stella55
24-05-20, 14:59
So I just cleaned the pipes of my clogged bathroom sink and my health anxiety has increased again.
My bathroom sink tends to get clogged because the soap, hair etc. gathers in the pipes and forms a gooey mass. So the pipes need to be taken apart and cleaned about every 6 months. So I've done this hundreds of times already, but this time it has made me super anxious because I haven't been in the best mental state lately.
I am mostly worried about 2 things:
1) that while washing the pipes, the bacteria from the dirt could have spread around the bathroom and on my clothes. I tried really hard not to make too much of a mess, but some of the dirty water still dripped onto the floor and also on my foot. I use a bowl to wash the pipes in and then empty the bowl with the dirt and the goo into the toilet. But while emptying the bowl, some of the water also spilled on the toilet seat.
So I'm wondering how dangerous this mass from the pipes could be and how much bacteria there is. I mean, I sometimes wash fruit or raw meat in the sink, so maybe there is some e. coli in it or something?
2) there are some rust stains around the sink drain which is because the metal piece (I don't know what it's called) is slightly rusty for some reason. As I was cleaning it, I was also wondering if it could have tetanus becteria. I was using rubber gloves and I didn't cut myself or anything, but maybe the tetanus bacteria could have also spread around the bathroom while cleaning and touching other surfaces with the same gloves? I know that tetanus is usually found in soil and other oxygen-deprived surroundings, but I don't know how oxygen-deprived the sink drain part is. It is fixed pretty tightly.
Like I said, I feel a bit stupid because I've already done this so many times and never worried as much as now. In the past, I've even cleaned that sink without wearing any gloves and even put the dirty pieces into the bathtub to clean and then just washed the tub with water, and didn't worry at all afterwards. I don't know why I am so worried all of a sudden, maybe the current pandemic situation has just made me paranoid about everything.
My bathroom sink tends to get clogged because the soap, hair etc. gathers in the pipes and forms a gooey mass. So the pipes need to be taken apart and cleaned about every 6 months. So I've done this hundreds of times already, but this time it has made me super anxious because I haven't been in the best mental state lately.
I am mostly worried about 2 things:
1) that while washing the pipes, the bacteria from the dirt could have spread around the bathroom and on my clothes. I tried really hard not to make too much of a mess, but some of the dirty water still dripped onto the floor and also on my foot. I use a bowl to wash the pipes in and then empty the bowl with the dirt and the goo into the toilet. But while emptying the bowl, some of the water also spilled on the toilet seat.
So I'm wondering how dangerous this mass from the pipes could be and how much bacteria there is. I mean, I sometimes wash fruit or raw meat in the sink, so maybe there is some e. coli in it or something?
2) there are some rust stains around the sink drain which is because the metal piece (I don't know what it's called) is slightly rusty for some reason. As I was cleaning it, I was also wondering if it could have tetanus becteria. I was using rubber gloves and I didn't cut myself or anything, but maybe the tetanus bacteria could have also spread around the bathroom while cleaning and touching other surfaces with the same gloves? I know that tetanus is usually found in soil and other oxygen-deprived surroundings, but I don't know how oxygen-deprived the sink drain part is. It is fixed pretty tightly.
Like I said, I feel a bit stupid because I've already done this so many times and never worried as much as now. In the past, I've even cleaned that sink without wearing any gloves and even put the dirty pieces into the bathtub to clean and then just washed the tub with water, and didn't worry at all afterwards. I don't know why I am so worried all of a sudden, maybe the current pandemic situation has just made me paranoid about everything.