Tweet
Do you wash your hands with soap at least five times every day? Then you’re part of a surprising—maybe too surprising—majority. Fifty-four percent of 12,000 respondents to a new survey by Lysol said they wash their hands with soap five or more times a day.
Either the least hygienic or the most honest, only 38.5 percent of students reported washing five times a day. Which still puts them ahead of the curve: A 2010 study by the American Society for Microbiology found that only one-third of men wash their hands after using a public bathroom—save five times a day.
Women were one-and-a-half times as likely to report good personal hygiene than men, and people with kids were twice as likely to report good household hygiene than people without kids.
Regardless of how frequently you wash your hands, scrubbing up more can only be good for you. You’re 24 percent less likely to contract a cold and 50 percent less likely to come down with an upset stomach if you wash your hands more, according to the World Health Organization.“Handwashing is one of the most—if not the most—important way to protect yourself from infections,” says Yves Longtin, M.D., FRCP, an associate professor at Quebec’s Université Laval. “Most infections are acquired by touching other people, animals, or surfaces that harbor harmful microbes. Then we contaminate the food we ingest or contaminate our faces when we touch them.”
Next time you’re at the sink, try these tips from Dr. Longtin and Sarah Eden, R.N., BScN, CIC, a regional infection control network coordinator with Public Health Ontario, to ensure that you’re actually making your scrub count:
Soap for 30 Seconds: It may seem excessive, but soaping for 30 seconds is 99 percent effective in killing hand germs. Practically, if you soap for 30 seconds, you’re also less likely to miss critical, but overlooked, areas of your hands that are hotbeds for bacteria, particularly your fingertips and finger webbings.
Pat Dry: No one likes waiting around for a hand-dryer to actually “dry” your hands, so thankfully drying with a towel is more effective for removing germs. The friction of rubbing a towel on your hands will physically remove microorganisms, while a dryer will blast germs off your hands and into the public air. A University of Westminster study found that electric dryers actually increased bacteria by 194 percent on finger pads and 254 percent on palms. Towel drying reduced bacteria 76 percent on the finger pads and 77 percent on the palms.
Use a Sanitizer: If, for whatever reason, you can’t wash your hands at a sink, use a waterless hand sanitizer that contains either ethanol or propanol. Alcohol can reliably kill most bacterial pathogens as well as viruses, if you rub for 15 seconds. And not only is hand sanitizing more convenient—it’s also 10 times more effective. Make sure it contains more than 60 percent alcohol, but less than 80 percent. Purell is always a good bet.
Either the least hygienic or the most honest, only 38.5 percent of students reported washing five times a day. Which still puts them ahead of the curve: A 2010 study by the American Society for Microbiology found that only one-third of men wash their hands after using a public bathroom—save five times a day.
Women were one-and-a-half times as likely to report good personal hygiene than men, and people with kids were twice as likely to report good household hygiene than people without kids.
Regardless of how frequently you wash your hands, scrubbing up more can only be good for you. You’re 24 percent less likely to contract a cold and 50 percent less likely to come down with an upset stomach if you wash your hands more, according to the World Health Organization.
Next time you’re at the sink, try these tips from Dr. Longtin and Sarah Eden, R.N., BScN, CIC, a regional infection control network coordinator with Public Health Ontario, to ensure that you’re actually making your scrub count:
Soap for 30 Seconds: It may seem excessive, but soaping for 30 seconds is 99 percent effective in killing hand germs. Practically, if you soap for 30 seconds, you’re also less likely to miss critical, but overlooked, areas of your hands that are hotbeds for bacteria, particularly your fingertips and finger webbings.
Pat Dry: No one likes waiting around for a hand-dryer to actually “dry” your hands, so thankfully drying with a towel is more effective for removing germs. The friction of rubbing a towel on your hands will physically remove microorganisms, while a dryer will blast germs off your hands and into the public air. A University of Westminster study found that electric dryers actually increased bacteria by 194 percent on finger pads and 254 percent on palms. Towel drying reduced bacteria 76 percent on the finger pads and 77 percent on the palms.
Use a Sanitizer: If, for whatever reason, you can’t wash your hands at a sink, use a waterless hand sanitizer that contains either ethanol or propanol. Alcohol can reliably kill most bacterial pathogens as well as viruses, if you rub for 15 seconds. And not only is hand sanitizing more convenient—it’s also 10 times more effective. Make sure it contains more than 60 percent alcohol, but less than 80 percent. Purell is always a good bet.
Comment