Things that are secretly making you sick

Getting sick is the worst thing that can happen to anyone. We cannot even control it. And, interestingly, nowadays, there are so many ways that can make you sick, and you will never know what hit you.

This is why I felt that there’s a need for such a blog, which can tell you about a few things that are secretly making you sick.

These things are around you, in fact, you use them all the time. You might be even sitting on one such thing. This blog will help you identify those and will guide you about the right thing to do.

So let’s quickly have a look at the things that are making you sick.

1: Your computer and mobile devices

I am sure you use computers/cell phones regularly. But, when was the last time you cleaned it?

According to research done by the University of Arizona, the computer contains 400 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.

Similarly, you use mobile every time, and you even take them everywhere, but you totally forget to clean them. That mobile phone remains in touch with the skin, face/ears and that means the bacteria is reaching your skin directly.

Unclean keyboard is home of bacteria

What kind of bacteria it contains

Your keyboard and your cell phones may contain Escherichia coli (E. coli), Streptococcus, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonellosis, and Klebsiella pneumoniae.

As complex as these may sound, these bacteria are very harmful.

These bacteria can cause:

  • Skin infection
  • Pneumonia
  • Diarrhea
  • Vomiting
  • Fever
  • Low platelets
  • Neurological complications- Seizure, stroke, etc.

What to do?

The best thing you can do is soak your computer with the detergent.

Definitely not the ideal way to clean the computer

Just kidding…..

Well nowadays, there are so many options available with which you can clean your devices easily. You can use a special spray, that can clean your device. You can even use wet wipes to clean your device (just don’t blow your nose with that later).

You can get a special guard for keyboards, which are removable and washable.

Are you guilty of taking your phone to the washroom? Avoid that!!

Wash your hand after every use (if possible), and avoid using dirty hands to style your hair.

Strictly avoid eating while using a computer, mobile, or any other device (like a remote controller, or gaming console).

If you think 400 times the bacteria on a toilet seat is a lot, you need to know how much bacteria your mattress may contain.

Caution!!!! Don’t read the next point before sleeping.

2: Your mattress

Have you ever wondered if a mattress can also disturb your sleep?

Well, this next fact will surely disturb your sleep.

Your mattress contains 17 thousand times more bacteria than a toilet seat or roughly 7-8 million bacteria in your mattress, pillow, etc….. ufff

Mainly pillow & mattress goes ignored, and we often wash only pillow covers and bedsheets.

The bacteria, mainly E. coli, Salmonella, and Staphylococcus aureus proliferate very quickly if ignored.

How are bacteria reaching your mattress?

There are many reasons why bacteria can reach your mattress, but a few common ones are:

  • Keeping wet towel/cloth on the bed
  • Eating on the bed
  • Sweat
  • Bringing outside shoes/clothes in bed
  • Dust
  • Keeping unclean things on the bed

What they can cause?

I’ve already mentioned how these bacteria can cause skin infection and diarrhea, but as you, we remain more in contact with the mattress and pillow, these bacteria can cause skin irritation-redness, lung infection, hair infection-hair loss, sleep imbalance, etc.

What to do?

Look, I know it’s very hard to clean a mattress and I won’t tell you that. But, there are some other effective ways that can kill the bacteria.

Like the sun, You can keep your mattress, pillow, and cushions under the sun for a few hours. That will kill most of the bacteria.

If that’s not possible for you, then a vacuum cleaner, cleaning stains specifically can help you as well.

Baking soda can also help. Just put baking soda on your mattress, it will absorb all the unwanted moisture.

Now let’s move to the kitchen

3: Your utensils/dishes

sick-how dirty dishes are making you sick

Keeping dirty utensils for long (overnight) not only brings negative energy, but it can also cause loss of money because according to Hindu customs, it is believed that keeping dirty utensils is considered an insult towards the goddess of food.

Strictly talking from a hygiene perspective, keeping dirty utensils for overnights invites germs and bacteria and these can stay alive on the surface for up to 4 days. That means you are getting sick while preparing food.

Unclean utensils also invite cockroaches and rodents, and they bring several other diseases with them.

What happens when these bacteria remain for too long?

Bacteria like Campylobacter jejuni, E. coli can be found in your sink and these can cause food poisoning, irritable bowel syndrome, stomach cramps, etc. These are more common with children below 15.

The best practice is to clean the dishes after use to avoid an unwanted illness.

4: Your outdoor clothes/shoes

Sick, how dirty shoes are making you sick

Imagine you went to several places, sat in multiple places, and carried tons of bacteria with you. You sweated, you played with your neighbor’s dog. When you returned home you went straight to the bed, because you were very tired.

Then a few days later, you experienced skin irritability, fungal infection-especially in private areas, sudden fever, and allergies to multiple things. But, what could be the reason, I wonder…… Hmm!!

You remember, during the pandemic, people used to change their clothes every time they come from outside (in fact bath). Maybe people are now ignoring these habits. Maybe people are now inviting these bacteria to their beds and home.

Similarly, outside shoes should not be brought indoors.

What I love about Japanese culture is they know they are supposed to remove outside shoes before entering the home. Even my sister does not allow outdoor shoes inside her home.

What to do?

  • Strictly separate indoor and outdoor clothes and shoes.
  • Wash clothes if you have worn them multiple times or for a whole day
  • Keep your shoes/slippers under the sun and/or wash them

Few other things that are making us sick

Unclean glasses, caps, handkerchiefs, sharing water bottles, touching face and hair multiple times with dirty hands are a few other things that can make us sick.

In the end

With this blog, we have learned how some things are making us sick. Proper actions need to be taken if you want to avoid getting sick.

Healthy food and activity can definitely keep you healthy, but today we have learned how hygiene is another factor responsible for our health.

In the comments tell me if you are guilty of any of these or if you think there are a few more things that are making us sick secretly.

I shall wait for your response.

Until next time keep smiling because your favorite blogger is back \^-^/

94 responses to “Things that are secretly making you sick”

  1. I like how the toilet seat has become the universal point of reference for dirtiness 😁 In all seriousness, these are really good points. We keep our outside shoes off in the house, and guests see our shoes by the door and take them off too. I like that, I don’t even have to ask! For women, I would add cosmetics. They gather bacteria over time, even before we’ve finished the entire product, so they should be thrown away after several uses.

  2. I’m glad to see you back so soon, Devang. I hope you are beginning to feel better and looking after yourself well. I like this blog post. I’ve heard about bacteria on keyboards and phones before, and I try to keep mine clean, although, to be honest, I should do it more often than I do. I never wear outdoor shoes indoors. My mattress gets vacuumed regularly, too. I agree with Lovely Panda Mom above in mentioning cosmetics, as these can store bacteria very quickly because they are frequently in contact with the skin and fingers. Ideally, they should be replaced regularly. The problem with that is that they cost a lot, so it’s not always possible for everyone to do this. I tend not to wear cosmetics anyway, so this is one aspect I don’t have to worry about too much. Take care of yourself, my friend.

  3. Reading this blog post made my stomach a little queasy 🤢 my house would be filthy because our keyboards and phones are not cleaned on a daily basis. It’s gross to think about though.

    I often wonder why I get sick the day after I’m in a public place and didn’t wash my hands after touching a door of handrail. Seriously, every time I get sick.

  4. We often forget how seemingly innocent items can sometimes affect our health. I’ll add one more- your toothbrush. Bacteria from the toilet can get on your toothbrush if you keep it in your bathroom. It’s best to cover your toothbrush or keep it elsewhere.

  5. Excellent post, Devang. Glad to see you back writing. Yes, Anderson Cooper spoke once about the nasty bacteria found when his phone was tested. I wipe down my phone weekly with a hand wipe, or whenever it looks smudgy. I clean my computer often too. I don’t clean the computer screen with it though because the manufacturer recommends another product. The best outcome of my sister living in Japan for a year is that she taught our family to take our shoes off at the door and wear house shoes. That was a very healthy change. Thanks.

    • Make sure you clean your phone more often, as it goes with you to multiple places while capturing pics of flowers and strange things 😝

      Yes, I love how people automatically remove shoes outside the entrance.

      I think I need a notice to warn people before entering my home. Because people don’t care about hygiene. 🤦🏻‍♂️

  6. glad you feeling better, Devang.

    “Your mattress contains 17 thousand…” this is scary. 🥴

    I think the one thing I haven’t tried is soaking my computer 😁

    Thanks for sharing. Take care🤍

  7. These points were so different from the ones usually mentioned under this topic.
    Well, i need to clean my devices, everything else’s fine.😂
    Glad to have you back, hope you are feeling better😊

  8. This is why I am the way I am! I’m not crazy after all, no matter what people may think. 🤣

    I’m not ocd. I’m not obsessive.

    I worked in healthcare for 14 years and I am aware of many of the things that you mentioned and I already take Healthcare measures in prevention. I won’t tell all of my cleanly habits but…

    For example, I wash dishes almost immediately after use. I don’t like them sitting around. I disinfect my dishwasher as well as my sinks and tubs.

    I don’t wear my outside clothing and sit on my furniture unless it’s a hard chair that I can use Clorox or Lysol wipes to clean off.

    I have indoor clothing to wear for my couch and I don’t sit on my bed or put suitcases or anything off the floor on it. I refuse to set my purse or tote bags on floors.

    Some people put their purses on the floors and then put them on their kitchen counters or beds!

    Sometimes purses have feces on them according to a study and my guess is that it is because people are setting them on floors.

    In addition, outside shoes get taken off at the door. I’m often using disinfectant cleansers on my hard floors.

    I don’t walk around in bare feet. Neither do I get in my bed before I take a shower.

    My bed is my clean, comfortable, peaceful space.

    When I first bought it, I sprayed the actual mattress with disinfectant spray along with cleaning it with disinfectant wipes.

    I bought a mattress cover washed it and covered the mattress. I also use the same on a mattress cover and I washed my sheets frequently but I don’t even go to bed without showering first unless it’s the day before I’m washing my linen LOL.

    My glasses I use disinfectant wipes on the frames as well as the cleansing wipes on the lenses.

    I don’t drop things on the floor without disinfecting them. I refuse to take my phone into use the bathroom with. I see people doing that!

    And I am constantly cleaning my computer/laptop / keyboards as well as phone with Clorox wipes.

    Not like a crazy woman, but I do it frequently. Like when I come in from work or come in from being outside, my phone must be disinfected.

    My computer must be regularly disinfected. It’s very easy to use a couple disinfectant wipes on it almost daily.

    Thank you for so much valuable information.

    People need to hear this because they don’t realize how unsanitary they could be being.🙂

    • Oh wow, this comment is wow 😊

      I think I’ve shared something of your interest and suddenly you’ve shared your things. I’m glad to read them.

      What you are doing, may sound unnecessary to some, but you are keeping yourself and others safe and healthy with these small habits.

      It’s great that you are keeping things around you clean and hygienic.

      These habits are actually increasing our lives. Keep it up 👏🏻

      • This is a topic I’m pretty passionate about lol. Great post. Sorry comment was so long.😅

      • Please don’t be sorry.

        I love the long comments, shows more interest and involvement.

        Thanks and thanks for providing these great many tips. These will help people. 🙇🏻‍♂️

  9. Hi,
    It looks like the theme of this blog post is kinda Horror or Scary.
    Reading the presence of multiple times bacteria 🦠 in/on the things I use ‘is horrible’.
    But the good thing is that I’m already aware of this.
    1. I clean my phone and its cover regularly.
    2. I clean bedsheets once a month. If needed, twice a month.
    3. Some of things, you have mentioned — I don’t use them or not use them so often.
    It’s good that you want to spread awareness and educate on Health.
    But I found sentences like this one more weird (don’t feel good).
    “Your mattress contains 17 thousand times more bacteria than a toilet seat or roughly 7-8 million bacteria in your mattress, pillow, etc….. ufff”
    You could have simply wrote or told them.
    Another important point is that here we can see “the variety of causes” those affect our health.
    Understanding the functioning of a germ or a bacteria of particular kind will help us to treat it properly.
    (Bye the way, some viruses and bacterias are human friendly. Most of them.)
    These are my personal views. No need to feel offended. It’s my duty to share my honest opinions as a feedback.
    Thank you for sharing this blog post.😊
    Best wishes.✨✨

  10. Thank you for this. I will now be taking the next month off to do major spring cleaning! 😁 Joking! Helpful tips, Devang. I was raised hearing the phrase, “Cleanliness is next to Godliness,” so I get it. 👍🏻

    • True!!

      Cleanliness is very important 🙂

      We should invest time in it. Spring cleaning sounds great, as the weather is changing, it’s opportune time to clean 😀

  11. These are great! I have seen people with their outdoor shoes on while in bed (not in my house) and I could never understand why someone would do such an awful thing. Gross. I like cleaning and it’s good to keep up with it daily – especially the kitchen and phone. 🤗

    Stay well, Devang! 💫

  12. Another Very informative and useful yet much more interesting blog 🙌🏻 i always love the way you put even the ordinary things so beautifully making it simple for everyone to understand yet enchanting 💜💜 very proud of u 😊 Keep going 👍🏻👍🏻

  13. My workplace is making me sick, I deal with 100+ teenagers every day, it’s not the same group, so over the course of five days you can hang out with about 500 people. I am sick right now, I think I got a virus or something… Having said that I have to admit that I love my job, although it potentially has health and mental health hazards.

    • You please take good care …

      If you love your job, and if it’s something that you wanted to do willingly, then there’s nothing more satisfying than that.

  14. Welcome back! Well…according to your post, I should be dead, lol. I do think some germs are necessary to keep our immune system ‘up to date’. Now…off to clean the kitchen 😉

  15. A very useful and timely post, Devang! I liked the points you have discussed with proper solutions thereof. Keeping wet towels here and there should also be avoided As a rule, I disinfect my electronic devices, mobiles, specs etc at regular intervals. A nice post, indeed!

  16. Very interesting what you said about putting shoes and the mattress in the sun. Why do you suppose the sun helps kill the bacteria? Is it just the heat or something else?

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