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.
