5 Things About Hand Washing You Never Knew

“Wash your hands” your mother used to exclaim as you came home, it is the same dialogue that you repeat with your own kid. But sometimes washing hands can be as bad as not washing them. Yes, you might have wasted all that vocal power for nothing.

We all know that washing hands prevents diseases, but do we all follow the proper technique for doing so? These are the ways you shouldn’t wash your hands:

• Fast Washing: Washing your hands for less than 20 seconds makes the entire ritual useless. A thorough wash of 20 seconds is recommended to kill all the germs present. Use that time to clean all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails. Anything less than 20 seconds is as good not washing.
• Unclean Soap dispenser: Washing hands using soap from soap dispenser that hasn’t been cleaned is of no use. Soap dispenser is a favorite hideout for the germs. It is also hardly cleaned. Thus as dirty hands touch the dispenser; the contamination increases and continues unattended.
• Dirty Soap: Generally, washing hands with soap is acceptable way of cleaning but there are chances that the soap has some of the germs left after use. If you are using soap, hold it in the water for some time, rub it gently and then use it.
• Hand sanitizers on greasy hands: Don’t use hand sanitizers when your hands are dirty and covered with oil. Using sanitizers kills germs but in this case these are quite ineffective as sanitizers cannot penetrate through grease to kill pathogens.
• Washing hands only before eating: Diseases can be spread if they are in contact with the eyes, nose and mouth. So just touching your face or eyes can make you vulnerable to diseases. So make sure you wash your hands when you come from outside or have been in contact with unhygienic surfaces, not just before eating.

80% of diseases spread, can be prevented by washing hands. Still we ignore this simple method of fighting diseases and look out for other options.

Here is the way to do it!

• First, turn on the tap and wet your hands with warm, running water and apply liquid soap or use clean bar soap. Lather well.
• Rub your hands vigorously. Make sure you wash them at least for 15 to 20 seconds.
• Not just the palms make sure you clean all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
• Rinse well.
• Dry your hands with a clean or disposable towel.
• Use a towel to turn off the tap.

The options:

• Soap
• Liquid soaps
• Hand Sanitizers (Alcohol-based hand sanitizers — which don’t require water are an excellent alternative to hand washing.)

Via: Medimanage