Here's How You're Probably Using Sanitizers Wrong

When SARS-CoV-2 enters the portrait of 2020, health organizations released safety protocols to control the continuous surge of COVID-19 positive patients.

Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC) releases their guidelines on how to protect others and yourself from COVID-19, encouraging everyone to wear masks, maintain social distancing, and proper handwashing.

World Health Organization (WHO) adds that cleaning hands before and after putting on a mask will lessen an individual's risk of getting COVID-19. CDC emphasized that washing using hand sanitizers will be a great help when water and soap are not available.

Although effective, you might be using your hand sanitizers wrong. Want proof, here are some of the mistakes you might be guilty of when using hand sanitizers.

ALSO READ: 75 Hand Sanitizer Variants From Different Brands Recalled After Methanol Contamination

The wrong type of Sanitizer

(Photo : Bruna Prado)

In the midst of COVID-19, microbe killing products are in demand in the market. Some of you might be getting sanitizers based on the scent it will give your hands.

Aside from that factor, CDC reports that hand sanitizers with at least 60% alcohol can help an individual avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others.

Epidemiologist and clinical associate professor in Adelphi University, K.C. Rondello notes in an interview with Huffington Post that using sanitizers with at least 60% ethyl alcohol and 70% isopropyl alcohol because according to him, most of the germs are effectively eliminated by them.

He also adds in the interview that reading the label if the sanitizer has active ingredients that kill bacteria, viruses, and or both should be taken to account.

Drop vs splash

Are you trying to save the sanitizer to avoid buying a bottle again? In an interview with Live Strong, Chief Healthcare Officer from Stride Community Health Center, Savita Ginde, MD, MPH, recommends adults to use an amount of sanitizer that is at least as big as the quarter quarter to rub on their hands.

Department of Medicine Chair and Chief of Infectious Diseases from Mt. Sinai South Nassau, Aaron Glatt that not using enough could mean that you are not successfully cleansing the hands. He added that a full push down on a big bottle of sanitizer is enough to clean the hands.

Wiping on the pants

You might be doing this. According to Live Strong, the wet feeling of hand sanitizer being absorbed by the hands can be irritating. Dr. Ginde emphasized in her interview that wiping the wet hand on the pants can dilute the effectiveness of the hand sanitizer.

Associate hospital Epidemiologist from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, Dr. Jose Raymond Mercado notes in his interview with Live Strong that ideally, letting the hand sanitizers dry on the hands while rubbing them should be done instead of wiping them in the pants.

Using them in the wrong moments

When sanitizing your hands is not usually done, forgetting them in critical moments is the typical scenario. According to CDC, the moments where it is vital to sanitize the hands are Before, during, and after preparing food, before and after eating food, and after touching visible and invisible dirt from various materials.

Dr. Glatt emphasized in his interview that when an individual will put his or her hand near the mouth, it is ideal to sanitize the hands.

Correcting these habits of hand sanitizer usage will prevent you from getting infected by the virus. Slowly practice correct usage so that you will be safe in the middle of humanity's fight against coronavirus.

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