Questions about using a loofah regarding someone with severe contamination ocd.

[Guest MFortunato]

alright sorry if this is confusing I have been spending so much time trying to get my thoughts out so im going to just keep it as short as possible and to the point. that being said im trying to use a loofah because just using my hand makes me go through so much body wash. Now my question is this. I was going to just use the loofah for my body minus my face, pits, groin, butt, and feet and use my hands for those but doing that i still use a lot of body wash. so today I was really brave and washed everything minus my butt with the loofah. I DO NOT feel clean at all but im hanging in there. Would it be the better thing to wash everything with the loofah and deal with the feeling of the contamination? cause its not worth stressing over washing the loofah just so i save a tiny bit of body wash. Doing this will cause a lot of stress and worry for me but I feel its the best thing to do in my situation because it would be exposure therapy for me. My main worry is contaminating the loofah and then just washing it all over my body. but then i wonder if its soaped up wouldnt all the bacteria just fall off my body? im just so confused.

[Guest lizinlondon]

I think you have to do the exposure if you can, to try to get better. I would use the loofah with some soap and just wash all over my body with it. Normal body wash will be enough to get you clean. Plus a loofah gets you even cleaner! You can never remove 100% of all bacteria ( and most of the bacteria on our bodies are actually good ones which help us fight the bad ones), so standard soap and a loofah will be good enough to get you clean. Good luck!

[Guest MFortunato]

Thanks Liz hopefully i can do it. I am starting a new doctor for cbt and this is definitely the main thing i Need to work on.

[daisy]

I have similar problems as you regarding showering etc and you have done really well and as liz said we have to do the exposure if we are trying to get better,so well done and try and keep it up.

I am going to try and take my own advice as well and not spend so much time in the shower x

[Guest Miss Lemon]

Just a reminder not to lose focus on the main issue: accepting that you don't need to get 100% of bacteria off your body. Even when we have showered thoroughly we all have some bacteria which live all over us and that's completely normal, healthy and OK. It doesn't mean we are unclean and it doesn't mean we smell bad - it's just part of being a living organism.

I know it's easier said than done to accept that, but I think it's worth posting. :original:

Edited September 3, 2014 by Miss Lemon