Hands Off!

It is so frustrating when you keep getting sick and can't figure out why. But did you know that the culprit might be your very own hands? There are millions of disease-causing bacteria from hundreds of different species happily residing on your hands!

Hand washing is the single most important step in preventing the spread of diseases. Since your hands come in contact with nearly any bodily fluid that you might have, not to mention other sources of germs, it is extremely important to wash them often. We all use our hands much more frequently than we realize and they come into contact with millions of germs a day.

Knowing how to properly wash your hands is not as easy as many people think. Do you think you wash your hands enough? Are you doing it properly? Below is a step-by-step guide on how to wash your hands effectively so you know that you are minimizing your risk of catching and spreading illnesses.

1. Turn on water, preferably to a warm, comfortable temperature. Hot water is not necessary. You just want to wash away the germs, not necessarily kill them and scald your hands in the process.

2. Use any soap you fancy. Antibacterial soaps have not been proven to be more effective than regular soap.

3. Lather and rub hands together for at least 20 seconds. (My friend, Shawn Umsted, suggests singing the "Happy Birthday" song twice while lathering to thoroughly get rid of germs).

4. Be sure to wash well between fingers and under nails, you can use a nail brush but it is not necessary.

5. Rinse all soap off your hands.

6. Dry your hands completely using clean hand towels or paper towels. Getting hands completely dry is essential in the hand washing process. Wet hands are more likely than even dirty hands to carry germs.

7. Don’t use your freshly washed hands to turn off the faucet. Remember, you just turned it on with your dirty hands! Use paper towels to turn the faucet off, and then discard the towels in the garbage can.

While a good wash with soap and water is a great idea, remember though that over washing might lead to some unpleasant symptoms, not to mention inflamed and unsightly hands.