Hand Washing – Why Is It So Important?

From childhood, we are told that it is important to maintain personal hygiene and that hand washing is a practice that we must all adopt.

During the day, we touch a wide variety of objects covered with bacteria. If we do not wash our hands regularly, the accumulated bacteria can compromise our health.

Have you ever wondered what parts of the body we should not touch with dirty hands? In today’s article we present everything you need to know about hand washing.

Why is hand washing so important?

UNICEF has designated October 15 as “World Handwashing Day”. This initiative aims to draw attention to the importance of hand washing.

According to UNICEF, when our hygiene is poor, we run the risk of contracting various diseases by touching certain parts of our body. You may feel that your hygiene is adequate because you are not in contact with toxic products. But is everything you touch clean?

If you type on your computer all day, it is possible to transmit germs from the keys and screen of this device to your mouth. You should not neglect the possible dangers just because you feel that your office is “clean”. Also, most microbes can be transmitted through the air, a factor we cannot control.

4 parts of the body that we must not touch with dirty hands

1. The eyes

Sight is probably the most important sense we have, which is why eye infections cause us a lot of discomfort. Many of us tend to touch our eyes to remove a broken eyelash or other foreign body that bothers us.

However, if our hands are dirty, we run the risk of developing an eye infection. Unfortunately, we often touch our eyes without realizing it.

Here are some helpful tips to help protect your eyes:

• Washing your hands before touching our eyes is not optional!
• If we want to wipe away our tears or remove a broken eyelash, it is advisable to use a napkin.
• Do not insert any foreign object into the eye.

How to care for contact lenses

• It is very important to wash your hands with a pH-neutral soap and water before using contact lenses.
• Carefully remove contact lenses. Ask an ophthalmologist to explain how to apply and remove contact lenses correctly.

• Do not rub your eyes, this part of the body is very sensitive and can be easily damaged.

Even if you feel tired when you get home and want to take off your contact lenses as soon as possible, keep in mind that hand washing is not optional ! This is essential because the liquid in the boxes in which we keep the contact lenses only removes some of the microbes that cover them.

When washing your hands before removing contact lenses, use a solid pH-neutral soap and warm water. Liquid soaps leave a layer of chemicals on the hands, and residues of these substances can stick to the contact lenses. Over time, these residues will accumulate, altering the lenses.

2. Intimate areas

Hand washing is essential before touching our intimate areas. Otherwise, we risk developing various infections. Intimate areas tend to be humid and have their own ecosystem, which is why contact with foreign bacteria can cause unwanted reactions.

A common mistake among women is washing intimate areas with aggressive soap and vaginal cleansers. We advise you not to use excess soap and water and to avoid vaginal cleansing products altogether.

3. The ears

A region of the body that you should never touch (or scratch) is the inside of the ears. This harmful habit can cause injuries and, over time, infections.

The ears contain earwax, whose role is to prevent bacteria from entering the ear canal. It is not advisable to remove all earwax from inside our ears. If it seems to us that it has accumulated in excess, we can consult an ENT specialist.

4. The face

Avoid touching your face. We all touch this part of the body involuntarily, but we must learn to control our impulses. Touching the face is a harmful habit for several reasons. First of all, our hands are often covered with residues and harmful substances, which will come into contact with our face when we touch it.

If we do not have proper hygiene, the pores of our face can become clogged. As a result, we will have acne and red spots. The only time we are allowed to touch our face is when we want to wash it. Washing your hands beforehand is also important in this situation.

As you can see, touching certain parts of the body with dirty hands can cause many health problems. Follow the tips in this article and don’t forget: hand washing is important because it protects your health!