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G’ANATOMY BOOTIES ARE HERE!
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Duis autem vel eum iriure dolor in hendrerit in vulputate velit esse molestie consequat, vel illum dolore eu feugiat nulla facilisis at vero eros et accumsan et iusto odio dignissim qui blandit praesent luptatum zzril delenit augue duis dolore te feugait nulla facilisi. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat. Ut wisi enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exerci tation ullamcorper suscipit lobortis nisl ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.CAN FLOOR GERMS INFECT YOU?
Is it really true that you can pick up diseases simply from having the bottoms of your bare feet come in contact with germs?HOW FILTHY IS THAT FLOOR?
First, what’s really on public shower floors since, frankly, it isn’t just water that’s swirling down the drain. Sweat and skin cells are definitely in the mix and some people (though we hope not many) urinate in the shower as well, whether accidentally or on purpose. Along with all that, are various strains of mold, algae and fungi that either grow in moist environments or are carried there on people’s bare feet.
Also, when you consider that people coming in from the outdoors wear their street shoes right into the locker room, and the locker room leads to the shower…well, you can assume that outdoor contaminants are making their way onto the public shower floor, too. Those contaminants might include dog feces…human sputum…pesticides…E. coli bacteria…coliform bacteria…ringworm…we could go on.
True, the floors in public showers and locker rooms usually are cleaned with strong detergents that eliminate most germs—but how frequently and thoroughly they are cleaned can vary greatly from establishment to establishment.
MAKE SURE THAT AT LEAST YOUR FEET ARE COVERED!
If you have an open sore on your foot and you step on a germy floor, pathogens may indeed enter your body and cause infection. You’re also at increased risk if you’re allergic to molds, since those thrive in damp environments. Otherwise, the chances are pretty slim that you’d get an infection from walking barefoot on surfaces that harbor pathogens such as those listed above—so that’s good news.
However, one germ that can exist in public showers truly is worth worrying about—the fungus that causes tinea pedis, better known as athlete’s foot. This infection can be transferred very easily from one person’s feet to a shower floor and then from the floor to someone else’s feet—even if that second person has no open sores on his or her feet. Though athlete’s foot is not life-threatening, the cracked, itchy skin that it causes between toes can make you miserable—so it’s an infection you definitely want to avoid.
For that reason, that the old warning about public showers is true—it is a good idea to wear flip-flops or other waterproof sandals in a public shower or locker room. So the next time you’re tempted to bare it all at the gym, look down—and make sure that at least your feet are covered. Also follow these tips to keep your feet germ-free…
- After showering, dry your feet thoroughly—including between your toes—with a clean towel to help prevent athlete’s foot.
- If you have had athlete’s foot in the past, you clearly are susceptible to it—so consider applying an antifungal foot powder before you put your shoes back on.
- Even when you’re not showering at the gym but are just getting in and out of your sneakers, sit on a bench and keep your bare feet in the air so they don’t touch the floor.
Better safe than sorry!
Source: Charles Gerba, PhD, professor of environmental microbiology, The University of Arizona, Tucson
How Can You Avoid Germs When Traveling And In Your Hotel Room?
Bacteria, viruses, bed bugs, DNA samples - what's lurking in your hotel room that you can't see? With so many people staying in the same room night after night, even a thorough cleaning won’t catch all the germs. But how much should you worry? Your risk of getting sick is pretty low. In fact, you're more at sitting on a plane next to someone with a cold. Still, if a sick person stayed in your room days before you checked in, they've left behind germs that can make you sick. Here’s what you should do to avoid taking germs home with you: Wipe down the germiest surfaces with anti-bacterial wipes: the TV remote, the telephone, the alarm clock, the ice bucket, the Bible, pens, shower curtains, bathroom faucets and door handles. Avoid touching the walls around light switches and thermostats.Don't walk around the room barefoot. Pack socks or slippers, and wear plastic flip flops in the shower.
- Pull up the sheets and check the mattress seams for signs of bed bugs (small dark stains, or the bugs themselves). You can also aim a blow dryer at one spot on the mattress for a couple of minutes, as heat will attract the little critters.
- To keep bed bugs out of your suitcase, don't put it on the floor, on upholstered furniture or on the bed. Put your suitcase on a luggage rack or on the desk. Keep your clothes off the floor.
- Don't cheap out. Experts say paying above $50 per night makes a difference in the cleanliness of the hotel room.
- Most importantly, wash your hands. It's your best defense against germs, which can't make you sick unless they make contact with your mouth, eyes, or nose.
Effective Ways to keep your Sauna Clean
Saunas employ dry or steam heat to provide relaxing and therapeutic effects on the body. Over time a sauna can build up dirt and grime and may even foster the growth of mold or mildew. To prevent your sauna from becoming unusable, clean it every few weeks or more, depending on how often you use it.
Floor
The warm, moist environment of many saunas can foster the growth of bacteria on the floor and other surfaces of the sauna. These bacteria include tinea pedis, more commonly known as athlete's foot, states the Mayo Clinic. Public saunas can also spread the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus, which can cause serious skin staph infections, including the deadly methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus--MRSA--according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
To prevent these infections from spreading, regularly sweep and mop the sauna floor using a household floor cleaner or a water and bleach solution. Let the floor dry and the sauna air out before continuing use.
Benches
Benches in a sauna should also be routinely cleaned, especially if you regularly use your sauna without clothing. Because the benches of a sauna are made of soft wood, do not use regular household cleaning products; clean your benches using a solution of water and mild detergent. Commercial sauna-cleaning products, made specifically to be safe for sauna surfaces, are available online and through sauna dealers.
Sitting or lying on towels can help reduce the amount of cleaning needed, as towels create a barrier against body sweat, which can stain the wood of your sauna. If sweat marks become a serious problem, the Finlandia Sauna Products Corp. recommends using a sandpaper with 120 grit to lightly sand the sweat stains from the wood.
Stones
When using a sauna with heating stones, clean them if they begin to emit any unusual or unpleasant smells. Wash the rocks using a mild cleanser and soap and allow them to dry completely before placing them back in the sauna. Replace any cracked stones or stones that continue to smell after cleaning. You can use any stones in a sauna; rough-edged peridotite and olivine stones are popular choices available at most sauna dealers.
Other Surfaces
Clean other surfaces of your sauna periodically with a solution of water and mild detergent. These surfaces include the sauna walls, door handles, operational switches and the heater. When cleaning the heater be sure that the unit has completely cooled to prevent burns. Wood-burning heaters require additional maintenance including the regular removal of ashes. Hire a professional chimney cleaner to clean creosote in the exhaust pipe of a wood sauna to reduce fire dangers.
Read on livestrong.com …
Relentless Gym Germs
Being a fitness buff and a germaphobe is not a good combination. If you're wondering why, it's because your local gym is positively swimming with bacteria, fungus and other things that make you go "ah-choo" in the night.
But fear not! Before you buy a containment suit and set your gym membership card on fire, rest assured that these common germs are easily avoided and much less frightening than they sound. Which is why we've provided a handy list of germs that have been found in gyms, what they actually are (in English) and how you can get them.
So spray and wipe down machines before and after you use them, lay a towel down before you lay your ass down on a bench, invest in a pair of shower flip-flops, change out of your sweaty gym duds as soon as you're done with your workout, and, most importantly, wash your hands before you stick them up your nose and in your mouth like a filthy toddler and you won't have to worry about these microscopic critters.
HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS
What is it?
Human Papillomavirus is a virus that you probably know as HPV. It's the most common sexually transmitted disease... but that doesn't mean sex is the only way you get it...
Symptoms
HPV usually causes genital warts in both men and women. It can also cause warts in the throat and mouth and even on the feet (known as plantar warts). If untreated, it can lead to cervical cancer in women and (shudder) penile and anal cancer in men. It also results in the inability to land a date ever again.
How do you get it?
You can pick up plantar warts from walking around barefoot in bathrooms and showers.
How do you treat it?
There's no actual cure for HPV, but there are prescriptions to treat outbreaks.
KLEBSIELLA
What is it?
A bacteria that is usually found in healthy human intestines and stool.
Symptoms
Klebsiella can result in a variety of infections, most commonly urinary tract infections and pneumonia, but in rarer cases blood infections and meningitis. The type of infection you get depends on how it enters your body (i.e. through your nose results in pneumonia).
How do you get it?
It's spread through contact, so any shared surfaces--cardio machines, workout mats, weights, water fountains and locker rooms--are fair game.
How do you treat it?
Different varieties of Klebsiella are resistant to certain antibiotics, so it can be difficult to treat, but the right antibiotic will clear it up.
E. COLI
What is it?
Escherichia Coli, commonly known as E. coli, is a common bacterium found in the intestines and stool of animals. It's infamous for almost putting Jack in the Box out of business in 1993.
Symptoms
E. coli infections cause cramps, diarrhea, vomiting and can lead to pneumonia.
How do you get it?
You usually get it from eating contaminated food, but it's possible to catch it from tainted gym surfaces.
How do you treat it?
Most healthy people just need to drink a lot of water and wait for the gut-wrenching symptoms to pass, but if it escalates, get thee to a hospital. Children, the elderly and people with compromised immune symptoms are especially at risk.
STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS
What is it?
Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as staph, is a bacteria that mostly causes skin infections.
Symptoms
Staph infections are usually mild and include superficial rashes, pimples and/or boils on your skin. However, if the bacteria spreads and gets deeper into your skin, it can become a life-threatening infection such as pneumonia, sepsis or meningitis. Recently there have been reports of MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), a very aggressive form of Staph that's resistant to antibiotics, in gyms, but it's extremely rare.
How do you get it?
It's spread through contact, so it can be picked up through a shared towel or razor, exercise equipment surfaces and grips or skin-to-skin contact.
How do you treat it?
A course of antibiotics should do the trick.
CANDIDA
What is it?
The most common culprit in fungal infections, this yeast-like fungus can lead to everything from athlete's foot to ringworm to jock itch in men and yeast infections in women.
How do you get it?
Contact. It loves warm, moist areas, so locker rooms, saunas, swimming pools and showers are the perfect environment to pick up some tasty foot fungus.
Symptoms
Ringworm is usually marked by ring-shaped skin rashes, usually on your toes, sometimes on your palms and between your fingers. Athlete's foot gives you itchy, cracked, flaking and peeling skin between the toes or side of the foot, while jock itch causes a rash on your groin. If it's untreated, it can escalate to blisters and severely cracked skin.
How do you treat it?
Antifungal creams, but if it escalates into an infection, antibiotics will do the trick.
STREPTOCOCCAL BACTERIA
What is it?
A type of bacteria that usually causes upper respiratory infections--strep throat. There are 20 different types of strep bacteria.
How do you get it?
It's very contagious and is spread through person-to-person contact, airborne droplets, doorknobs and other surfaces. Sweaty exercise equipment, saunas, locker rooms and drinking bottles can harbor strep.
Symptoms
Symptoms can range from mild throat infections to pneumonia. It can also cause skin infections such as impetigo, which causes blisters, and cellulitis, which affects deeper layers of skin.
How do you treat it?
Antibiotics, although minor strep infections, such as a throat and inner ear infections, usually get better on their own. Skin infections are treated with antibiotic tablets or creams, and more serious infections like pneumonia and meningitis require hospitalization and intravenous antibiotics.
INFLUENZA
What is it?
You probably call it the flu. It's a virus, which causes a nose, throat and lung infection that makes you feel like crap for a few days.
How do you get it?
Through the air, so contained areas like airplanes, movie theaters and gyms are a great place to catch it. Breathe in the droplets from someone's coughs or sneezes, or get the virus on your hands and touch your mouth, nose, or eyes.
Symptoms
Fever, body aches, coughing, sneezing, chills, dizziness, flushed face, headache, lack of energy and, sometimes, nausea and vomiting that lasts between four and seven days.
How do you treat it?
There's no cure for the flu, but over the counter drugs help alleviate symptoms. Otherwise, your best bet is a healthy dose of rest, chicken soup, bad television, fluids and self-loathing.
Read on mensfitness.com …
