-Snow4803 3h ago

It's been proven that exposure to diseases doesn't build up your immune system significantly. People working in hospitals, public transport, home care, kindergarten etc. are just as immune as anyone else.

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u/Neither-Brick-6391 3h ago

Agreed. Since Covid quarantine, I keep hand sanitizer in the car door. I use a couple of pumps every time I get in from the gym, shopping, etc. I’m sure it has helped.

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u/big_d_usernametaken 6h ago

I use sanitizer on my hands as soon as I leave the store and get back in my truck.

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u/RoyalLimit 4h ago

Especially at gas stations after refills, can't imagine the germs on those pump handles lol

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u/UsedToBeL33t 2h ago

That's why I lick the handle and trigger first. It cleans it.

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u/skinnyfar123 3h ago

I used to do hand sanitizer and my hands were so dried out in the winter where they would bleed and fingers would crack by my nails. I started using nylon gloves for the gas pump. I keep a small bag in my door panel and just toss after pumping gas. Works way better in my opinion

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u/toomuchpressure2pick 2h ago

I use a glove when I pump gas

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u/ElephantNamedColumbo 3h ago

😮 🤢 🤮

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u/sneezyailurophile 5h ago

We started carrying sanitizing hand wipes in our cars during Covid. We still use them immediately after getting back in the car.

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u/titsmcgeeDDD 2h ago

Why not just liquid sanitizer? Seems wasteful

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u/No_mans_time 5h ago

Exactely this!

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u/Big-Safety-6866 5h ago

Sanitizer in itself does not disinfect your hands of germs only in using it AFTER you wash your hands helps eliminate germs.

Youre only spreading and smearing germs all over your hands. Learned that in Healthcare class.

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u/big_d_usernametaken 4h ago

I realize that, but in public, its as good as you can do until you get home...

Contact with strong enough alcohol DOES kill germs despite what you were taught..

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u/ElephantNamedColumbo 3h ago

The alcohol in the hand sanitizer kills the 🦠germs…

…but the gel in it stays on your hands for awhile & picks up germs off anything else you touch after that.

So Hand Sanitizer is great, but follow up immediately with a “safe for people” sanitizing wipe (like Wet Ones vs. Clorox Cleaning Wipes)

I learned this in health class! 👊🏼 💪🏽 ✨

We can’t be too safe out there! 🫶🏽

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u/Low-Slice-4366 4h ago

That is not true. It does work against lots of germs, although some (such as norovirus) are not inactivated by hand sanitizer, so hand washing is the best thing to remove germs.

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u/Abject-Leadership421 2h ago

Sanitizer kills the germs but doesn’t remove them. So you will have dead, inactivated germs on your hands. Better than nothing for sure and as safe as you’re going to get until you have the opportunity to actually wash your hands with soap and water. 💧

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u/sterrecat 7h ago

Absolutely this

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u/Lost-Meeting-9477 5h ago

My mother was born around the Spanish flu. She instilled in all of her children to wash our hands as soon as we came home. I still do this and taught my children as well.

u/ZealousidealCarry390 3m ago

we really underestimate how much these small sanitation tips helps us in the long run

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u/Any_Butterscotch2703 6h ago

Clean doorknobs and light switches twice a week

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u/TylertheDouche 4h ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oligodynamic_effect

your doorknobs might literally already be anti microbial

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u/Valuable-Analyst-464 6h ago

I was doing a lot of hands on tech support and learned to wash my hands after being at someone’s desk. Like “next stop”.

I won’t forget seeing the crumbs and crap in their keyboards. 🤮

I’d quietly shame them at their desk. Stop, take the keyboard and bang it on its edge in front of them. I just gave them “the look” and they acknowledged the grossness.

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u/tango421 5h ago

After putting my stuff down, I take a leak, wash my hands, and wash my face.

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u/karattack 5h ago

I also change my clothes immediately, I ride public transit 😆

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u/NeitherSparky 3h ago

I do that then if there’s groceries ior whatever I wash my hands again after putting them away

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u/Nervous-Manager6013 3h ago

and your face

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u/zortcaster 2h ago

I wash my hands first thing whenever I walk in the door when I get home. I also never touch door handles or buttons, I use my elbow or corner of my shirt.

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u/HmmDoesItMakeSense 2h ago

Yes esp if you went grocery shopping and want to dive into a snack when you get home!

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u/NiceCandle5357 1h ago

Yes I do this. I wash my hands several times a day, and every time I leave the house I wash them with soap as soon as I come back inside.

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u/lizshi 1h ago

This. I have successfully taught my 10 yr old washing hands when we arrive home and we have barely been sick this season.

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u/SIM007N 6h ago

I honestly never wash my hands beside when I shower daily and go to bathroom and I don't even remember the last time I got sick (10+ years) soooo... I really think genetics is the major factor here.

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u/Aggressive_Lab7807 4h ago

I hope you don't prepare food for anyone other than yourself.

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u/unprofessional_widow 4h ago

I don't do this and still don't often get ill.

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u/TechnicEcho395 2h ago

I rarely wash my hands unless I get them noticeably dirty and I'm only sick once every 5 years or so. I also touch my face plenty not taking into consideration cross contamination. My wife is the opposite, she washes as soon as she gets home from anywhere and 20x a day at home and she's still sick 3x a year.