Healthy Geezer

HEALTHY GEEZER Prepare for the new age of handwashing

All the health officials tell us to wash our hands to fight the coronavirus.

Handwashing is the best and simplest way to prevent infection and illness, but it must be done properly and often to be effective. Washing your hands with soap and water works well; however, the correct technique is to: • Wet your hands with warm, running water. • Rub on soap and make a thick lather. • Scrub vigorously over every surface of your hands and wrists for about 20 seconds. • Use a scrub brush to get under your fingernails. • Rinse completely. • Dry your hands with a disposable paper towel or air dryer. • Use the paper towel to turn off the faucet.

Soap and water are more effective than alcohol-based hand sanitizing gels in killing certain types of bacteria and viruses that cause disease. Infectious diseases that are commonly spread by our hands include colds, flu and gastrointestinal disorders.

If you clean your hands with hand sanitizers, apply the gel to one palm. Rub your hands together and spread the sanitizer on all surfaces until dry. The gel doesn’t need water to work; the alcohol in sanitizers kills the germs on your hands.

Not all hand sanitizers are the same. You should use only sanitizers that contain at least 60 percent alcohol.

Antibacterial soaps, which are different from alcohol-based sanitizers, are no better at killing germs than regular soap. The combination of scrubbing your hands with soap—antibacterial or not—and rinsing them with water loosens and removes bacteria from your hands.

When should you wash your hands? Here’s a list of some important instances in which you should always wash your hands: • Before and after preparing food • Before eating • After going to the bathroom • After changing a diaper • After touching animals • Before and after treating wounds • After blowing your nose • After coughing or sneezing into your hands • Before and after touching a sick or injured person • After handling garbage • Before inserting or removing contact lenses

It’s important to wash frequently, because we collect germs on our hands during the entire day from most objects we touch. We can infect ourselves by touching our eyes, noses or mouths with infected hands. We can also infect others by touching them or objects they touch. ■

HEALTHY GEEZER BY FRED CICETTI Send your general health questions to the Healthy Geezer in care of the BEACON, or email him directly at Fred@HealthyGeezer.com