Washing your hands is the easiest and best way to prevent yourself from becoming sick. Every day you touch things that many other people could have touched. You never know whether or not somebody sneezed into their hand and then wiped their sneeze infected hand on the stair railing or the faucets that you touched. That’s why you should keep your hands away from your face. Germs are everywhere and they have the potential to make you sick. But did you know that you have the power to get rid of these germs by simply washing your hands and not touching your face? You can use the following tips to make sure you are washing your hands correctly:

1. Sing the “Happy Birthday” song twice while washing your hands, in order to make sure you are doing it for 20 seconds.

2. Use clean warm water! Too cold or too hot will force you to rush and not wash your hands long enough.

3. It’s always better to wash your hands with soap and water, but if you can’t, hand sanitizer can also do the trick.

The Center for Disease Control recommends that you wash your hands BEFORE:

• during, and after handling or preparing food
• eating food
• caring for someone who is sick
• touching a cut or wound

You should also wash your hands AFTER:

• caring for someone who is sick
• using the toilet
• changing diapers or helping to clean a child who has used the toilet
• blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• touching an animal, animal feed, or animal waste
• handling pet food or pet treats
• touching garbage

For more information: https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/when-how-handwashing.html

– Ayatt