Hello World! Welcome Friends! There is little doubt that we live in strange times. While cleanliness has always been important to prevent the spread of disease, it has taken on new meaning in a world that is struggling to deal with the COVID-19 outbreak.
The result is increased handwashing and hand sanitizer. But, are they both effective against COVID-19 and other diseases? Is one better than the other?
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Using Hand Sanitizers
Hand sanitizers are convenient. They usually come in small bottles that can be slipped into your pocket or a bag. This means that you can use them anywhere, a big bonus when many public hand-washing facilities and toilets are no longer available.
Hand sanitizer is good at killing bacteria on your hands. It should be noted that the best sanitizers are those with either 60% ethanol or 70% isopropanol.
Using hand sanitizer is also easy, simply put a small amount on your hands and rub your hands together for at least 20 seconds. You must then allow them to air dry.
However, there are concerns that overuse of hand sanitizer can kill all the bacteria on your hand, making humans more susceptible to other infections.
This is why most experts recommend hand sanitizers to be used when it’s not possible to wash your hands. They are effective but can dry your skin and potentially reduce your immunity levels.
Washing Hands With Soap
This is generally acknowledged to be the best approach. But, as mentioned, it’s not as practical as hand sanitizers, which is why you need to do both.
It’s also important to wash your hands properly!
This means wetting your hands first and then adding liquid soap to them or rubbing them thoroughly around a bar of soap. You need to rub the soap into every part of your hand and keep rubbing. It’s important to use the soap for at least 20 seconds. Many governments recommend you sing the alphabet song at the same time as this takes approximately 20 seconds.
You can then rinse your hands thoroughly under running water. Of course, the real test is drying them. Clean paper towels are best as there is no risk of cross-contamination. Using towels and hot air dryers are more likely to spread bacteria, returning it to your hands.
If paper towels aren’t available then let your hands air dry.
When To Wash
The average person touches their face at least 23 times per hour. That’s a lot of times when you could be transferring bacteria to your face and into your respiratory system.
To help reduce your risk you should wash your hands after using the bathroom, before eating, when preparing food, and after tending to the needs of a sick person. It’s also important to wash them after changing a diaper, handling trash, blowing your nose, or touching a surface that is commonly touched by many other people.
Final Thoughts
It’s almost impossible to ensure your hands are perfectly clean all the time. However, washing them properly and using hand sanitizer when this isn’t possible will reduce the risk of infection. Along with other sensible precautions it will help to keep you healthy.
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