How To Wash Your Hands Correctly

Although it may seem simple, it is important to dedicate a minimum of time to hand washing and to do it thoroughly to eliminate viruses and bacteria and not take unnecessary risks

We are constantly in contact with viruses and bacteria. Most of them are “related” to the hands. Using public transport, taking money, typing on the computer keyboard, going to the bathroom … T All of these everyday activities expose us to disease. For this reason, in this article we explain how to wash your hands correctly.

Why should we sanitize our hands?

Everything is full of germs. Perhaps this statement may sound a bit exaggerated, but it is the truth. The problem is not so much that they stay in our hands, but rather that they enter our body when we eat, touch our faces or rub our eyes.

This study explains that for more than 150 years, advances in medicine have managed to converge on a few simple points, but one of these is in the amount of germs to which we are exposed on a daily basis and that pass largely through our hands.

It was not a whim of your elders when you were a child and they told you that you should wash your hands before dinner or when you returned from the park. But, when you grow up, you have surely put that habit aside or you don’t do it as assiduously as you should.

Soap and water are the best “invention” for removing viruses and bacteria from your hands. Although there are currently thousands of products (such as alcohol gel), there is nothing more effective at getting rid of germs than a good wash.

It is through raw food (especially meat), the droplets that we expel when we sneeze and cough, or dirty and contaminated surfaces that harmful microorganisms settle on our hands.

Washing this part of the body prevents many diseases such as the common cold, colds or flu, but also other more serious pathologies such as, for example:

• Bronchiolitis
• Flu
• Meningitis
• Hepatitis A
• Infectious diarrhea
• Salmonellosis

We recommend reading: Prepare your own liquid soap and antibacterial hand gel at home

With the passing of the hours each day the hands are filled with germs. For this reason it is essential to sanitize them, since they allow us to do all our daily activities.

Wash your hands before:

• Eat
• Prepare food
• Treat wounds
• Administer or ingest medications
• Putting on or removing contact lenses
• Holding a baby

In addition, it is necessary to clean the hands after:

• Preparing food that has been raw (for example, meat or chicken).
• Go to the bathroom.
• Change a diaper.
• Handle waste bags.
• Sweep or clean the house.
• Touch an animal.
• Blow your nose
• Sneeze.
• Cough.
• To heal wounds.
• Handle cleaning products.
• Do garden chores.
• Touching footwear.
• Use the public transport.
• Come back from the street.
• Use the computer or leave work.

• Using money or credit cards.
• Touching dirty surfaces.

Steps to wash your hands properly

We may think that this activity or habit is very simple and we don’t need a tutorial to tell us how to do it right. However, we often make a lot of mistakes when we wash our hands.

It is vital that they are as clean as possible without falling into the phobia of not being able to do anything without running to the bathroom to clean or being constantly with the disinfectant killing germs.

Maintaining this habit will promote good personal health and also that of everyone around you, whether at home, at work or wherever you are.

The steps to properly wash your hands are:

1. Wet your hands

Turn on the tap and let the water warm up before wetting your hands. It is not enough that the water is hot, because that alone does not eliminate bacteria and can even cause skin irritation when in contact with certain highly perfumed soaps.

Experts indicate that the ideal water temperature is between 20 and 37 ° C. This will begin to eliminate surface microorganisms.

2. Using the soap

You can choose between the bar or the liquid soap. It is recommended that you use one that does not have too much perfume so as not to damage the dermis. It doesn’t have to be antibacterial to do its job.

Remember that the function of a soap is to remove microorganisms and anyone can do it.

Rub vigorously without hurting. Wash the palms, the back and the wrists. Follow through the fingers and nails. Finish with the spaces between the fingers.

This procedure should take about 20 seconds. If you want you can close the tap to save water. Make as much foam as you can.

3. Brush your nails

It is not necessary to do it every time we wash our hands, but it does need to be done once a day or if the situation requires it. For example, if we have we are with the plants in the garden or we discover dirt in the area.

In the case that you brush your nails, do it with a special instrument and with a little soap. It rubs with force but without hurting. Be careful if you have any wound, cut or blister.

We recommend you read: 8 ways to keep your nails beautiful naturally

4. Rinse hands

Turn on the tap if you had turned it off and place your hands underneath. Remove the soap completely until rubbing them against each other is no slippery. If at the end of this process you realize that there is still dirt, you should repeat it.

To turn off the tap, we advise you to use a towel, some toilet paper or a handkerchief (don’t forget that you have opened it with dirty hands).

5. Dry your hands

If you are at home there is no problem to do it with a towel. However, if you are in a public bathroom or a place shared with other people (for example, at work) it would be better to bring your own towel or to dry yourself with paper.

If you prefer the first option, wash it weekly and let it air out. Do not use it if it is wet, as it may have developed fungi that will automatically pass onto your hands.