So, the place I live, it’s in a large overpopulated metropolitan. The parking area is basically the road and it always had a strong stench of urine and remnants of cowdung, but today due to faulty sewers fecal matter had overflown onto the road and of c, no one had cleaned it. It’s a deadend road so the only people stepping on it are people who live here, but I had to take care of my Motorbike there and had to clean it properly, so I could see stuff on my tires and while splashing the tires with water, I might have gotten a bit of stuff on my legs.
I felt deeply disgusted of my situation, but I felt scared of catching something as I am often exposed to stuff like this. The rented hotel I lived in has foot prints on the lift doors and it smelled of saliva and was painted red by marks of chweable tobacco product. The interesting thing is, I pay a premium to live in this place as every other place I went to smelled of sweat and piss (inside the rooms, this is outside, my room is neat and clean)
P.S: I sprayed isopropyl alcohol on everything I had touched just to sanitize it. But, isopropyl alcohol is apparently toxic and I am not supposed to use it frequently, what shall I do?
How can I keep myself safe and sane in this environment?
I’m not a medical expert, but typically your skin is pretty good at keeping pathogens out, at least when you clean yourself regularly.
Keeping your hands clean (and thus your eyes and mouth) should be a priority. A relatively cheap and easy thing to focus on would be cheap, disposable gloves. Buy them in bulk, and carry a wad in a pocket. You can turn old ones inside out and use them as little trash bags. Change them out whenever you feel like it.
If you don’t have a clothes washer at home, consider buying a cheap portable unit that can drain into the shower or sink. I have one, and it rocks.
You might feel a little crazy, but if you have the spare cash, buy some bleach spray and paper towels and wipe down the elevator. It should only take 5 minutes. It could be the case that it only needs to be cleaned every few weeks.
Remember that by keeping your space and person clean, you are doing a lot to stay healthy. People work draining septic tanks for a living and are exposed to sewage, but stay healthy because of good hygiene habits in the long term. I don’t mean to minimize your situation, because I’d feel crazy too, but just keep in mind you’re already doing a good job.
Hey, thank you!!!
Wait, isopropyl alcohol is toxic even just for external use? I use it as a hand sanitizer daily.
No, I haven’t heard anything about that and I did some quick searching and couldn’t find anything relevant either. Basically don’t drink it or dump gallons of it in your local river.
It’s no longer recommended for wound disinfection because it kills healthy cells. Same with hydrogen peroxide.
Don’t take a literal bath in a tub of it. It takes a lot to be dangerous, far more than with methyl alcohol
https://www.nj.gov/health/eoh/rtkweb/documents/fs/1076.pdf
If you wash it off, it’s ok.
You can’t drink it.
You sound like a germophobe, to be honest. Yes, your situation is gross, but the human immune system is pretty amazing. Just look at how many people in New York City survive every day in a melting pot of subway germs.
Fecal matter and other organic waste can transmit disease and infection, especially if you get it in an open wound, but the chances of that happening if you clean and dress the wound soon after are very low. Even if a wound does get infected, we have medicine that can deal with that easily as long as it isn’t allowed to persist for a long time.
In my opinion, it sounds a little bit like you could benefit from therapy to become more comfortable with these feelings of revulsion towards normal exposure to germs. It is good to have sanitizer and stuff ready when you need it, but you also don’t need to suffer through continued panic after cleaning and disinfecting yourself from a gross exposure.
Thank you, this is what I needed to hear.
NO if you were describing your situation even half-way accurately, the above comment is DANGEROUS.
Tbch I am a germophobe, so yes, I kinda needed to hear that, I won’t stop taking precautions, but his assurance helped me not be extra Paranoid.
You sound like a germophobe, to be honest. /s
You sound like a realitiophobe.
Fwiw, as a NYer, I’m basically perpetually sick. Even with masking and sanitizer.
It’s even worse with roommates or a partner since any time one person catches something, it’s bound to spread to the others
did you read the post? OP is describing shit flowing down the street. You seem to be under the FALSE impression this is mainly dangerous if it gets in a wound. Not at all considering what if it gets into the digestive system to name but one other point of entry. Try reading the first few paragraphs of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WASH and skimming around. I don’t see a lot of “germ phobia” being discussed here.
sewers fecal matter had overflown onto the road
this is critically dangerous which will certainly result in extreme illness in the neighborhood. People die from these kinds of situations. They tend not to be accompanied by robust health systems or other supports. There has obviously been neglect / catastrophe on the public health front.
Your advice is patronizing, inane, ignorant… and dangerous.
See that is India
I’d rather not actually
Bruh.
My germaphobia would just make me kms
I’d try to strip and clean any time I come home in that environment. Set up your entranceway so you can easily remove your clothes and shoes and put them in a bag or bin. Santitize the entranceway, wash your contaminated clothing, and wash yourself frequently.
I would wear long pants, ideally waterproof ones or at least thick enough to stop splashes from getting on your skin. You could also wear a mask while outside to help keep your fingers away from your mouth and nose.
I had an emt friend and his front closet was basically like that as that is what he would do when coming back from a shift. strip at the entrance, shower, sleep, then clean down the entryway when he awoke.
in case Noone said toxic just means don’t drink it
You can’t sanitize something that’s dirty. First you need to clean it properly with soap and water. Iso alcohol is toxic TO DRINK. spray it all you want.
You should wash your hands with soap and water for 30 seconds, look up on you tube for a video on how to do it properly. Yes there are right and wrong ways to wash your hands.
You should boil all water you will drink. Ensure all food is cooked to a temp of >75C internally. Dont eat food that can’t be, like salad or cut fruit. OK to eat fruit with an intact peel you remove yourself like orange or banana. Clean the unpeeled fruit and your hands with soap and water first.
If you are able, get vaccinated for all applicable disease.
Keep some oral rehydration solution (ORS) on hand in case you get some sort of diarrhea, which you eventually will. It can help you get better from a milder case. https://www.wikihow.com/Make-an-Oral-Rehydration-Salts-Drink-(ORS)
Ultimately the problem is collective, you are likely to get all kinds of infectious disease until the sewage problem is resolved for the whole community. There is little 1 person can do in such a situation to fix it only for themselves.
Thank you very much for the reply, it helps
