Procedure for washing hands

The History of Hand Washing

Amazingly as it might seem, until two centuries ago, people did not emphasize the importance of clean hands. Rather, they went about doing their usual business with their hands dirty most of the time. However, in a Hungarian clinic for women, a doctor named Ignaz Phillip Semmelweiz realized that the death rate of pregnant women can be connected to the fact that medical students in that hospital never washed their hands after dissecting corpses and went on to helping in childbirth without proper cleansing of their hands. The doctor connected this to hand hygiene and germs transferable this way, and made hand washing an obligatory thing. Noticing that this step reduced the number of deaths during birth significantly, hand washing quickly spread to the present, and our current lifestyle where we are told countless times, by both our parents and teachers, that washing our hands correctly is the key to our good health.

The Importance of Hand Washing

Often, we do not even realize how frequently we get our hands dirty during the day. Germs are located in the soil , in the money we touch, in the bathrooms and many other places. Thus, whenever exposed to these, you should wash your hands as soon as possible. Moreover, do the same every time you sneeze on your hands , because all of the expelled germs are will be on your hands. Do not touch your eyes, mouth or any other sensitive body parts before you make sure your hands are washed and cleaned. The same goes for after playing with pets, or visiting a hospital and returning from it.

How to Wash Your Hands Properly?

First of all, you need to turn on the tap and release warm water. Then, wet your hands from your wrists to the end of your fingers. This process will remove any fat or protein leftovers on these parts of our body. Once you have done this, take the soap and start scrubbing. Do this for about 20 seconds and be as diligent as possible. Once done, wash all the soap away with the water, dry your hands with a towel, a paper towel or a blow dryer. Turn the tap off by protecting your hands with a paper towel, in order to keep them clean.

Finally, whenever you are in conditions where there is no water, hand sanitizers are a must. Apply them excessively and clean your hands thoroughly. Once the alcohol evaporates, consider your hands clean.