Since there is currently no vaccine or cure for COVID-19, the best way to keep yourself and your loved ones healthy is to limit your exposure to it. Thankfully, taking a few basic measures to keep your hands clean can go a long way in lowering your risk of a wide variety of illnesses, including the coronavirus. Whether you’re out practicing social distancing or staying at home in self-isolation, everyone should be utilizing excellent hand hygiene to prevent the spread of germs. Here are a few key tips from your Danville dentist to help keep your hands clean all throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
5 Simple Steps for Great Handwashing
During the COVID-19 pandemic, half-hearted hand hygiene isn’t enough! The next time you wash your hands, take the time to ensure you’re using the right techniques for effectively cleaning away germs. Be sure to keep these five simple yet important steps in mind:
- Wet your hands with running water and apply soap.
- Wash every surface of your hands, including between your fingers and the back of your hands.
- Take several seconds to wash your thumbs, fingertips, and underneath any hand jewelry.
- After washing for 60 seconds, gently rinse off all the soap with running water.
- Dry your hands completely, preferably with a disposable (paper) towel.
Important Times to Wash Your Hands
There are plenty of opportunities for germs to accumulate on our hands all throughout our daily lives. That’s why you should always wash them at times like:
- Before preparing or eating food.
- Before leaving the bathroom.
- After handling animals, pet food, or garbage.
However, during the COVID-19 pandemic, there are several more times when you should be washing your hands, including:
- After returning from a public place like the grocery store or gas station.
- Directly after sneezing, coughing, or blowing your nose.
- Before touching your face, especially your nose, mouth, or eyes.
The Best Time to Use Hand Sanitizer
Contrary to popular belief, hand sanitizer is not more effective at keeping hands clean than proper handwashing. However, if you’re in a public area with high-traffic fixtures and no means of washing your hands, a 60% alcohol hand sanitizer will work as a good alternative. Follow the directions printed on the back of the label, which will typically instruct you to apply a small pool in the center of one palm, then rub it all over you hands for at least 20 seconds. Remember, you should still wash your hands with soap and water as soon as you can!
Now more than ever, practicing excellent hand hygiene plays a key role in keeping you healthy. These easy but effective tips will help keep your hands germ-free throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as long after!
About the Practice
At Danville Dental Associates, we continue to prioritize the wellbeing of our patients and staff in these unusual times. After careful consideration and planning, we are pleased to announce that we are resuming routine dental care for our patients in Danville, VA. Alongside meeting the ambitious sanitation standards set forth by the CDC, we have also established a variety of new safety protocols to keep our practice as germ-free and safe as possible during your appointment. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact us via our website or at any of the phone numbers for our separate locations listed there.