Handwashing For Better Health

As respiratory infections rise in the fall months, washing your hands with soap and water is more important than ever. Regular hand-washing stops germs from spreading and lowers your chances of getting sick. Always wash your hands after using the bathroom, before eating or cooking, and after coughing or sneezing.

Washing your hands for 20 seconds with warm water and soap is simple yet effective. It can prevent 1 in 3 cases of diarrhea and 1 in 5 respiratory infections.

Dr. Summer Allen, a family medicine physician at Mayo Clinic, says staying healthy means fewer missed days from school, work and activities. Here are tips for good hand hygiene.

Twenty seconds. That's how long you should be using soap and water to wash your hands each time, says Dr. Allen.

"Using that lather and that soap and that time to scrub between each of their fingers on the insides and the backsides of their hands, and taking time -- not just one or two seconds -- and then rinsing your hands off again," she says.

There are some key times when you should wash your hands.

"When you're leaving the bathroom. Another important time would be if you cough or sneeze. We try to tell people to try to sneeze into your elbow or not into your hand," says Dr. Allen.

And when handling food like uncooked meat, poultry, seafood, flour and eggs, unwashed hands can spread germs and lead to foodborne illnesses.

"When you're touching and handling that food, it's important to wash your hands and wash surfaces when you're done so that you don't pick up one of those infections," she emphasizes.

If soap and water aren't available, hand sanitizer that contains at least 60% alcohol is a second choice.

To properly wash your hands, follow these steps:

• Wet your hands with clean, running water.
• Apply any kind of soap, and lather well.
• Rub your hands vigorously for at least 20 seconds. Remember to scrub all surfaces, including the backs of your hands, wrists, palms, between your fingers and under your fingernails.
• Rinse well.
• Use a clean towel to turn off the faucet and dry your hands.