Shower gels are good for the skin.

Moisturizing shower gel with oils, nourishing cream-gel, moisturizing milk - surely such a means are good for your skin! Or not? In healthy skin, the acid-base balance (pH) varies between 5.4-5.9. A qualitative cleanser should have a neutral pH, approximately equal to the average skin pH. If the gel for the shower, soap or shampoo pH is too high, then the remedy will begin to destroy the natural protective barrier of the skin, which will lead to dehydration and irritation.

A study of scientists from India showed that the means for showering, soap and shampoos that are on the market, have a pH of 6-7 to 10 - hence, for the skin they are not useful. However, most manufacturers, as it turned out during the experiment, do not indicate on the packaging the pH of the agent. It turns out that they can easily mislead shoppers: all the words about the moisturizing and nutritional properties of the gel or soap are a marketing move, and you can learn about the actual effect of the product on the skin only by experimenting. So carefully read the information on soap packages, bottles with gels and shampoos - if pH is not specified, it is better not to buy such a tool, especially if you have sensitive skin.

Alternatives can be funds for newborns - the skin in infants is particularly vulnerable, so the gels for them are released at a pH of about 5.5. However, for the hygiene of babies simple water without soap and gels is not less effective, and adults with sensitive skin can also try to abandon the means for the shower (or at least not use them every day).

To wash your hands, enough water.

If the shower gels and soap are not so necessary to cleanse the skin of the body, and even cause irritation, maybe you should wash your hands with plain water? For effective hand hygiene, soap is still needed. On the body, mostly innocuous bacteria live, which begin to multiply when sweat is released and cause unpleasant odors. As a hygiene, it is enough to wash off these bacteria with the body afterwards - this is enough for simple water too. But on the hands can be pathogenic organisms, which lead, for example, to diarrhea. And to get rid of them, you need to wash your hands with soap.

Scientists collected for analysis bacteria from the hands of volunteers who visited public places, touched the door handles, handrails and so on. In total for the study, they took 480 samples, which were taken in different situations: before washing hands, after washing with plain water and after washing with soap.

It turned out that on foul hands after visiting public places in 44% of cases were fecal bacteria - these microorganisms can cause diarrhea. After washing hands with water, the concentration of dangerous bacteria decreased to 23%, and after using a conventional (not antibacterial) soap - up to 8%. The conclusion is obvious: the best way to clean hands after toilet and visit public places is an ordinary soap.

Antibacterial soap is better than usual.

Is not it the other way around? Maybe antibacterial soap will destroy those remaining bacteria that a simple soap could not handle, and make the hands absolutely clean? Studies show that one should not pursue sterility - this can lead to unexpected and unpleasant consequences. Finnish researchers checked this on nurses. For two weeks they cleared their hands with a special antibacterial agent, and scientists periodically took samples of bacteria from their palms. As a result, those nurses who washed their hands especially often (sometimes up to 100 times in an eight-hour shift), the number of bacteria on their hands in two weeks increased significantly. In some of them, as a result of using antibacterial soap, the number of bacteria after washing hands was even greater than before washing hands at the beginning of the experiment! It turns out, it would be better for them not to wash their hands at all, than to use antibacterial soap.

Many nurses complained that from an antibacterial agent their hands were heavily dry, and the fingers formed cracks. Scientists believe that soap began to destroy the protective barrier of the skin, making it easier for bacteria to multiply on the hands. This was confirmed by the fact that nurses who did not notice dry skin after antibacterial soap did not increase and the number of bacteria in their hands.

The experiment showed: too frequent use of antibacterial soap reduces the protective properties of the skin and does not reduce the number of bacteria on the hands, but on the contrary - increases their number.

Alcoholic antiseptics are better than soap.

Is it worth it to prefer them for regular cleansing of hands? This was checked by the hospital staff, this time French. Workers at the hospital cleaned their hands of either antibacterial soap or alcoholic antiseptic. Before and after the procedure, they took samples of bacteria from the palms.

It turned out that an alcohol antiseptic is really better at combating bacteria. Therefore, it is recommended to use, for example, before and after a trip to the hospital, where one of your loved ones is treated, so as not to bring dangerous microbes with them and not catch themselves.

On the other hand, the alcohol antiseptic has its limitations. First, it should not be used regularly - alcohol dries the skin, it reduces its protective functions. And, as already known by the example of antibacterial soap, it is dangerous that more bacteria will live on the hands and multiply. Secondly, the antiseptic can not remove all dangerous contaminants from the skin - for example, pesticides, heavy metals, parasites, the bacterium Clostridium difficile (causes severe diarrhea). So use gel-antiseptic is recommended only in situations when water and soap are inaccessible, as well as before and after a visit to the hospital.

Soap has no alternatives.

Absolutely no soap can not be dispensed with: a shower, for example, can be taken just under water, but only the soap rinses bacteria and dirt well. In this case, even a simple, non-antibacterial soap, violates the pH of the skin, causes irritation and dryness. What to do?.

In fact, there is a healthier alternative - "soap without soap". What is "soap" in general? Initially, "soap" was called salts of fatty acids, which can partially dissolve simultaneously in water and in oil - due to this ability they helped mix water with skin fat to wash away contamination. Later, synthetic substances with a similar effect appeared-they were all combined into the category of surfactants (surfactants). Now, soap or detergent is called any product containing surfactants.

One of the most common surfactants is sodium lauryl sulfate. In detergents it is referred to as sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS) or sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). It is sodium lauryl sulfate that often disrupts the natural pH balance of the skin and causes irritation.

German scientists conducted an experiment: they invited people with varying degrees of skin sensitivity and offered them 12 days to use two types of detergent - one with SLS, and the other without. The second product was the so-called "syndet" - a mild cleanser without soap or its synthetic analogues. If the usual soap pH is high, which creates a harmful to the skin alkaline environment, the syndet has a lower pH - it creates a neutral or slightly acidic environment.

As a result of the experiment, all people who used the remedy with SLS got irritation, the skin began to lose moisture faster. Some participants with atopic dermatitis even left the study prematurely because of too strong a reaction to SLS. At the same time "soap without soap" did not hurt even the most sensitive skin.

Search for such a detergent is needed under the names syndet, cleansing tile, cleansing gel and so on. Handmade soap is also likely to be "without soap" - the base that is used to make it, usually contains the same substances as syndet.

Women for intimate hygiene should also choose special products without soap, with a lower pH. The fact is that the pH in the vagina is lower than on the skin - about 4-4.

5, that is, the medium there is acidic. Conventional alkaline hygiene products can harm a woman's health and disrupt the balance of the vaginal microflora. So no soap for intimate hygiene - either plain water, or a special product with a lowered pH.

With regard to male intimate hygiene, it is suitable for a normal soap or shower gel with a neutral pH, because the skin of the penis for acid-base balance does not differ from the skin of other parts of the body.