How to clean infectious brushes
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free skin care · Wed May 25, 2005 2:37 pm

My sister came up today, she's in the middle of doing her exams and whilst we were playing around with my make-up, she casually mentioned that about a week aga she had had impetigo which is a highly infectious skin conditios.
She has had antibiotics and has a little scaring left, she did look poorly and is obviously run down.
When she had left and I'd read all the info about impetigo on the net I panicked a little and I have gently washed my brushes in warm water with a little Bleach in the water and wiped all my powders over.
Has anyone or do you know anyone who has suffered from this - what would you advise I do?

free skin care · Wed May 25, 2005 10:26 pm

I don't know anything about this skin condition. I personally would've used a soap called hibitane. It's used in doctors offices and hospitals. It's a strong antibacterial...

I wonder if the bleach will harm the brushes...better to buy new brushes than get some weird disease on your face.

I personally think your sis should have known better than to mess with your makeup...If you want new makeup here's an excuse to purge and get new colours...

free skin care · Wed May 25, 2005 11:13 pm

Where you sister has been on antibiotics and you did not see any sores present I think you are fine. Impetigo is easily passed from one person to another when sores are in an active state. If all you saw was some scaring you most likely will be fine. When I was a child I contacted Impetigo on the back of my knee. Very contagious skin condition. If you have any doubts I would be careful with your makeup. Your brushes should be fine seeing your washed them well. Might be a good idea to ask you doctor or call a local clinic.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 3:34 am

I agree with Winnie. At least call your doctor & ask. I believe impitego is caused by a staph infection - pretty nasty! Shock

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 4:04 am

Impetigo is very contagious and not a nice thing to have. http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/bacterial_viral/impetigo.html
We used Hibitane/Hibiscrub in the salon to cleanse all makeup brushes - make up a solution according to the instructions and soak cleaned brushes for at least 3 hrs. This will kill any nasties. The brushes will be fine - if you continue to do it (daily) it will eventually disolve the glue holding the bristles but that takes a while, once or twice shouldn't have an affect on quality brushes.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 4:21 am

rosebud wrote:

My sister came up today, she's in the middle of doing her exams and whilst we were playing around with my make-up, she casually mentioned that about a week aga she had had impetigo which is a highly infectious skin conditios.
She has had antibiotics and has a little scaring left, she did look poorly and is obviously run down.
When she had left and I'd read all the info about impetigo on the net I panicked a little and I have gently washed my brushes in warm water with a little Bleach in the water and wiped all my powders over.
Has anyone or do you know anyone who has suffered from this - what would you advise I do?

My grandfather had it when he was young and he used to tell us horror stories about it. Apparently once you've got it, it's almost impossible to get rid of (at least back then), because you'd keep reinfecting yourself unless you either burned all of your possessions or soaked them in 100% bleach to kill the sh*t!! Honestly, my grandfather scared me so badly about that disease that if I were you, I wouldn't take any chances: I'd throw everything that your sister touched away (including any surfaces she might have sat on or touched) and buy all new stuff. I know that's not very practical, but that's how spooked I am of ever contracting that particular disease....

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 6:18 am

Thanks everyone - I was so sleepy this morning (am suffering terribly from hayfever) that without thinking I used my make-up and brushes, it only dawned on me when I was eating breakfast Shock

So I just thought sod it Laughing

Winnie I go with you really, My sis has had the anti-biotics and had no marks and on all the sites it said she woold no longer be infectious.
I think it was looking at all the medical pictures that did it Laughing

There was one of an infected penis Shock

.
I am more annoyed at my mother for not educating my sis properly, she didn't even know that you are suposed to use seperate towels or just how infectious imetigo is. She looked so run down, I just wanted to dose her up on vitamins and good food.
I don't get on with my mother, she doesn't agree with vitamin supplements and thinks that freezing then defrosting bread that is out of date can actually be nuitritious???????? Then wonders why she has athletes foot Rolling Eyes

Am so glad I don't live there anymore, I don't want to sound big headed or anything but I grew up having more sense than both my parents and it was a breath of fresh air when I left home Laughing

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 7:56 am

I had this when I was a tiny baby, I got chicken pox at 6 months and was in the hospital, they tied my little hands down so I wouldn't scratch! In the hospital I contracted impetigo, my mom says I almost died from the infection. As a kid and teen I would get it every now and then, I don't know if I was more susceptible or not. My mom was obsessively clean though, like crazy clean so it wasn't due to general hygiene.

All the times I had it, I used a new towel and face cloth, I was only a kid so I didn't have make up brushes to worry about. No one, not my brother or mom ever got it while I had it.

As long as your sis is cleared up you should be fine, especially if you washed your brushes. If you used bleach I think that's better than any soap you can use, except it can't be good for your brushes.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 7:57 am

I say I 'almost died' but I was just a baby so I don't think a healthy kid or adult is at risk of serious illness.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 8:46 am

Actually, if you go without treatment, an adult *can* die from impetigo, because it is – like Darren said – a staph infection! I don’t know if it’s happened elsewhere in the world, but the past couple years, many Americans have died from a particularly evil strain of the staph infection, which started out as impetigo. The evening news shows were full of horror stories about it, where the victim’s flesh would just start rotting off. It was really nasty and completely scary because this strain of staphocoli (sp!) was resistant to even the strongest antibiotics!! Even the most benign form of impetigo isn’t anything to fool around with....

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 9:33 am

OMG

That is so scary! I have read a lot about antibiotic resistance. Thanks for sharing that Carrie.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 9:51 am

oh god what have I started Laughing

It's good to read what you all think though Very Happy

I actually agree with all of you.

free skin care · Thu May 26, 2005 11:03 am

Ack! How awful! I guess when I was a kid resistant staphylococcus infections were non existant. Thanks for clearing that up, Carrie, we are at risk of serious illness, I think especially if we pick one up at a hospital.

free skin care · Fri May 27, 2005 8:11 am

Yuck. This topic gives me the shivers. I'm a bit of a germophobe. I'm constantly washing my hands and have a hard time with all the touching that goes on in Latin American countries. Everybody always wants to kiss and shake hands. When we were living in Mexico we were kind of celebrities on the island because Tim was the motocross champ and I was the only girl racing so strangers who had seen us on tv or had been to the race would come up to greet us. One time in Ace Hardware a particularly scuzzy looking guy came up and offered Tim his hand to shake. I turned around just as he was reaching out and shrieked - "DON'T TOUCH HIM!!!" Everybody went silent for a minute wondering what was wrong with the crazy gringa. I feel justified in my paranoia though. A friend of ours broke his leg riding with us one day. He had to have surgery to repair it, ended up with a staph infection and nearly lost his leg.

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 8:57 am

Actually, it’s funny you mentioned this...in one of my Communications courses back in college where we were examining advertising around the world, it was pointed out that Americans are more obsessed than any other culture with sanititizing germs and masking body odors and disinfecting this and sterilizing that, and neutralizing those odors in the air, it was really quite fascinating. Of course, a healthy fear of germs is prudent, but on the other hand, sometimes I wonder if Americans are more prone to becoming ill from various germs and bacteria because we’ve been so anxious to wipe them out of our lives that we’ve never given our bodies a chance to develop its own natural immunities to some things. It’s like, it’s a known fact that children who have been in daycare centers since they were born pick up less colds and minor bugs than a child who didn’t attend a daycare center or kindergarten until they were actually old enough to attend school. It seems that the kids who were raised in daycare centers almost since birth have been exposed to more common germs than those who were kept at home in more ‘sterile’ environments, so the daycare kids had had a chance to build up immunities to those germs. No don’t jump all over me – I’m not advocating kids should be farmed out to daycare centers the day they come home from the hospital nursery, I’m just pointing out the results of numerous studies regarding children and common childhood illnesses like getting the sniffles. It *is* something to think about! But that doesn’t mean I want to shake hands with someone who likes scuzzy and/or of questionable hygiene, either! Embarassed

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 9:52 am

You're right Carrie

and the other scary thing about it is all the antibiotic resistant bacterias because of overuse of antibiotics. Down here every time we walk into a doctor's office we are going to walk out with a script for antibiotics. When we get colds people here, even gringos, suggest we go get a shot. I'm always incredulous "A shot of what?". They go get a shot of antibiotics for a virus or even a hangover. It's insane.

In Cozumel I got in the habit of having lots of small change in my wallet so I could always give the correct change and not have to touch the money that the gas station attendant handled after snorting snot out of his nose, grabbing the dangly bits with his fingers, shaking it and then wiping on his dirty pants, or not even bothering. All this while he's standing beside the jeep pumping out gas.

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 10:51 am

Liz, I won't be eating my Mini Wheats after reading your post. I was happily munching away until I read about why you always have small change.

Actually, one of the reasons I contracted staph as a baby was because my mom was obsessed about germs and bleached everything, I literally hadn't come into contact with bacteria until I went into the hospital with chicken pox, which I picked up from the neighbour kid who came over to visit.

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 11:39 am

I'm forever coming down with some illness or other Sad

. My mum was germ obsessed too Brick wall

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 12:07 pm

Sorry Annette, I didn't mean to ruin your breakfast. I was hanging out with a nurse and a surgeon all weekend and you wouldn't believe our dinner conversations. Shock

My parents were definately NOT concerned with germs when I was a kid. There are a lot of photos in the album of me eating dirt and sand as a toddler. Obviously they thought that was cute. I was in a co-op daycare while they were at University in Guelph so I was thoroughly exposed to germs. I was also exposed to various illegal substances at their parties where all the hippies thought it was adorable to have a 4 year old pass around the orange teapot they used as a hash pipe. They just LOVE it when I remind them of that.

free skin care · Tue May 31, 2005 3:30 pm

LOL! My mom sounds just like your parents except with the germs thing. We lived on a commune for a summer, I'm sure she didn't have bleach and was completely stressed about it the whole time. Smile

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