Washing your hands several times a day is an indispensable barrier gesture to reduce the transmission of viruses and limit infections (flu, gastro, covid …). How to do it effectively? How many times ? How long ? Technician.
Hand washing is one of the barrier gestures the essential of every day to reduce the transmission of the virus such as those of the flu, gastro, Covid-19 … Daily hand hygiene is a bulwark against daily infections. Whether they are viral or bacterial, they have in common that they are transmitted from individual to individual through the hands: with them we flush the toilet, we put them in the mouth, on the face, we rub our eyes, they are in contact with several hundred objects during the day. , including actual nests of bacteria. On average, our hand comes into contact with our face up to 3,000 times a dayremember the government.
How to wash your hands well?
- First of all with soap and water.
- Wet your hands thoroughly.
- Apply enough soap and rub palm to palm with a twisting motion.
- Then the back of the left hand back and forth with the palm of the right hand and vice versa.
- Then the spaces between the fingers, palm to palm, fingers intertwined in a movement from front to back.
- Then the back of the fingers holding them in the palms of the opposite hands with a back and forth motion.
- Wash your hands during 30 seconds in all.
- It is necessary to rub enough between the fingers and under the nails to eliminate all germs but also the fingertips, palms and the outside of the hands, joints and wrists.
- Rinse your hands with water and dry them.
How to wash your hands against Covid?
Against Covid, the government recommends always wash your hands :
- after taking public transport (bus, car, train, metro), arriving at the office or at home;
- after each outing;
- after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing;
- before and after taking care of a child;
- before preparing, serving or eating meals.
When to wash your hands?
- Before preparing the food.
- Before and after taking care of the baby (who has a penchant for catching anything around), returning from the park. Generally raging since October, childhood bronchiolitis is, for example, a benign infection that can be avoided thanks to simple hygienic precautions.
Less than a third of men wash their hands after taking public transport.
- Wash your hands when leaving public transport, etc. it may seem obvious but not everyone does. A Ifop study released in February 2020 revealed this less than a third of men wash their hands after taking public transport compared to 42% of women. Likewise, barely two in three men (68%) wash their hands systematically after using the bathroom (versus 75% of women). In public places caution is generally advised: toilets, supermarket shopping trolleys, public transport, elevator buttons, etc.
- After blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing, after visiting a sick person,
- After each outing.
- When you arrive at the office or at home.
- After going to the bathroom.
Germs are everywhere and also in your pocket: mobile phone (which contains 20,900 microbes per cm²!), computer keyboard, mouse, etc. So many materials that are rarely cleaned. A small figure to realize: the office table would contain 3,249 bacteria per cm² against 8 bacteria per cm²; on the toilet seat. Little tip: make sure you are wearing a antibacterial gel.
Frequent washing with pH8 soap and hydroalcoholic gel destroys this lipid protection, causing dryness, cracking and erosions.
How long should hand washing take?
Effective hand washing should be done for 30 seconds, recommends Santé Publique France.
With what to dry your hands?
In winter, the hand dryer meets some success thanks to the guaranteed heating. Still, there would be up to 87% more germs on the hands after drying hands with this type of system. As for the towel, if it is dirty or wet, it will nullify the cleaning effect of hand washing. So, yes to the towel, as long as it is clean and dry. And if not, dry your hands in the open air or with a disposable paper towel.
How to avoid dry hands?
In the midst of the Covid-19 epidemic, the multi-day use of soap with basic pH and hydroalcoholic gel, whose alcohol concentration must be between 60 and 95% according to the WHO, alters the lipid film and the microbiome present on the surface of the skin, explains the Academy of Medicine in a December 2020 press release. “The cells of the superficial layers of the skin (corneocytes) are protected on their surface by a hydrolipidic film produced by the sebaceous glands and by the corneocytes themselves. Furthermore, between the corneocytes there is an intercellular space rich in lipids, in particular ceramides. Frequent washing with pH8 soap and hydroalcoholic gel destroys this lipid protection, causing dryness, cracking and erosions. The resident flora of the skin is also altered and can no longer play its protective role in the mechanisms of innate immunity, which leads to inflammation, skin erythema or even eczematization. It is recommended do not rub your hands during professional, domestic or do-it-yourself workand’avoid prolonged use of gloves. WHO recommends the use of:
- emollients and moisturizers several times a day,
- soap (bar or cleansing gel) with pH close to that of the skin (from 5.5 to 6.5), fragrance-free and antibacterial for hand washing,
- from healing creams in case of cracks or erosions.
The rubbing of the hands
- stronger drug treatments: corticosteroids topical for the most serious cases of eczematous lesions, dyshidrosis, contact dermatitis, ensuring the absence of bacterial superinfection; antihistamines to relieve itching.
Which song for a long enough wash?
For children, it might be smart to invite them to sing “happy birthday” twice wash your hands long enough.
Sources: Barrier gestures, updated 09/21/2022.
Respect barrier gestures without sacrificing your hands. Press release of the National Academy of Medicine. December 14, 2020
