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Dec 10, 2021 · If you use a hand sanitizer, make sure the product contains at least 60% alcohol. Follow these steps: Apply the gel product to the palm of one hand. Check the label to find out the appropriate amount. Rub your hands together. Rub the gel over all the surfaces of your hands and fingers until your hands are dry.
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Hand-washing is an easy way to prevent infection. Understand...
- Cosmetic Surgery
- Overview
- How to wash your hands
- Does it matter what type of soap you use?
- When to wash your hands
- How to prevent dry or damaged skin
- What should you do if soap and water aren’t available?
- The bottom line
Washing your hands is an important step to not only your health but the health of your community.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), proper hand hygiene is vital to lowering infectious disease transmission.
In fact, research has shown that handwashing lowers the rates of certain respiratory and gastrointestinal infections up to 23 and 48 percent, respectively.
According to the CDC, washing your hands frequently is particularly important to help prevent the spread of the new coronavirus known as SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease known as COVID-19.
Steps to washing your hands properly
1.Wet your hands with clean — preferably running — water. 2.Apply enough soap to cover all surfaces of your hands and wrists. 3.Lather and rub your hands together briskly and thoroughly. Make sure to scrub all surfaces of your hands, fingertips, fingernails, and wrists. 4.Scrub your hands and wrists for at least 20 seconds. 5.Rinse your hands and wrists under clean — preferably running — water. 6.Dry your hands and wrists with a clean towel, or let them air-dry. 7.Use a towel to turn off the faucet. Was this helpful? The key to washing your hands is to make sure you thoroughly clean all surfaces and areas of your hands, fingers, and wrists. Here are more detailed handwashing steps recommended from the WHO. Follow them after you’ve wet your hands with water and soap. After you’ve completed these steps, you can rinse and dry your hands.
Plain soap is just as good at disinfecting your hands as over-the-counter antibacterial soaps. In fact, research has found that antibacterial soaps aren’t any more effective at killing germs than regular, everyday soaps.
In 2017, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) banned the use of the antibacterial agents triclosan and triclocarban. The reasons cited by the FDA for the ban of these agents included:
•antibacterial resistance
•systemic absorption
•endocrine (hormone) disruption
•allergic reactions
Washing your hands is particularly important when you’re in situations where you’re more likely to acquire or transmit germs. This includes:
•before, during, and after you prepare food
•before and after you:
•consume foods or drinks
•are exposed to someone with an infectious illness
•enter a hospital, doctor’s office, nursing home, or other healthcare setting
Dry, irritated, raw skin from frequent handwashing can raise the risk of infections. Damage to your skin can change the skin flora. This, in turn, can make it easier for germs to live on your hands.
To keep your skin healthy while maintaining good hand hygiene, skin experts suggest the following tips:
•Avoid hot water, and use a moisturizing soap. Wash with cool or lukewarm water. Hot water isn’t more effective than warm water, and it tends to be more drying. Opt for liquid (instead of bar) soaps that have a creamy consistency and include humectant ingredients, such as glycerin.
•Use skin moisturizers. Look for skin creams, ointments, and balms that help keep water from leaving your skin. These include moisturizers with ingredients that are:
•occlusive, such as lanolin acid, caprylic/capric triglycerides, mineral oil, or squalene
•humectants, such as lactate, glycerin, or honey
FDA Notice
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced recalls of several hand sanitizers due to the potential presence of methanol.
Methanol is a toxic alcohol that can have adverse effects, such as nausea, vomiting, or headache, when a significant amount is used on the skin. More serious effects, such as blindness, seizures, or damage to the nervous system, can occur if methanol is ingested. Drinking hand sanitizer containing methanol, either accidentally or purposely, can be fatal. See here for more information on how to spot safe hand sanitizers.
If you purchased any hand sanitizer containing methanol, you should stop using it immediately. Return it to the store where you purchased it, if possible. If you experienced any adverse effects from using it, you should call your healthcare provider. If your symptoms are life threatening, call emergency medical services immediately.
When handwashing isn’t feasible or your hands aren’t visibly soiled, disinfecting your hands with alcohol-based hand sanitizers can be a viable option.
Most alcohol-based hand sanitizers contain ethanol, isopropanol, n-propanol, or a mixture of these agents. The most effective antimicrobial activity comes from alcohol solutions with:
Hand hygiene is a simple, low cost, evidence-based intervention that can help protect your health and the health of others.
In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, governments and community leaders worldwide have called for rigorous and collective efforts to improve public hygiene practices such as handwashing.
Although washing your hands with plain soap and clean, running water is the preferred method for hand hygiene, using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol can also be an effective option.
Good hand hygiene isn’t a measure to be used only during pandemics and other disease outbreaks. It’s a time-tested intervention that needs to be practiced consistently and mindfully to have the greatest effect on individual, community, and global health.
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- World Health Organization
- Wash your hands when they are dirty. You can wash your hands any time you think they might be dirty, but there are certain situations where washing your hands is essential.
- Make sure to be washing for at least 20-30 seconds. If you want, you can wash even longer. 20-30 seconds is the rule of thumb so that you'll wash long enough to get rid of the germs.
- Get your hands wet with warm or cold water. Turn on your faucet and hold your hands underneath the stream of water to wet them. Make sure to get your palms and the backs of your hands completely wet so the soap spreads more evenly.
- Apply enough hand soap to cover your hands. Dispense a coin-sized amount of hand soap onto the palm of one of your hands. Then begin rubbing your hands together to lather the soap until it forms suds.
Apr 26, 2023 · Cover all the surfaces of your hands in soap. Rub the palms together to form a lather. Rub the palm of one hand over the back of the other hand, making sure to clean in between your fingers ...
- Jayne Leonard
Washing your hands properly with soap and running water can stave off illnesses that affect healthy people, as well as those with weakened immune systems. Handwashing can protect you from COVID-19 ...
Jun 5, 2023 · Water: It is essential to use clean, running water whenever possible. Dipping your hands in standing water may lead to more germs. Lather: Add soap and rub your hands to lather (make it foam). This helps to lift germs and debris from your hands. Scrub: Aim for at least 20 seconds; it is the magic number to remove and destroy germs.
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Feb 3, 2020 · Hand-washing is an easy way to prevent infection. Understand when to wash your hands, how to properly use hand sanitizer and how to get your children into the habit. Frequent hand-washing is one of the best ways to avoid getting sick and spreading illness. Find out when and how to wash your hands properly. When to wash your hands
