What do microbes on the skin look like?

Images show a hair follicle in the skin surrounded by bacteria and fungi under a fluorescent microscope. The samples were obtained from skin on the back of a study participant. Fungi appear blue-green, bacteria appear pink and skin cells and the hair shaft appear yellow.

Credits:  Alex Valm, NHGRI, Bethesda, MD

Microbes on you skin, shame on you?

As with most things in life the key to health is balance and that includes microbes on your skin.  With the skyrocketing interest in hand sanitizers and chemical hand detergents marketed as soap what most of us do not consider is the delicate balance of microbes on our skin. 

Let us use raw milk as an example.  When milk comes out of an animal it has a diverse and balanced microbial environment.  When pasteurization occurs it destroys both good and bad organisms.  This creates a neutral playing field for microbes.  A pathogens, the bad bugs, are typically more aggressive and will conquer this unprotected environment.  

The same is true when we wash our hands with sanitizers and chemical detergents it creates the perfect environment for aggressive pathogens that can get into cracks and crevices on our skin. 

Real soap natural cleans and moisturizes the skin without disrupting the harmonious balance of microbes.  Real soap is naturally anti-bacterial, anti-viral, and anti-fungal without promoting pathogens.  Think of your skin as a forest and you desire to see a well balanced landscape with lush vegetation without clear-cutting and bulldozed vistas.

Source:

Genome.gov

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