Handwashing with soap vs hand sanitizer: The conclusion
Handwashing with soap vs hand sanitizer: The conclusion.
Hands are an important part of the body that comes in contact with ourselves, other people, and objects. There’s an especially strong focus now on keeping hands clean when it comes to preventing the spread of disease-carrying germs. There is a tug of war between handwashing with soap and hand sanitizer.
Benefits of handwashing with soap:
1. The gold standard for maintaining hand hygiene is proper and consistent washing of the hands.
2.WHO always recommend hand washing for 20 seconds.
3. Soap kills germs, binds them, and helps physically remove them with water.
4. Along with germs, it removes dirt and debris.
5. According to the CDC, studies have shown that there is no added benefit to using antibacterial soap over regular soap.
Disadvantages of sanitizer:
1.alcohol-based hand sanitizers don’t kill ALL types of germs, such as a stomach bug called norovirus, some parasites, and Clostridium difficile.
2 Hand sanitizers also may not remove harmful chemicals, such as pesticides and heavy metals like lead.
3.Costly.
Conclusion: Hand washing is the best method of removing germs.
Opinion:
1. Do handwashing properly whenever it’s possible.
2.In case of non-availability of handwashing use hand sanitizer.
Method for handwashing:
1. Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap.
2. Lather your hands by rubbing them together with the soap.
3. Scrub all surfaces of your hands, including the palms, backs, fingers, between your fingers, and under your nails. Keep scrubbing for 20 seconds.
4. Rinse your hands under clean running water.
5. Dry your hands using a clean towel or air dry them.
Method of using sanitizer:
1. Put enough product on hands to cover all surfaces.
2. Rub hands together, until hands feel dry.
3. This should take around 20 seconds.
Note:
Sanitizer means only alcohol-based.
Soap means liquid soap or solid soap bar.
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Dr. Saad Mohammad Athanikar, orthopedic surgeon.
Instagram: saadathanikar.