Practice Proper Hand Washing to Stay Healthy This Winter

Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands. It is a ritual drilled into all of us since we were children. Year round, washing your hands is a healthy habit to keep. It’s even more important as we march toward winter weather and the inevitable onslaught of cold and flu season.

Colds and the flu have a huge impact on Americans. Did you know a typical adult will have 2-3 colds every year? Kids have even more! The common cold is the number one reason adults miss work and children stay home from school. The symptoms are easily recognizable: runny nose, sore throat, a cough, fever, body aches. The Centers for Disease Control report that receiving the flu vaccine will increase your chance of not getting the flu by 40%-60%! That’s quite a boost, but still not enough on its own. Proper hand washing, sanitizing and being aware of what you touch goes a really long way to keeping viruses, germs and bacteria at bay.

Besides cold and flu germs, there are a number of infectious diseases that can be spread by contaminated hands. For the elderly population, who may have weaker immune systems, influenza or a cold can easily morph into something more dangerous (ie: pneumonia and bronchitis). Here is a quick rundown on proper hand washing techniques:

When to Wash?

• You should always wash your hands before preparing food, and after you handle any kind of raw meat
• Wash right before you eat
• Definitely wash after using the toilet or changing diapers
• Wash your hands after you handle any kind of garbage or are doing yard work
• Always wash your hands as soon as you get home. You have likely touched a lot of potentially-contaminated surfaces throughout your day and you don’t want to bring them home

Tips for How to Wash Your Hands:

• The best kind of soap is liquid soap over a bar of soap, but a bar of soap is better than no soap at all
• Remove your rings and your watch, if you wear them. Little organisms can hide in those tiny crevices
• Get your hands wet, preferably with warm water, before putting soap on them. Soap lathers up better with warm water
• Lather your hands (tops, palms, inbetween fingers) for 20 seconds, or longer if you have ingrained dirt
• Be thorough with rinsing off the soap
• A paper towel or hot air drier are the best options for drying your hands
• Make sure to dry your jewelry before putting it back on. Any moisture left on rings or watches can harbor the growth of bacteria

Protecting Your Hands

Cold winter weather is already tough on the skin on our hands. Dry, cracked knuckles are common because the air is very dry. Washing your hands a lot in winter can also contribute to dry, sore hands, even though it is necessary to keep bacteria at bay.

Different soaps have different pH levels. If you are finding your hands are not reacting well to a particular soap, you may need to try a different brand. Various soaps can have a neutral pH, be slightly alkaline or slightly acidic; any of these could irritate your skin. Find one that works for you so you can keep your hands clean and germ-free.

You will also want to find a lotion you can use. Frequent hand washing, even with a sensitive soap, can contribute to dry hands.

If you have your hands in water a lot, wear gloves as often as possible to protect your skin from hot or cold water.

Give yourself a leg up on staying healthy this winter season. If you are already a hand washing aficionado, bravo! Share your knowledge and habits with your loved ones to keep them healthy this season, too.

Evergreen Senior Living communities serve seniors and their families across the state of Illinois. Visit our website today to find a community near you.