Is it safe to wash your anus with water and your (ungloved) hand after pooping, assuming (of course) that you don’t touch anything with your hand until you wash it with soap and water?

I’m currently traveling in India. It’s common here, instead of using toilet paper after deification, to pour water down your back and use your left hand to wipe your anus clean of feces. I googled to find information from medical professionals to understand if this is safe or not, but I (surprisingly) couldn’t find any information on the Internet about this.

Of course, let’s assume that we’re doing this properly:

  1. You only use one hand (typically your left hand), so feces only contaminates one hand.
  2. You don’t touch anything in the bathroom (eg pitcher, faucet, door knob, etc) with your soiled left hand until after you wash your hands
  3. You wash your hands properly, following best-practices: using soap and water, scrubbing vigorously for at least 20 seconds.

I’m less interested in your personal opinion, and more interested if any studies have been done analyzing the efficacy of safety in this scenario, using a proper scientific study.

Have any studies been done to analyze if it’s safe to wipe your ass with your hand (and wash your hands properly with soap and water after)?

  • ShadowA
    2·
    4 months ago

    Why wouldn’t it be? As long as you really clean it properly with soap and water afterward.

    I wouldn’t do it, just because its gross though.

    • riywq2@discuss.onlineOP
      1·
      4 months ago

      Does it depend on the soap? Is normal (non-antibacterial) soap sufficient in this situation?

      • ShadowA
        5·
        4 months ago

        Anti bacterial soap isn’t really necessary.

        https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/antibacterial-soap-you-can-skip-it-use-plain-soap-and-water

        “There’s no data demonstrating that these drugs provide additional protection from diseases and infections. Using these products might give people a false sense of security,” Michele says. “If you use these products because you think they protect you more than soap and water, that’s not correct. If you use them because of how they feel, there are many other products that have similar formulations but won’t expose your family to unnecessary chemicals. And some manufacturers have begun to revise these products to remove these ingredients.”