As we are all no doubt aware, washing our hands repeatedly and thoroughly is of paramount importance in ensuring one’s safety and health. If you are still unaware of this vital act of self-care and care of others, there is a definitive video on the NHS website.
There are also a number of video clips across social media, some accompanied by songs or suggestions for songs to sing while you spend at least 20 seconds washing your hands properly. This can only help create interest especially if you need to illustrate to children how to wash their hands regularly. For the adults, we quite like these suggestions by tweeter Jen Monnier.
Of course, with all this hand washing, we still need to ensure that we protect our skin too, so we’ve compiled a list of suggestions on how to protect your hands before and after washing:
- Try to avoid rubbing your hands dry. Rather pat them dry. The best option is air dry; however, this may take some time especially in cold weather.
- According to the CDC, washing your hands in cold water is as effective as in hot water, so to further lessen harming your skin as well as reducing skin irritation, wash your hands in cold water.
- If possible, rather use a hand cream instead of a body lotion.
- Remember to sanitise the container of whichever cream or lotion you’re using before opening it to apply cream or lotion. To simplify this procedure, try to make sure that you have a lotion that only you use.
- It’s also worthwhile to keep in mind that moisturising our skin begins internally (read more about that here) so while you take care to moisturise your hands post washing it’s just as important to make sure that you maintain good drinking water habits. Drinking water remains one of the best methods of keeping yourself healthy and better able to stave off possible infection.
