Neighbor News
How Long Should You Wash Your Hands?
Research has shown 84 -95% of people do not wash their hands long enough to properly remove germs.
Hand washing is an important factor for maintaining good health. Good hand washing practices will reduce the spread of pathogens, colds and the flu.
The key to hand washing is to perform it correctly and for an adequate amount of time.
Statistics indicate that after using the bathroom, 7% of women and 15% of men didn't even wash their hands.
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While hand washing prevents the spread of infection, excessive hand washing may increase your risk of infection. By constantly washing your hands, you can remove the protective oils from your skin and dry out your skin. Red, raw and chapped hands can easily pick up an infection.
Antibacterial soap are not necessary and on top of that they are not healthy. The US government banned Triscolan and 18 other chemicals that were in anti-bacterial soaps. Anti-bacterial soaps help to produce super-infections, which nobody wants to encounter.
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Research shows regular soap is just as effective and does not promote antibiotic resistance as does antibacterial soap.
For truly effective hand washing to for disease control, consider the following guidelines:
- Use warm, running water and a mild soap. You do NOT need antibacterial soap, and this has been scientifically verified. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated,"There is currently no evidence that [antibacterial soaps] are any more effective at preventing illness than washing with plain soap and water."
- Start with wet hands, add soap and work up a good lather, all the way up to your wrists, scrubbing for at least 15 or 20 seconds (most people only wash for about six seconds). A good way to time this is to sing the "Happy Birthday" song twice.
- Make sure you cover all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, between your fingers and around and below your fingernails.
- Rinse thoroughly under running water.
- Thoroughly dry your hands, ideally using a paper towel. In public places, also use a paper towel to open the door as a protection from germs that the handles may harbor.