Disease Prevention: Handwashing

Frequent hand washing is one of the most important steps you can take to keep yourself healthy and prevent the spread of disease. Simple and inexpensive, washing your hands reduces your contact with harmful bacteria and cuts down on the amount of germs that are passed from person to person.

Importance

• As you go about your daily life, your hands pick up germs from everything that they come into contact with. When you touch your mouth, nose or eyes without first washing your hands, you can infect yourself with these germs. You can also spread these germs to other people, by touching them or by touching surfaces that they later come into contact with. The flu, the common cold and many infectious gastrointestinal diseases are often spread in this manner. By washing your hands frequently, you help to reduce the prevalence of these diseases as well as others that are spread though hand-to-hand contact.

When to Wash

• You should wash your hands after every encounter with an excessive amount of bacteria as well as before you do anything that could introduce these germs into your body. For instance, you must wash your hands: after using the bathroom; before eating or preparing food; after blowing your nose or coughing or sneezing into your hand; after touching animals; and after changing a diaper. If you visit someone who is ill, you should also wash your hands both before and after seeing him. Use common sense in deciding when else to wash your hands. For instance, washing your hands after shaking hands with a lot of people or going to the gym are both smart ideas.

How to Wash

• If possible, use warm water to wash your hands. Apply soap (either liquid or bar) and rub your hands together to create a lather. Scrub your hands for 15 to 20 seconds, making sure to clean all surfaces of your hands. Rinse thoroughly, then dry your hands on a clean towel.

Antibacterial soaps

• Although antibacterial soaps are very popular, soap that is not antibacterial is a better choice for everyday hand washing. If you wash properly, regular soap will clean your hands just as well as antibacterial soap. The use of antibacterial soap may actually be detrimental: According to the New York Times, antibacterial soaps and other antibacterial household products may contribute to the creation of bacteria that is resistant to traditional antibiotics.

Hand Sanitizers

• If soap and water aren't available, you can use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer to clean your hands. Put a dime-sized amount on your hand, then rub your hands together until the sanitizer evaporates, making sure to spread the sanitizer over all surfaces of your hands. Keeping a small bottle of hand sanitizer in your car, purse or backpack is a good way to ensure that you'll clean your hands when you need to even if water isn't readily available.