Handwashing is considered a basic but extremely important care to prevent the transmission of disease, especially after being in heavily contaminated environments, such as a public restroom or hospital, for example.
Thus, washing your hands properly is very important to eliminate viruses and bacteria that may be on the skin and cause infections in the body. See other care needed to use the school bathroom, hotel or work without catching illness.
To wash your hands properly you should follow the steps indicated in this video:
8 steps to wash your hands properly
So, the 8 most important steps you should take to wash your hands include:
- Put soap and clean water in your hands;
- Rub the palm of each hand;
- Rub the tips of your fingers in the palm of your other hand;
- Rub between the fingers of each hand;
- Rub the thumb of each hand;
- Wash the back of each hand;
- Wash the cuffs of both hands;
- Dry with a clean towel or paper towel.
A good tip at the end of hand washing is to use the paper towel used to close the tap and avoid re-entering bacteria that have stayed on tap when opening the water.
When to wash your hands
You should wash your hands at least 3 times a day, but you should also always wash after using the bathroom and before eating because this prevents diseases like gastroenteritis that are caused by viruses that pass easily from one person to another through contamination fecal-oral.
Thus, to protect yourself and others, it is important to wash your hands:
- When preparing raw foods like salad or sushi ;
- After sneezing, coughing or tinkling in the nose;
- After touching animals or their waste;
- After stirring the trash;
- Before after changing the baby's or bedridden's diaper;
- Before and after visiting a sick person;
- Before and after touching wounds and
- Whenever the hands are apparently dirty.
Handwashing is especially suited for those who care for babies, bedridden people or the immune system weakened by AIDS or cancer treatment because these people are at a greater risk of getting sick, and it is more difficult to recover.
What type of soap should be used
The best soap for daily handwashing, whether at home, at school or at work, is the common soap. Antibacterial soaps are reserved for use in clinics and hospitals or when caring for someone with an infected wound, such as bedsores, which are common wounds in bedwomen.
Check out the recipe and learn how to make liquid soap using any bar soap.
Gel alcohol and disinfectants are not the best options for disinfecting hands on a daily basis, but in any case, it may be helpful to have a small pack of alcohol gel or antiseptic gel inside the bag to clean the toilet use at school or at work, before sitting down, for example.
