Hand washing is the act of cleansing the hands with water or other liquid, with or without the use of soap or other detergents, for the purpose of removing soil or microorganisms.

Purpose

The main purpose of washing hands is to cleanse the hands of pathogens (including bacteria or viruses) and chemicals which can cause disease. This is especially important for people who handle or cook food. With the emergence of diseases that are resistant to antibiotics, hand washing is taking on new urgency.

Personal Hand Washing

Always wash your hands after using the toilet, changing a diaper or tending to someone who is sick; before eating; before handling or cooking food and after handling raw meat, fish or poultry. Use soap and warm, running water and wash all surfaces thoroughly, including under fingernails. Rub wet, soapy hands together outside the stream of running water for at least 10 seconds. Rinse throughly (soap does not kill pathogens, it merely traps them, so all soap must be removed). Dry with a clean or disposable towel. Moisturizing lotion is recommended to keep the hands from drying out if your hands require washing more than a few times per day.

Parents

Train your children to wash their hands every time after they use the toilet and before they eat. Show them how to do it properly. Ask doctors, nurses and other medical workers in hospitals and clinics if they have washed their hands before you let them touch your children. Most do wash, but many do not and parental inquiries have been shown to be very effective in increasing hand washing compliance.

Medical hand washing

To wash your hands properly in a medical setting, use generous amounts of soap and water to lather and rub each part of your hands systematically. Rub hands together with digits interlocking. If there is debris under fingernails, a bristle brush may be useful for removing these. Rinse well and wipe dry with a paper towel.

To 'scrub' your hands for, say, a surgical operation, you need a tap you can turn on and off without touching with your hands, some chlorhexidine or iodine wash, sterile towels for drying your hands after washing, a sterile brush for scrubbing and another sterile instrument for cleaning under the fingernails. Take off all watches, rings, bangles or other accessories from the hands before proceeding. This procedure requires washing the hands and forearms up to the elbows. Ensure that all parts of the hands and forearms are well scrubbed several times. When rinsing, ensure that, at all times, you do not allow water to drip back from your elbow to your hands. When done, dry your hands with the sterile cloth and proceed to don the surgical gown.

Excessive hand washing is commonly seen as a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). If the recommendations here strike you as burdensome, it is unlikely you have OCD.

See also:

• E. coli O157:H7
• Antibiotic resistance