Thank you for washing

With the current concerns over Coronavirus, COVID-19, infection, or for that matter any year during cold and flu season, keeping one’s hands free of infectious agents is a concern. For many people, this means multiple squirts of alcohol based hand sanitizer, one popular brand is Purell, throughout the day. Shortages on store shelves attest to the popularity of this product and its use. But you don’t need to use hand sanitizer, and there are problems associated with frequent applications of this type of product. What you do need to do, what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) recommends you do is just

Wash Your Hands!

Washing hands with soap and water is clearly the best way to cleanse your hands of debris and pathogens. Studies have shown the effectiveness of such handwashing, and professionals include handwashing as part of a routine health care practice. We all remember being told to wash hands as children, and some of us even followed the advice. But now, more than every, it is important to make this part of our daily routine.

All you need is soap and water. Any soap is fine, it does not have to be an antibacterial soap. It can be inexpensive hand soap, fancy smelly soap, or liquid soap that you pump from a bottle. And while washing your hands in warm water is more comfortable, cold water can be used as well, if that is what is available. It is the action of the washing, not the temperature of the water, that is important.

Just to be clear on how to accomplish this miracle of cleansing, first wet your hands with clean water – hot, warm or cold. Then use bar or liquid soap to lather up your hands – front, back, between your fingers and under your nails. Scrub away all that grime and germs for about twenty seconds – sing “Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear right hand, happy birthday to you,” and then repeat it for the left hand. Sounds banal, but the timing works out and it might just make you smile. Rinse off the soap and stuff with clean water and dry your hands with a clean towel or air dryer. Was that so difficult?

When should you wash your hands? Well, obviously, when they are dirty, but also whenever there is a chance to infect yourself or others. So any action which involves food or drink, such as preparing, serving, or eating food, should be done with clean hands. Often, food preparation includes opportunities for contamination, such as with raw poultry, which requires hand washing even while preparing food. Exposure to feces or urine, your own, a child or child’s diapers, or someone for whom you are caring, should be followed by a good hand washing. If you are ill, after that cough or sneeze, or after throwing away used tissues or such, wash those hands. Pets, pet food, or pet excrement are also triggers for washing, as would be just taking out the garbage. In short, if there is any chance that your hands harbor pathogens or germs, wash them.

Now, a word about hand sanitizer, since I know that in the back of your mind you want to do a squirt and avoid all that “Happy Birhday” stuff with your hands. That said, let’s have a look at the stuff. The CDC points our that hand sanitizers do not get rid of all types of germs, and may not be effective with dirty or greasy hands. Having said that, if you have no other option, it may be your best bet until you can get to soap and water and wash. But, be aware that there are several types of sanitizers. While most on the market use alcohol as their active ingredient, and you need at least 60% alcohol to be effective, some products use other agents, such as triclosan. There are a variety of reports about triclosan, ranging from allowing bacterial to develop resistance to real physical side effects that it can produce in suseptable individuals. It is best to avoid any such products.

And before you start squirting away, be aware that frequent use of hand sanitizer produces a dermatitis of the hands, which has been seen in hospital and other workers who use the stuff on a frequent basis. Somehow, I don’t think that red, cracked, painful hands would be the result you seek in using hand sanitizer. So if you do use it, use of some emoliant cream after application might help, as would periodic soap and water to remove any residual from the sanitizer.

Although it may seem trivial, do discuss this with your personal physician if you have any questions. We use our hands throughout the day, grabbing and touching objects and people that may be clean or not. Taking good care of them helps our health, and the health of others.