Washing your hands too often can yield more germs??
Posted on Tuesday, February 7, 2017
By Craig Cassanelli
The Center for Disease Control recommends washing your hands between 20 and 30 seconds; however, many people are not aware that there is a limit on how many times hands should be washed.
?Washing more than 25 times a day can result in higher microbial counts, as the protective barriers in the skin are damaged. It has been shown that this type of excessive hand washing can increase, in particular, the survival of Staphylococcus aureus on hands.
The Center for Disease control published an article by Elaine Larson titled, "Hygiene of the Skin: When Is Clean Too Clean?".
This article states: "The trend in both the general public and among health-care professionals toward more frequent washing with detergents, soaps, and antimicrobial ingredients needs careful reassessment in light of the damage done to skin and resultant increased risk for harboring and transmitting infectious agents. More washing and scrubbing are unlikely to be better and may, in fact, be worse. The goal should be to identify skin hygiene practices that provide adequate protection from transmission of infecting agents while minimizing the risk for changing the ecology and health of the skin and increasing resistance in the skin flora."
Source: Larson E. Hygiene of the Skin: When Is Clean Too Clean?. Emerg Infect Dis. 2001;7(2):225-230. https://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid0702.700225
|