Each year National Handwashing Awareness Week is celebrated during the first week of December. This year it will be celebrated from December 1st through the 7th. It is the perfect opportunity to remind yourself and everybody else to take good hygiene practices seriously. Many diseases, bacteria, and viruses are spread by simply not washing hands with soap and water. One of the most important actions we can take to avoid spreading germs to others and getting ourselves sick is to maintain clean hands.
Tips for Healthy and Happy Hands
A quick rinse of our hands is not sufficient in preventing the spread of germs. Here are three handy tips to follow that lead to healthy, happy, and clean hands.
1 . Memorize the Five Steps
When washing your hands always utilize these five easy steps: wet, lather, scrub, rinse, dry. Applying these five steps is one of the most effective ways to rid all the germs from your hands.
2 . Do it Right
The CDC recommends washing your hands with soap and clean water for at least 20 seconds. They suggest humming the “Happy Birthday” song from beginning to end twice to equal the length of time needed to wash away the germs. It is critical to make sure you wash every part of your hand, including the back of the hands, the palms, in-between the fingers, and even under the nails.
3 . Key Handwashing Times
The most beneficial times to wash your hands are before, and after touching food, after using the restroom, before and after attending to a sick individual, and after sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose.
Maintaining clean hands is one of the best things you can do for your overall health, as well as the health of others. Handwashing is a simple and effective way to protect yourself and others from germs and viruses. Even though handwashing seems like an easy task, many people end up not thoroughly washing their hands or even skipping handwashing all together. So, let’s shake on it to be safe this winter and wash our hands the right way!
