How to wash your hands

Washing your hands remains one of the cheapest and easiest means of staying safe and clean, more especially as a pandemic plunges the world.

However, it is important you know how to go about it, as well as how much your livelihood is tied up to it.

A lot of reputable health institutions ensued handwash as a vital procedure for fighting germs and inhibiting the growth of viral and bacterial infection on the skin.

CDC, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and NHS, United  Kingdom National Health Service postulates that washing hands together with clean running water and soap and water reduces the rate of getting infected by gastrointestinal and respiratory infections.

This “wash hands” theory doesn’t just keep you safe but also keeps the neighborhood disease-free.

Most times, there might not be an available soap and water to do the washing, at this point you should resort to an alcohol-based sanitizer as your cleaning agent.

Hand Hygiene goes a long way in reducing the possibility of going sick by at least 23-48%.

Why should you wash your hands?

With the widespread of illnesses like SAR-COV-2 Coronavirus, Meningitis, Flu, and cold, it is very important that you wash your hands as often as possible.

The outburst of Covid-19 raised the bars for hand Hygiene, enforcing the global need to always keep soap hands.

Washing your hands with soap and water shouldn’t just be a protocol to fight a virus or a bid to obey government policies, Hand Hygiene should be inculcated as a lifestyle for healthy living.

Covid-19 and some other illnesses spread through direct or indirect contact with infected people or items.

Interaction with droplets, mucus, saliva from an infected, leaves you exposed to the virus with your health in jeopardy.

The only way you can stay safe is to quickly wash your hands with soap and water or hand sanitizers.

Diseases that spread through direct and indirect body contact?

There are some diseases that spread through direct or indirect contact with an infected source.

Most times, These diseases are airborne, while some are caused by pathogens and disease vectors.

A wide range of these diseases are caused by droplet spread, on food items, objects, or directly on the human body, by coughing or sneezing.

Some of these diseases are caused by a person to person contact with infected persons, contaminated objects, or animal to person transmission.

Direct and indirect contact diseases can also be transmitted through contact with zoos while a larger range of them are airborne.

Most of these diseases include; cold, conjunctivitis, influenza, measles, mononucleosis, Fifth disease, pertussis, adeno/rhinoviruses, Neisseria meningitidis, chickenpox, mycoplasma pneumonia, and SARS-COV-2 Coronavirus.

Handwashing How Long?

The required time to wash your hands is as long as you can completely get specks of dirt and germs off your hands.

The amount of time you spend washing your hand should never be considered as a waste as it is essential for good health.

The echo “wash hand” should be louder in your head when you visit a hospital, touch dirt, interact with people, at the closure of work, or after your stay in public transport.

The risk of getting contaminated is higher during exposure to the public.

Most times, this is why it is always advisable to acquaint yourself with the use of hand sanitizers.

Hand Sanitizers are small, portable, and can easily fit into your pocket while you carry them around.

The use of a hand sanitizer comes in handy during emergency scenarios, although it is necessary you ensure that they are alcohol-based hand sanitizers.

Alcohol-Based Sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol percentage prove more effective at fighting germs.

How long should you wash your hands?

According to a medical study, it is mandatory that you clean your hands for at least 20 seconds.

This 20 seconds washing routine should be done with the use of soap and water or a hand sanitizer.

Never be in a rush when lacing your hands with soap, produce as much larger as you can, hum along with the Happy Birthday song, you wouldn’t know when you hit the time frame.

How to wash your hands?

Washing the hands is a necessity health routine but how you carry out the process is important.

If you must achieve a clean hand wash, the following instructions should be strictly followed.

1. Wet your hands with running water
2. Use a good soap (Plain or medicated) to lather.
3. Leave no skin on your hands untouched. Make sure you wash through your fingertips, fingernails, and in-between your hands (Interdigital Folds/Plica Interdigitalis)
4. Wash/scrub thoroughly and gently
5. Rinse Properly using running water
6. Dry your hands with a towel

After each wash, it is important you resist the urge to turn off the water using your bare hands. This is to avoid exposure of your hands with any germs that might be lying there. Wrap your hands with a towel, tissue, or paper as you turn off the water knob.

Hand Sanitizers VS Soap and Water

The use of a Hand Sanitizer is a quicker, and always available means of disinfecting your hands.

You might want to know between the sanitizers and soap and water which is more effective.

The use of both cleaning agents is a powerful method of killing germs and this doesn’t mean one lacks in terms of quality assurance purposes.

However, sanitizers do not kill all germs.

Alcohol-based hand sanitizers kill germs by destroying their external membrane but some viruses do not have an external membrane, making them resistant to sanitizers.

Viruses like Rotavirus and Norovirus are not affected by Hand Sanitizers.

Although the use of hand sanitizers should be placed on strict supervision.

The alcohol base makes hand Sanitizers highly flammable.

You are advised to always stay out of the fire during its use to avoid a fire burn.

The overall responsibility of every human being should cover living healthy and staying safe.

It is mandatory that you regularly wash not just your hands, but also your entire body.