How much disinfectant do you need to disinfect your hands and how long does it have to work? We show you here how to disinfect your hands properly.
Why should you disinfect your hands?
Viruses and bacteria can trigger infections and can be found on many things that we touch in everyday life: on door handles, in the subway on the handles or on your smartphone. Germs are often transmitted through the hands and since we touch our faces more frequently during the day, the germs can get into the body through the mucous membranes. The exponential Spread of the corona virus or you can counter flu viruses by extensive hand hygiene. Washing and disinfecting your hands can reduce the risk of infecting yourself and others with viruses or bacteria.
1. Wash your hands
In everyday life, it is usually sufficient to wash your hands thoroughly with soap. She shows you how to wash your hands properly Recommended action of the Federal Ministry of Health. Wash your hands thoroughly, especially if they are visibly dirty, after shopping, after going to the toilet, before cooking, or after working with raw meat, eggs, and vegetables. Also, avoid sneezing or coughing in your palms – use your elbow. You should wash your hands for 20 to 30 seconds. Motivate yourself or your children with one Hands wash song and sing along. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a song that is 30 seconds long, but can also simply be the refrain of your favorite song.
2. Disinfect hands
When visiting the hospital, in nursing or in the case of an increasing number of infectious diseases, such as the current corona virus, you can additionally protect yourself with hands. This is especially true if a family member is ill or the immune system is already weakened by previous illnesses. Disinfect your hands reduce you clearly see the number of germs on your hands and thus also protects your counterpart when making contact.
Note: With frequent hand disinfection, you can get dry hands. We will show you in another article how you dry hands with simple home remedies such as olive or coconut oil.
You can Incidentally, make disinfectants yourself.
Disinfect hands: how it works
(Photo: CC0 / Pixabay / renateko)
Amount: Put a walnut-sized amount of disinfectant in your hollow, dry hand. If you have a pump dispenser in public toilets, use the pump mechanism with your elbow, not your hand. So you do not take any existing bacteria or viruses from the pump dispenser.
Rub in: Rub your hands 30 seconds with disinfectant. Always treat the following seven areas of your hand thoroughly with disinfectant:
- Palms and back of hands: Rub your right palm over the back of your left hand and vice versa.
- Gaps between fingers: Rub your fingers on the palm of your hand with your fingers spread apart. Then rub the back of your hands with the opposite palms by clasping your fingers again.
- Thumb: Rub your right and left thumbs thoroughly with the other hand.
- Fingertips: Rub your closed fingertips into the right and left hollow palm.
- Nail fold
- Wrists
Exposure time: Why should you disinfect your hands for 30 seconds? The common hand disinfectants are based on alcohols as an active ingredient. The pathogens can be killed by an exposure time of 30 seconds. Also always pay attention to the required exposure time according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
Note: Some disinfectant sprays, gels and towels for the hands mainly work against bacteria and can hardly do anything against viruses. In another article, we will show you which disinfectants are effective against bacteria and which are effective against viruses in hand hygiene: Coronavirus: Many hand sanitizers don’t help
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