The wrong way to wash hands, but many people often do it
To maintain personal hygiene, one of the most important ways to take is to wash your hands. This is important because hands are often an intermediary for disease transmission. What are the proper hand washing steps? Come on, see the review below to find out what is the proper and correct way to wash hands.
Why should you wash your hands?
There are many people who think that washing their hands frequently is a waste of their time.
However, they do not realize that the hands are a host of bacteria and viruses that cause infectious diseases.
Did you know that washing your hands regularly is the most important factor for maintaining good health? Why? Here’s why.
1. You can’t see germs
The properties of bacteria, germs, and viruses are indeed microscopic. That means, you cannot see these microorganisms with the naked eye.
These microorganisms are scattered everywhere, including the objects closest to you, which are likely contaminated. Starting from smartphone, laptops, desks, shoes, and bags.
Germs can also stick to your hands from the various activities you do. Whether it’s by sneezing, coughing, or engaging in contact with animals.
For this reason, it is important that you know the proper way to wash your hands, because germs are scattered everywhere even if you don’t see them.
2. Prevent the spread of germs
The process of transferring germs can take place quickly, either from person to person or indeed from contaminated objects.
If they have entered the inside of the body, there is a possibility that they will interfere with the immune system or immune system.
This will usually make you sick due to the reaction of an infection in the body by bacteria, germs, or viruses.
One of the effective ways to stay healthy is to know how to wash your hands properly.
However, hands are often used to touch other parts of the body. Without feeling you will touch your cheek, mouth, nose, or eyes. If your hands are dirty, germs can spread very quickly.
If you use proper hand hygiene techniques, you can kill germs and prevent them from spreading.
Some of the diseases that are at risk of spreading if you don’t clean your hands properly are:
- Influenza
- Typhus
- Hepatitis A
- Indigestion
- Worms
- COVID-19
How to wash hands properly
After knowing the importance of maintaining hand hygiene, now you need to understand how to take proper hand hygiene.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, here are the times you should wash your hands:
- Before, during and after preparing food
- Before eating
- Caring for someone who is sick, especially with vomiting or diarrhea
- Treat wounds, before and after
- After going to the toilet
- When changing a baby’s diaper
- After touching animals, feeding animals, and touching animal waste
- After touching animal food
- After touching trash
- When your hands look dirty or oily
- After being clean, coughing and blowing your nose
When washing your hands, it is best to use soap and water. Soap with antiseptic or antibacterial content is more effective at killing germs than regular soap.
The following are the recommended steps for washing hands using soap:
- Wet your hands with clean running water
- Use an adequate amount of antiseptic soap
- Scrub your hands for at least 20 seconds
- Make sure you scrub all parts of your hands, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and under your nails
- Rinse the soap thoroughly
- Dry your hands with a clean towel
When you have trouble finding water and soap, you can use hand sanitizer as an alternative. Choose a hand sanitizer that is at least 60% alcohol.
The wrong way to wash hands, but is often done by many people
It is important to adopt a hand washing habit. Unfortunately, there are still many people who clean their hands with the wrong method, such as the following:
1. Do not use running water
Apart from not using soap, many people also like to wash their hands with running water. Examples are like sticking your hands into the water in a container such as a bucket, scoop, or small bowl.
Usually, this action you often do when eating at a place to eat lesehan. Feeling lazy to wash your hands from tap water and feeling hungry, sometimes make you prefer to wash your hands from cold water.
Even if your hands have been exposed to water and you have squeezed your fingers, cleaning your hands this way does not make your hands really hygienic.
2. Wash hands with water only
Maybe you are one of the many people who wash their hands with only water.
Don’t get me wrong, just cleaning your hands with running water isn’t effective for removing bacteria that stick to the skin, you know.
Water only carries some germs or bacteria, it doesn’t actually kill all dirt, especially if your hands are handled or exposed to dirty objects. The number and variety of germs and bacteria will certainly be more.
3. Wash hands with plain soap
Apart from using running water, good hand cleaning should be done with soap.
Water will only wash away a few germs but not kill them. You can choose an antiseptic soap for hand washing.
This type of soap has a special content that can kill germs. So, your hands will be cleaner and free from dirt and germs.
Avoid cleaning your hands with dish soap, especially if you have sensitive skin types or have skin problems.
4. Only rub the palms of the hands
Yes, everyone knows that when cleaning your hands, you need to rub the palms of your hands.
The problem is, are you sure that germs are only in the palms of your hands? How about between your fingers and nails?
You need to know that germs like to hide in places that are difficult to reach, of course, between fingers and nails.
If you wash your hands by rubbing only the palms of your hands, the germs that are hiding between your nails will not be removed.
You want to make sure to scrub the entire area of your hands until they become lather. Rubbing antiseptic soap until it lathers is key to removing dirt, oil, and microbes that stick to the skin.
5. Wash your hands too soon
After using an antiseptic soap and rinsing with running water, surely you think that the method of washing your hands is good and correct.
In fact, if you only clean your hands for a while, it is not yet effective at killing germs. As a result, not all germs are killed and still stick to the hands.
Effective hand washing takes about 20 seconds in a scrubbing motion of an antiseptic soap and rinsing under running water. So, from now on, don’t clean your hands too briefly, OK.
Hello Health Group does not provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment.
