I'm with you on this one DX. I firmly believe that my penis is much cleaner than the sink and door knob in a bathroom.

Peet, I think that problem is your level of distress about germs, not your actual hygiene habits.

It's good to wash ones hand regularly to prevent the transfer of germs to yourself, others, and from one location to another, especially if you are going to be coming into contact with a mucus membrane lined orifous like a urethra, the inner lining of an intact foreskin, vagina, mouth, and anus.

What is not good is dwelling on the presence of germs in general because microbes exist everywhere and only a very small percentage of microbes actually cause illness. For example, a clinical lab scientist in a hospital will often run cultures that are considered "no findings" or "negative findings" not because they did not grow anything but because the culture grew "normal skin flora", that is microbes that are expected to be present and do not cause illness.

Typically microbes only cause illness in humans (and other living organisms, in general) when they are transfered from an environment where the body cells are well adapted to their presence and growth is controlled by the environmental conditions, such Ph (Acid-Base) level, to an environment where the body cells are not well adapted to their presence and the conditions do not control growth. For instance, there are bacteria in the lower digestive tract that are needed for proper digestion and should be in the intestine, rectum, and anus. However, they also grow very well in the urinary tract if they are allowed to be transfered by let's say a woman wiping back to front when going to the bathroom or when a man penetrates a woman's anus with his penis then immediately penetrates her labia. The difference is that the bacteria causes no symptoms of illness when in the rectum but will cause a urinary tract infection when the bacteria reaches the urethra, with the symptoms being burning painful urination, fouls smelling urine, and bloody urine.

So in short, wash your hands regularly but don't be overly worried about the existence of germs or the ritual of washing your hands. If you find you are overly worried about germs, in general, then you might have a phobia. If find that you are overly concerned with the ritual of washing your hands then you may have OCD. There are very effective psychological and/or medication treatments for both.