When I teach pathology, I always start the class with three things that will statistically increase your chances of living a longer life. Here's #1: wash your hands properly and often, but not too often.
Admit it; somewhere deep down inside, we've all become germaphobes. We've been indoctrinated into Modern Medicine's (I capitalize that just as I would any religion, but that's another blog), fear that all those critters we can't see will take over the world and replace us if we don't kill them all. In that vein, when I ask people why they wash their hands, it's all about washing away germs, not about keeping their hands healthy.
There are millions of bacteria on our hands at any given time, and the majority of them do absolutely nothing bad to us. In fact, almost all of them are beneficial for us. They help us dispose of the outer layer of skin and take up space so pathogenic bacteria have a harder time finding room to take hold. Some even produce their own "antibiotics" that keep pathogenic bacteria at bay. These are GOOD for us, and we want them around.
Our skin is covered with a waxy-like substance called sebum. It protects our skin from drying out and has anti-bacterial properties that keep bad bugs from proliferating. This sebum coating is especially important during the winter months in temperate climates, since humidity is so low moisture readily leaves the skin.
The second question I usually ask is "what is the purpose of soap?" Again, the answer usually has something to do with germs and washing them away. Yet, when we look at the research, we see that soap only slightly increases the number of bugs that get washed away. What really washes away the bugs is not soap, but friction. Soap has little to do with germs.
Soap is there to do one thing: clean our skin when we are dirty or greasy. If our hands are dirty or greasy, soap is a great thing. If they aren't, all we are doing is washing away the coating of sebum that our skin spent energy making to protect us. Washing that away leaves us prone to dryer skin, which often cracks (especially in the winter), increasing our risk of infections from any bugs that do manage to colonize our skin.
The type of soap is also important. I will begrudgingly admit that after several years, the AMA and CDC changed their recommendations and got it right. Do NOT use anti-bacterial soap. This is laden with chemicals that are toxic to not only bacteria, but us as well, and end up only drying your hands further and increasing the numbers of antibiotic resistant bacteria. My recommendation is finding a local small businessperson who has spent their time learning how to make soap. Or, spend the time yourself and make your own. Short of that, I hesitate to recommend liquid soaps due to their additives, and most often tell others to find the soap that has the least amount of "stuff" added to it, especially fragrances.
We can't forget water temperature, length of wash, and how often. Leave the hot water for your whites and hit the luke-warm range. It will leave more sebum on the skin. As to length, choose your favorite of several songs and sing a verse: Happy Birthday, Twinkle Twinkle, There's a Hole in My Bucket, whatever you'd like to have stuck in your head for a while. How often depends on your activities. Of course, after using the restroom, but beyond that, it depends on how you treat your hands. Wash them with soap when dirty or greasy, but otherwise, just use friction and time when you have the need.
Also, stay away from those anti-bacterial dispensers as much as possible. If you happen to work in a hospital environment, it's a different story, the bugs there are some of the most lethal critters on the planet. But short of that, just wash your hands properly, and chances are, you'll be increasing your life expectancy.
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