Scrubbing your hands clean: how long do you scrub?

[Orchidflower]

I have no idea where to find this answer, so someone on this board from the medical field will know: How long a time is it for a Dr., for example, to wash his hands to really clean them before surgery? I was told to sing "Happy Birthday" to each hand is about the right amount of scrubbing. Right? Wrong?

 

[Meadbh]

Here's a quote from a paper that seems to quantify it the best:

Kramer A, Hübner N, Below H, Heidecke CD, Assadian O.
Improving adherence to surgical hand preparation.
J Hosp Infect. 2008 Oct;70 Suppl 1:35-43.

"1) The immediate efficacy of an alcohol-based hand disinfectant is impaired by a preceding hand wash for up to 10 minutes. Therefore hands should not be routinely washed before the disinfection period unless there is a good reason for it such as visible soiling. 2) A shortened application time (1.5 minutes) is equal to 3 min in terms of efficacy. 3) Hands should be air dried before gloves are put on, otherwise the perforation rate of gloves will increase. 4) The efficacy of alcohol-based disinfectants is significantly higher when hands are allowed to dry for 1 minute after the washing phase and before the disinfection phase."

 

[Rich_by_the_Bay]

I use about 2-3 minutes plus an alcohol wipe-down of the stethoscope. You sort of develop this finger-by-finger technique. Periodically I use the alcohol-based disinfectant lotion. Surgeons often use disposable brushes, etc.

I'm curious why you asked.

 

[Orchidflower]

Because, finally, I am making it a habit of washing my hands first thing when I hit the house after being at the gym (cause of many colds, flu, conjunctavitis, etc.), grocery stores, restaurants, WalMart, etc. etc. Trying not to get the colds, flu and other cooties out there anymore. This is my new health care plan, anyway, and it's working so far as I haven't had a bad cold in awhile. And, yes, no touching the eyes and nose, too, while the hands are dirty.

2-3 minutes of washing seems like alot. How do you know when the time is up? Is there some ditty you sing to yourself or do you count numbers or what?

 

[Meadbh]

Good plan!
I tend to watch a clock with a second hand (easy at work). At airport washroomss, etc I just guess how long I've been washing. I always carry a minicontainer of Purell when travelling.

 

[Orchidflower]

I put a bottle of Purell in my cup container in the car, too. I'm serious as a heart attack about not getting a cold or the flu anymore (as you can see).
My mother always washed her hands when she first came home, and she never ever has a cold or the flu. And she's 90 now, too.
Soap is cheaper than meds.

 

[RonBoyd]

 

[ls99]

Because, finally, I am making it a habit of washing my hands first thing when I hit the house after being at the gym (cause of many colds, flu, conjunctavitis, etc.), grocery stores, restaurants, WalMart, etc. etc. what?

Seems to me if you touch your eyelids, mouth etc before getting home and washing hands, you already got whatever bugs float around in those places.

 

[Rustic23]

I heard somewhere 'the length of time it takes to sing Yankee Doodle all the way through.

 

[haha]

2-3 minutes of washing seems like alot. How do you know when the time is up? Is there some ditty you sing to yourself or do you count numbers or what?

I recomend three verses of The Battle Hymn of the Confederate States: (Sing to a stately martial beat)

We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud
We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud
We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud
And the South shall reign supreme!

Glory,glory, hallelujah!
Glory,glory, hallelujah!
Glory,glory, hallelujah!
And the South shall reign supreme!

This should give you about 2 1/2 minutes, and entertain whoever is in the bathroom with you also.

Feel free to substitute the Battle Hymn of the Republic. But then you would have to remember more verses.

Ha

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

LOL!

I just wash my hands often. I also keep pumps of Purell at my desk and travel with Purell or wipes in my pocket. I try not to touch my eyes, too. Also get flu shots every year.

I once asked several airline attendants how they stay healthy exposed to so many people in close confines all day. They said, drink lots of water and take multivitamins. Now, I do those, too. Is it scientific? Dunno. I have had one (very mild) cold in 5 years.

Ed

 

[CyclingInvestor]

We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud
We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud
We will bury all the Yankees in the Mississippi Mud

This sounds good to me. Mississippi Mud is my favorite beer.

 

[JPatrick]

Soap, hot water, one round of Happy Birthday for two hands. Change the name of the birthday person each time to keep the concept fresh and interesting .

Now the fluff:
* Centrum Cardio multi vitamin
* Two Land Shark per day
* Wine twice per week
* Hypnotic sleep tape nightly

No colds for as long as I can remember...Probably 10 years at least, but can't be sure..that regimen kills the memory

 

[haha]

Soap, hot water, one round of Happy Birthday for two hands. Change the name of the birthday person each time to keep the concept fresh and interesting .

Now the fluff:
* Centrum Cardio multi vitamin
* Two Land Shark per day
* Wine twice per week
* Hypnotic sleep tape nightly

No colds for as long as I can remember...Probably 10 years at least, but can't be sure..that regimen kills the memory

What is a Land Shark?

 

[Orchidflower]

Okay, I confess: I've been singing the Happy Birthday song to each hand when I wash (as in: Happy Birthday, dear right hand). Naturally, I do this silently or I'd sound nuts in a public bathroom.
But I'll try that Mississippi Mud song, HaHa. That should be good for a few laughs here in the VERY city that was THE Northern Outpost for the Civil War AND has a huge Civil War cemetery filled with Southern Rebels in it....well, the people here would chuckle alot more about it than the Southerners I know down South, anyway.
In fact, I didn't even know it was THE Northern Outpost for the Civil War--and I grew up here--until I read "Gone With the Wind" at 17! That's how little Yankees still think of the Civil War...unlike my Southern relatives who are STILL fighting it. Yup, they sure are, too...can't quite get over that they lost yet, I guess. Talk about sore losers....

 

[W2R]

When I was a kid, mothers would tell their children to wash up for supper. It was customary to wash one's hands before eating. What ever happened to that? It seems like a good thing to do, but I don't think I've seen anybody actually doing that for the past fifty years.

My mother always said to wash for 2 minutes, but then my mother wasn't always there when I was washing my hands....

After the anthrax scare, hand sanitizer became very popular in my (federal) office. It was available in the bathrooms and even left by the mailboxes so that we could sanitize our hands after touching our mail. That eased some minds, but I always wondered if it would be of any help at all if we really encountered anthrax powder, and a cupful of it fell out of a package all over someone.

I think that as a retiree, I will probably get fewer colds because I will be exposed to fewer people when gardening or reading at home than I would be at work. Sounds plausible! I guess I will find out later on this year.

 

[JPatrick]

What is a Land Shark?

Similar to, but one step above Corona--IMO

Land Shark Lager : Margaritaville - Online State Of Mind

 

[Ed_The_Gypsy]

Similar to, but one step above Corona--IMO

IMO, a poor excuse for beer, and two steps lower than Corona. I think Jimmy is like Bob Dylan--trying to figure out how bad he can make stuff before people stop buying it.

 

[ziggy29]

IMO, a poor excuse for beer, and two steps lower than Corona.

Lower than Corona? Double yuck. I'll take a Negro Modelo or a Pacifico. Dos Equis will do in a pinch.

 

[Cattusbabe]

Anybody ever try this stuff?

 

[JPatrick]

IMO, a poor excuse for beer, and two steps lower than Corona. I think Jimmy is like Bob Dylan--trying to figure out how bad he can make stuff before people stop buying it.

Well if your first exposure to LandShark was north of the border, I can assure you it had been altered by the Canadian guvmint. Same holds true for Jimmy's music...

 

[TromboneAl]

When I was a kid, mothers would tell their children to wash up for supper. It was customary to wash one's hands before eating. What ever happened to that?

That's a good idea, but I'm more concerned with the germs to hand to eyes or nose pathway. That is, I figure I'm much more likely to get a cold from germs on my hands than to get a food borne illness.

 

[haha]

That's a good idea, but I'm more concerned with the germs to hand to eyes or nose pathway. That is, I figure I'm much more likely to get a cold from germs on my hands than to get a food borne illness.

Apparently both are important. It is thought that many little gut upsets are in fact enteric disease caused by transmission from the environment (grocery store, shopping cart, elevator button) to hands and eventually mouth of the victim.

I know my frequency of gut upsets has gone way down since I instituted a hand washing regime. I also use the wipes that many grocery stores provide for hand and carts.

Ha

 

[Walt34]

Aw, just have lots of pets and play outside a lot as a kid. Eating some dirt won't hurt either. That builds up a strong immune system.

Although when I worked at the gas station in high school I did wash my hands after changing tires and before eating, thinking about all the stuff the tires rolled through.

And the others called me a wuss for that much!

 

[ls99]

Had an old plumber friend. He came in to the diner regularly in between work for lunch. Used to tap his cigarette ashes into his coffee, and never washed his hands before eating.

To some, who did not know him and commented on his smoking and tapping the ashes into his coffee, he'd say, I just finished re-setting a toilet after snaking out the drain. He never had clean fingernails.

Died at age 90 in his sleep, only saw a doctor for a broken leg once. He was still working at 85 for pocket money. His humor was priceless.