Anti-bacterial shower gels

sillyvixen

the last time i had surgery a surgical nurse friend of the family suggested using a tea tree shower gel for a week or so before - as it is a more nateral antibacterial product and better for the skin than the harsher chemical antibacterials on the market.. i got mine from the healthfood shop - it was a bit pricey compared to what i would usually use in the shower - but i reasoned it it cuts the risk of MRSA it's a small price to pay... sadly i cant remeber the name of what i used.

ailuro2

Thanks for this - I hadn't noticed this - I go into hopital in a few weeks just for a day, or maybe overnight, have already got anti bac wipes and hand gel, but didn't know about this.

got-it-spend-it

The Body Shop do a Tea Tree body wash http://www.thebodyshop.co.uk/_en/_gb/catalog/product.aspx?ParentCatCode=C_SkinCare&CatCode=C_SkinCare_Cleansers&prdcode=58334m

melancholly

Ruby_Moon wrote: »

Having a shower in bleach wouldn't stop people with Swine Flu passing it on!! Flu viruses can't be washed off and they don't reduce in strength because you happen to have taken a shower in antibacterial soap.
What about all the visitors too? Do they need to go through a decontamination room first?
I have never heard of anything so ridiculous and of a waste of time in my life.
Which area is this?

right - umm, i'm confused. i thought the whole point of washing hands was to prevent transmission.... that's what the NHS website and their adverts say.

their is enough of a risk from visitors for bring any infection in (mainly bacterial) for most hospital wards to ask them to use an alcohol gel before entering. so yes, visitors do need to be careful not to bring in infections too. this isn't new and it isn't news, it's just sensible!

pelirocco

melancholly wrote: »

right - umm, i'm confused. i thought the whole point of washing hands was to prevent transmission.... that's what the NHS website and their adverts say.

their is enough of a risk from visitors for bring any infection in (mainly bacterial) for most hospital wards to ask them to use an alcohol gel before entering. so yes, visitors do need to be careful not to bring in infections too. this isn't new and it isn't news, it's just sensible!

Because people tend to sneeze into their hands , plus germs from tissues etc . If someone had swine flu they wouldnt be having an operation anyway

Bronnie

I did query this at the beginning of the thread, hence post 2, then deleted my post as it wasn't really what the OP was asking!!

It seems a bit futile to me to wash yourself for a week with anti-bacterial soap prior to admission, if you haven't done the same to the clothing and bed linen that your skin then comes immediately back into contact with!!

There's a big difference betweeen the obviously common sense practice of hand washing as appropriate and this idea though.

I'm not having 'a go' at the profession here by any means, but one of the things that genuinely never fails to surprise me is that hospital nursing staff wear their uniforms to travel to work and to go home in. When my daughter was admitted to a surgical ward recent for a minor op, I was shocked to see that at change of shift, the nurse's coats were kept in a cupboard in the corridor part of the ward where the ward admin station was, neighbouring the ward bays, the staff leaving simply put their outdoor coats on top of their uniforms. Presume the coats pick up whatever bacteria that's on the uniform from a days work and pass it back onto the clean uniform the next day? I wouldn't want to risk transferring the bacteria from a surgical ward to my home.

Please don't misinterpret my comments here, I do feel genuinely surprised nursing staff don't get changed into and out of their uniforms at work. I work in a food handling environment and that is what is recognised as 'good practice' for us at the start of shift!

~*Plushroom*~

Beenie wrote: »

Yes, it is true. All hospital in-patients in my area receive a leaflet warning them about MRSA and advising that anti-bacterial shower gels must be used.

I asked my GP today for advice and he's prescribed a shower gel called Octenisan.

I use that one once a week myself as I have frequent very bad outbreaks of eczema, very good stuff it is too - doesn't irritate, no harsh smell and does the job. Though it doesn't really foam so I tend to use a little too much.