How to Use Hand Sanitizer Effectively

During the first few months of 2020, not a lot of people paid the importance of hand sanitizer a lot of thought. But as the novel coronavirus spread across the world, hand sanitizer became a staple in the daily essentials of most people. In the earlier stages of the pandemic, medical scientists and experts had very little information on how COVID-19 spread, its symptoms, and its fatality rate. But what they did find out early enough was that people contracted the disease after touching their face with infected hands.

As a result, directives from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) stated that people maintain good hand hygiene to minimize the risk of contracting the coronavirus. This is achieved through regular hand washing with soap and running water or regular use of an alcohol-based hand sanitizer.

Because of its high demand and short supply, markets saw a surge in hand sanitizer prices. Supermarkets, retail shops, and drug stores were running out of stock for hand sanitizers as millions of people were in desperate need of protecting themselves against the novel coronavirus.

Fortunately, the Government regularized the market by controlling product prices as well as implementing measures that would allow companies to supply the market with hand sanitizer products. In light of the precedence that hand sanitizer has taken in our daily lives, let’s look at how hand sanitizer works, it’s fundamentalism, and how it should be used for maximum efficiency.

How Alcohol-Based Hand Sanitizer Helps Fight the Spread of COVID-19

Alcohols have long been used as an effective disinfectant against several bacteria and pathogens. As for hand sanitizer, you’ll find that the primary alcohol ingredient will either be ethanol or isopropanol. The alcohol content is mixed with water and glycol or glycerine to help prevent users’ skin from drying out. Scientific research has found that alcohols destroy pathogens by breaking apart proteins and messing with a cell’s metabolism which deactivates the virus through a process known as denaturation.

According to the CDC, the higher the alcohol concentration in hand sanitizer, the more effective it is. Therefore, an alcohol-based hand sanitizer should have an alcohol concentration of 65% or higher to be considered effective against germs and bacteria. It is important to note that while hand sanitizers can kill off microbes on your hands, they cannot kill all kinds of germs. For instance, hand sanitizer will not be effective against norovirus pathogens, clostridium difficile, and cryptosporidium pathogens.

How To Best Use Hand Sanitizer for the Best Results

Hand sanitizer is convenient and very easy to use. This is what you need to do to get the best out of it. First and foremost, take off any jewelry that may impede how well the hand sanitizer solution will do its job. Also, make sure that your hands are not visibly soiled or greasy. If you’re from handling food, dirt from a garden, or changing the tire of your car, hand sanitizer might not work as effectively.

Apply enough of the product to the palm of your hand such that your hands are completely wet from the solution. Proceed to rub your hands together, covering all surfaces from the palm to the back of your hands and in between your fingers.

Rub them for at least 20 seconds until they become dry. If you feel like they’re still wet, face your palms in a downward direction and allow them to dry. If you have any open wounds on your hand, you might feel a bit of pain and discomfort but it will only be temporary.

If you’re wondering whether you might get an allergic reaction from using hand sanitizer, you should relax knowing there’s no proof to this day that alcohol-based hand sanitizer is harmful. However, if you use the product too much, the alcohol content might likely cause small skin irritation. It can also cause alcohol poisoning when ingested hence the reason why it’s advised that people keep hand sanitizer safely away from the reach of children.

Benefits of Using Hand Sanitizer

Alcohol-based sanitizer helps kill off germs and pathogens thus minimizing the spread of disease-causing bacteria that pose a health threat to society. However, some people are still not yet convinced as to why they should consider hand sanitizer as a must-have item among their daily accessories.

Hopefully, the benefits listed below should be convincing enough.

• They Are Easy To Carry Around

  Hand sanitizer is easy to carry around. They are packaged in tiny bottles that can fit well inside the pocket of your pants or bag without taking up too much space. They’re ideal for when you’re in a place with high human traffic such as the train or for when you need to pick up a quick snack and you can’t access a sink to clean your hands.

• They Are Super Convenient

  Unlike soap, you don’t need water to use hand sanitizer unless your hands are simply too dirty. This means you can use your sanitizer almost anywhere; on the bus, at the grocery store, or even in the office. Disinfecting your hands will only take about 20 to 30 seconds of your time and you won’t even need to use a towel to dry your hands as the sanitizer will simply evaporate from your hands.

Don’t Let Things Get Out of Hand

While there is a defined way of using hand sanitizer to get the best out of it, the one thing that could possibly be of more importance is knowing when its use may not be the best of choices. In situations where your hands are too dirty for the hand sanitizer to be effective, it’s better to use soap and water to clean your hands. Remember, hand sanitizer is a disinfectant and not a cleaning agent so use it wisely for the best results.

With medication or vaccines nowhere in sight, more and more people worldwide are getting infected by Covid-19. At present, only safety measures and maintaining a healthy lifestyle have been recommended by the WHO and the CDC to fight the spread of the coronavirus.