Content
- Why wash?
- How to wash? Step-by-step instruction.
- Little nuances
In the course of research, scientists found out where the maximum number of bacteria lives on the human body, including harmful ones. Leaders were, oddly enough, hair and – quite predictable! – Hands. With proper hand hygiene, the risk of serious illness with the help of bacteria is reduced.
Why wash?
It has been established that about 840 thousand different types of microorganisms are hiding in the hands of an average person. Most of them are located under the nails, on the side of the palms, and also in skin folds, where moisture and heat are retained. And this company is replenished all the time. Scientists estimate that, on average, the hands of a person working in an office during the day are in contact with 10,000,000 different bacteria found on door handles, handrails of public transport, packaged products in a supermarket, paper and metallic money, etc. And these bacteria are living creatures and from the limbs of one clerk easily migrate to the palms of his colleagues, spreading, among other things, any infection.
A lot of infection. According to experts of the World Health Organization, dirty hands annually claim at least several thousand lives: people die from dysentery or other infections that are literally transmitted “from hand to hand.” So regular washing of the upper limbs is not only a boring exercise, but also, perhaps, saving someone’s life.
How to wash? Step-by-step instruction.
It may seem ridiculous, but physiologists argue that many people simply do not know how to properly wash their hands. Meanwhile, there are quite clear instructions on this. Check: do you clean the feathers correctly?
- Step number 1: open the tap with water.
- Step # 2: apply soap (preferably liquid) on your hands and thoroughly lather them.
- Step number 3: soap the handle of the crane.
- Step 4: wash the tap handle and wash the foam off your hands.
- Step number 5: repeat the procedure for washing hands, carefully treating the palms from the inside, side and back.
- Step number 6: process the nails, trying to “rub” soap suds under them as much as possible.
- Step number 7: massage the skin with foam for at least 20-30 seconds.
- Step # 8: Wash off the soap thoroughly.
- Step number 9: close the tap.
- Step 10: dry your hands with a towel or dry them with a hairdryer.
Or the option of proper hand washing in the picture:
Little nuances
Wash without soap is useless. Water is not able to destroy germs, therefore, rinsing the palm of your hand under the tap, you can get rid of physically visible dirt.
The more foam from the soap, the better. Foam is a bubble with air surrounded by films of soap molecules (surfactants) that perform the main function of cleansing dirt. In other words, lather mechanically removes impurities.
WHO statistics say that a third of the world’s inhabitants wash their hands with soap — the rest are, at best, limited to rinsing.
It is possible to use sand and ashes for washing of hands. These substances are a good alternative to soap: their alkaline composition is excellent in fighting bacteria. This washing option is in the recommendations of even the World Health Organization.
Water should be warm (25-40 ° C). In colder liquids, soap cope with the bacteria less effectively. And hot “al-two-o” is not good at all: it dries out and damages the skin, increasing the risk of penetration of harmful bacteria under it.
Be sure to wipe (or dry) hands dry. According to research results, microbes cling to wet skin much more actively than to dry ones. Therefore, if, after having washed out his hands, immediately take up the doorknob with a wet palm, a decent colony of bacteria will immediately settle on it; if the same operation is performed with a dry hand, then the bacteria on it will be much less.
Not worth part with the wash . Doctors recommend to “bathe” palms no more than once every 2-3 hours. The fact is that, in addition to pathogenic bacteria, useful microelements that protect our body live on the hands. With excessively frequent washing there is a risk of thinning the skin and destroying them. In addition, frequent contact with detergents can provoke cracks on the skin through which infections will enter the body.
Hand washing favorably affects the psyche . According to psychologists, our subconscious mind perceives this hygienic procedure as a purification from physical as well as from moral and spiritual dirt. Therefore, regular hand washing helps to increase optimism and improve mood.