Home > Health A to Z > Why Is Handwashing So Important?

Why Is Handwashing So Important?

Dr Pavani Battula

4 Min Read

Fast Check Fact Checked

No everyday task has taken more importance in the past couple of years than handwashing. From the beginning of the pandemic till today, experts have advised us to clean our hands in a specific way — lather and scrub for 20 seconds and so on.

But the practice isn’t something that’s recent.

Good hand hygiene dates back as far back as the middle ages, the time period between 500 and 1500 AD.

Back then, since cutlery was rare, most people ate with their hands. Therefore washing away the day’s grime was necessary and a sign of respect for whoever was feeding you.

The table manners emphasized the need to keep fingers and nails clean.

Slowly, over time, this practice evolved into a highly choreographed demonstration of power and wealth. It was considered a “sign of civility,” says Amanda Micolic, a curational assistant at the Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio.

The medieval elites may have used handwashing as a symbol of shrewd ‘power play,’ but what is your rationale for handwashing?

Why is handwashing so important to you in this current age and time?

Have you ever thought about it?

Let’s understand the normal flora of hands

There are two types of microbes colonizing your hands. They are

(1) The resident flora:

Not all microbes living on your skin are harmful. On the contrary, some are even beneficial, i.e., rather than causing disease, they help protect you against other harmful microorganisms. They are called the resident microorganisms — they live there. Nature has designed for them to live there for a purpose. For example, Staphylococcus hominis responsible for our body odor.

If temporarily disturbed, such as when you wash your hands, they quickly reestablish themselves.

Other examples of resident flora living in your body include the gut flora, also called the probiotic, that aids digestion and help maintain the balance between good and bad microorganisms.

Resident microbes normally do not cause any infection; however, they may cause disease under certain conditions. For example, when you have

Injuries and
A weakened immune system due to HIV or cancer

(2) Transient microorganisms:

Unlike the resident flora, they do not live on the skin naturally. They are often acquired through direct touch with other contaminated surfaces. They may or may not be harmful. The human coronavirus is an example of a transient microorganism.

When you wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water, they normally tend to wash off and do not reestablish themselves on the skin like the way the resident flora does.

That brings us to an important question:

How dirty are common surfaces?

Most of us aren’t aware of doing it, but we touch our face three to 30 times an hour, which in itself isn’t a problem. The problem is what we touch beforehand that’s riddled with germs: bathrooms, faucets, door knobs, handles, escalator rails, computers, keyboards, money, mobile phones, etc.; basically anything that is commonly touched by the public.

These common surfaces are shown to be highly contaminated and can be a vehicle to spread cold and flu viruses that can make you very sick.

Have a look at this video to show what I mean

Germs, bacteria, and diseases living on your phone

How do germs spread?

Harmful microbes such as S. aureus, Enterococcus, Candida, spp., and Clostridium difficile can survive on your skin or a surface for up to 150 hours.

And when you touch your face, nose, or eyes with your contaminated hands can cause skin infections, pneumonia, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, infections in the mouth, throat & esophagus, diarrhea, colitis, and more.

In hospital settings, these microbes can cause nosocomial infections, i.e., healthcare-associated infections acquired during the process of receiving healthcare that was not present during the time of admission.

Why is washing your hands correctly so important?

Most people have got it all wrong when it comes to washing their hands correctly.

What about you?

Are you washing your hands correctly?

Check this below video to find out

(EN) Proper Hand Washing Technique

Key times to wash your hands

Wash your hands during these key times:

Before and after preparing food
Before and after meals
Before and after caring for someone who is sick, vomiting, or has diarrhea
Before and after treating a wound or a cut
After using the toilet
After changing diapers
After touching garbage
After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
After touching an animal, or animal waste

Soap vs. sanitizer?

It’s best to wash your hands with soap and water whenever you can. And here’s why:

When you wash your hands with soap and water, you not only remove germs but also get rid of dirt, grease, and grime. But when you use hand sanitizer, they only help kill germs but may not be necessarily useful in removing dirt and other substances lodged in your hands.

Hand sanitizer should only be used as an alternative when you don’t have access to soap and water.

If you liked this article, feel free to share it with your friends or on social media.

To learn more about what we do, click here.

Check our MFine app here!