Washing your hands should be a simple task, yet some people are to lazy to do it. Plenty of students on campus have struggled with the sickness that has been going around. Maybe if some of us took the time to wash their hands the sickness wouldn’t be able to spread as easy. How long should you wash your hands though? How many times a day should you wash your hands and not just after using the bathroom?

Washing your hands prevents the spread of a variety of things. Washing your hands before and after activities can reduce the chance of you and others getting sick. When should you wash your hands? As a pet owner myself and I know I’m not alone on this should always wash their hands after handling pets. I’m guilty of this and I don’t think about it to often. Also with students being sick it is very important to wash your hands after blowing your nose or coughing. I’m sure some of us have all been in a class where it sounds like everyone is coughing and it wouldn’t hurt to just wash your hands after you leave that class to help prevent germs and other things that could potentially make you sick.

My blog title is about how long you should wash your hands and yes, it does seem a little bit childish but at the same time I know we have all seen people take very little time doing this. Make sure you are washing your hands with clean water to start out with. Water temperature can either be hot or cold. I for one always prefer hot water when doing so. Next you need to be sure to lather up your hands. When lathering up your hands though you need to be sure to get between your fingernails and in between your fingers as well. At least 20 seconds is recommended for washing your hands! Sing your favorite song in your head for a little bit if you need a timer on that. You can dry your hands with a clean towel or air dry.

I know some of the bathrooms on campus sometimes run out of paper towels so it wouldn’t hurt to have a small bottle of hand sanitzer on you just in case. Just note hand santizers do not eliminate all germs. I previously stated ways to help eliminate germs but what is the science behind all of this? Studies have shown no health benefits regarding using either antibacterial type of sanitizers and just using regular soap. Even when turning off the faucet yes it saves water but there is very little studies that have proven the transfer of germs between the hands and the faucet. Using soap instead of just water is very important. Studies have proven that using soap will lift more oils out and microbes. Also when we use soap we always tend to scrub a little more to help remove even more germs. I also learned there really is no difference when using hot or cold water. I said I usually prefer hot water when washing my hands but using hot water can cause skin irritation. I previously said that washing your hands is a simple task but we all need to make sure it is done the right way.

http://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HandWashing/

http://wonderopolis.org/wonder/why-do-you-need-to-wash-your-hands/