Antibacterial Soap, how safe are they?

It has been a recurring decimal, this use of antibacterial soaps.  The antibacterial soap industry is a very thriving one. From various shapes, colours, fragrances and uses. They are also being marketed as substances that do even more ,with words like  "skincare" "even tone" brightening" being thrown into the mix.
How safe are they?

Years ago as an undergraduate, there was a particular brand that was being marketed as a skin lightening or "clarifying " soap. Even though this was not expressly written on the packaging, the message was made very clear, the TV adverts, calenders and other publications only carried "light skinned " models. Not a chocolatey damsel was to be found amongst them.
Therefore most of the ladies in school added this to their skin lightening regimen very swiftly. I would know, because my trips to the bath in the mornings were always laced with the strong antiseptic smell of the soap, and I mean every single morning! I once tried this particular soap ( who does not want to be fine? 😆😆) and found it really drying to my skin. This was long before I knew what it was..........  just an antiseptic soap!

I recently happened upon an article about the ban on antibacterial soaps by the FDA (The Food and Drug Administration (FDA or USFDA) is a federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services). Which inspired me to finally write this post and voice out on an issue that had created more harm than good.

An antiseptic/antibacterial /medicated soap ( or wash) is one that contains an agent that has the ability to kill germs on the surface upon which they are applied,  in this case, the skin.

How about soap and water? do they cleanse the skin and kill germs? Yes they do. So why the need for daily use of an antibacterial soap? You work a 9 to 5, drive to work in an air conditioned vehicle and come back home straight, you may be sweaty, may have gone to the gym, may have touched different surfaces in the course of the day, I assure you, soap and water will cleanse and get rid of germs just fine.

Where does this need to use antibacterial soap stem from? Our over preoccupation with infection, the fear that has been fed to us overtime that we need to "wash thoroughly,  the harsher the washing agent,  the better it would cleanse  and leave behind a "germ" free body
That's the fallacy in that statement. Even the strongest antiseptic agents does not give 100% germ kill and in actually fact continued use can expose you to other ills.

Antibacterial soaps
Frequent use of medicated soaps can be harsh and drying to the skin- agents in medicated soaps can strip the skin of its moisture, making the skin itchy. Skin that is scratched can eventually leave minute openings exposing it to infections, rash etc

Medicated soaps can eventually expose one to infections- Medicated soaps kill germs,  these are tiny living organisms that can harm us. However also present on our skin are millions of microscopic organisms (normal flora) that are harmless and protect us from the first bad guys we talked about. When we regularly use antiseptic soaps, they kill off these protective organisms,  basically leaving us exposed and defenceless.  This makes it easy for the harmful bacteria to settle on the skin and other areas (including vagina) leading to infections.
This begins the vicious cycle  of more antiseptic use (in a bid to combat the new infection) and more skin irritation and eruption of rashes and other skin lesions.

For this very reason, many women end up with recurrent episodes of vaginal infection A.K.A "toilet infection" which leads to more antiseptic soap use, douching with antibacterial washes- the result?  more infection, discharge etc!

Medicated soaps can often lead to bacterial resistance, when we use these agents all the time, eventually, the germs "mutate" and develop adaptive mechanisms that enable them bypass the agent and survive despite its use. This trend (plus abuse and overuse) of antibiotics is a major cause of the resistance we are experiencing in the world today where most antibiotics are no longer able to handle infections that they used to be susceptible to. Now we have to keep reaching for even stronger antibiotics for the most minor of ailments.

Children exposed to antibacterial agents very early, have an increased risk of developing allergic symptoms, asthma and allergies,

from Wikipedia. ...
"In medicine, the hygiene hypothesis is a hypothesis that states that a lack of early childhood exposure to infectious agents, symbiotic microorganisms (such as the gut flora or probiotics), and parasites increases susceptibility to allergic diseases by suppressing the natural development of the immune system. In particular, the lack of exposure is thought to lead to defects in the establishment of immune tolerance."

Medicated soaps that contain agents such as Triclosan can be harmful to the environment, when they get washed down drains into water and reused to irrigate crops etc

It has also "hormone altering" abilities  (hormones are important substances in the body that regulate major body processes and normal body functioning)

No Antibacterial Soaps then?
While I may be advocating against the preoccupation with "sterilising our lives" I am not bashing antibacterial agents, soaps,washes  and disinfectants. We still need antibacterial agents in our theatres before and after surgeries, hospitals( these agents where initially developed for use here in the first place!) etc.

They are also prescribed for short term use in cases of obvious infections eg Scabies, skin conditions with discharge etc.

We can use them in the toilets, after heavy duty cleaning (like sanitation days when we get into gutters and drainage to clear stuff out).However we should note that soap and water will still be good enough for general day to day cleaning of our bodies.

What is your take on this? Please leave a comment in the section below thanks!
Till my next post,
Esther.