Lather Up for National Hand Washing Awareness Week

The power is in your hands when it comes to pre­vent­ing the flu. By prac­tic­ing basic hand wash­ing tech­niques you will pro­tect your­self regard­less of the peo­ple around you. Sure, it is a rou­tine that we often take for granted. But if you stop and think about exactly where your hands have been, you’ll give it way more thought next time you’re stand­ing in front of the sink.

Hand wash­ing is cru­cial to avoid­ing ill­nesses, includ­ing the win­ter colds and the dreaded flu. And with the first week of Decem­ber upon us, it is time to com­mem­o­rate National Hand Wash­ing Aware­ness Week.

So when should you wash your hands? Lather up with soap and water before han­dling food and eat­ing meals. Wash your hands before touch­ing your face, includ­ing your eyes, nose and mouth. The Mayo Clinic advises wash­ing your hands before remov­ing con­tact lenses, treat­ing wounds and touch­ing an injured or sick person.

You should also wash your hands after using the bath­room, cough­ing or sneez­ing and after being out and about in pub­lic places. After you fin­ish your hol­i­day shop­ping at the mall, head straight to the sink, for instance.

Now that we’ve estab­lished when to soap up, let’s talk about the proper rou­tine of how to wash your hands. Wet your hands with clean run­ning water and use the amount of soap equiv­a­lent to a tea­spoon. Clean under­neath your fin­ger­nails, the back of your hands and between your fin­gers. Scrub the edges of your fin­ger­nails on the palm of your hand in order to let the soapy water work its magic in the fingernails.

You should scrub vig­or­ously for at least 15 to 20 sec­onds. Singing “Happy Birth­day” twice while scrub­bing is an effec­tive indi­ca­tor of proper hand wash­ing tim­ing. Learn more about hand wash­ing from our very own Linda Rat­ner, here.

Be aware that your hands can become re-contaminated as soon as you come into con­tact with grimy sink faucets and bath­room door han­dles. Use paper tow­els as a pro­tec­tive bar­rier against bacteria.

Wash­ing your hands with soap and water is the best way to reduce the num­ber of germs on them. If soap and water are not avail­able, use an alcohol-based hand san­i­tizer that con­tains at least 60% alco­hol. Keep in mind that san­i­tiz­ers only reduce the num­ber of germs, but DO NOT elim­i­nate all types of germs.

We encour­age par­ents to advise their chil­dren to take an active role in learn­ing proper hand wash­ing tech­niques. Visit www.henrythehand.com to learn fun, cre­ative ways to teach your kids about the impor­tance of clean hands.

The 4 Prin­ci­ples of Hand Aware­ness (from Henry the Hand)

1. Wash your hands when they are dirty and BEFORE eating

2. DO NOT cough into your hands (Try using the crook of your elbow instead)

3. DO NOT sneeze into your hands (Try using the crook of your elbow instead)

4. Above all, DO NOT put your fin­gers into your eyes, nose or mouth

Bug Busters in Action

At Impact Urgent Care we will be launch­ing our Bug Buster pro­gram in Jan­u­ary to help kids learn proper hand wash­ing tech­niques. Con­tact our offices if you would like more infor­ma­tion about this pro­gram or would like for us to visit your school to per­form a Bug Buster demonstration.