Hand Washing Isn't As Simple As You Think

Preventing illness by washing your hands

Hand washing is the best method to prevent the spread of illness. That’s great, right? It seems like an easy way to stay healthy. Just wet, soap, rinse, dry and go. The bad news is that only about 5% of people wash their hands long enough to kill germs, viruses and bacteria that cause infections, according to Michigan State University researchers.  That statistic is concerning and makes you wonder if people would be sick less often if we all practiced correct hand washing techniques.

Our hands touch everything. Doorknobs, cell phones, keys, pets, people, food, books, computers, glasses, money and the list goes on and on, so it’s easy to see how hands are great transporters of germs. Let’s not even think about the kind of germs that we expose ourselves to every day without realizing it. 

Consider this, you opened the door to exit a building and that building had 100 people before you exit the same way. How many of them used the restroom beforehand, touched that gross toilet flusher, and didn’t wash their hands afterwards? Or how many of them have a runny nose, no tissue, and find their hand is the next best thing? The odds are not in your favor. 

Are you using the correct hand washing method? It may seem like an uncomplicated task; even toddlers can do it but think again. Unless you follow the process below for hand washing, you really aren’t killing those germs; and therefore, not reducing the risk for illness.  Now I know why my nursing school instructors watched every student wash their hands, and we were tested on it, just like textbook exams.  Nurses certainly don’t want to spread germs from one patient to another. 

Let’s talk about the correct way to make sure your hands are clean after you wash them.

To get started, apply warm water to both hands, apply a generous amount of soap and begin scrubbing. Use a lot of friction to wash both sides of your hands, between your fingers, under and around your nails and up your wrist just about an inch. I know, I know…you are probably thinking “I’m not scrubbing up for the OR”, but there is science to this effective process. So, how long should you do this “OR scrub” for? The CDC says 20 seconds is the amount of time necessary to wash those germs away. 

Let’s get to know “20 seconds”. Look at the second hand on your watch or clock or set a timer on your cell phone for 20 seconds. You are probably realizing now that you don’t scrub that long. I’m not suggesting that you use a timer every time you wash your hands, but you can be creative by counting to 20 slowly, singing the happy birthday song twice, or saying the alphabet twice. You may get some strange looks if you do this out loud in a public restroom, but you might also get a good laugh.

After you washed your hands for 20 seconds, rinse your hands off and turn the faucet off with a paper towel. Why turn the faucet off with a paper towel? You had germs on your hands when you turned the faucet on. Those germs are waiting on the faucet to hitch a ride. If you put your clean hands on the dirty faucet, you just picked up the hitchhikers, and your happy birthday singing talents, have been for nothing. 

The next time you are around someone who is washing their hands, pay attention. I bet you will find those researchers were right.  The good news is that now you know the different between the right way and the wrong way to perform hand washing.