Hand disinfection

Dr. rer. nat. Kathleen Küsel studied biology at the University of Rostock. Her first specialist publication as a scientist at the Borstel Research Center treated bacteria that protect against asthma. Even then, the desire was born to inspire many people with easily understandable texts on medical topics after completing their doctorate as a science and medical journalist.

More about the experts All content is checked by medical journalists.

To avoid falling victim to the flu and the like, it is best to wash your hands regularly. In addition, some people like to use hand disinfection, especially in the cold seasons. But does that really protect against pathogens better than washing your hands alone? And how do you use the disinfectants correctly? Find out more about hand disinfection here.

Does hand disinfection make sense?

A hand disinfection. is expressly recommended for certain areas by the World Health Organization (WHO). In clinics, nursing homes and ambulances in particular, the staff has to disinfect their hands regularly - this is called hygienic hand disinfection. The hand sanitisers kill dangerous microorganisms and prevent them from being distributed by hospital staff. Simply washing your hands cannot do that.

Surgical hand disinfection is also performed before operations. It is even more thorough. To do this, the surgeon disinfects everything down to the elbow and lets the disinfectant take effect for a longer time. This also reduces the skin's own bacteria that are constantly present. This is important so that the patient's wound does not become infected if the protective gloves tear.

When should you disinfect your hands?

There are other situations outside of the medical field in which hygienic hand disinfection makes sense: When you have contact with a particularly large number of people, for example in mass accommodation or in a job with a lot of customers.

When processing food, for example in large canteens, staff should also disinfect their hands. Otherwise the food can spoil due to microorganisms. If you do not have the opportunity to wash your hands on vacation or on the go, hand disinfection is a good alternative, according to the Robert Koch Institute Berlin.

Hand disinfection at home?

Hygienic hand disinfection can also be appropriate at home. For example, if a family member has a highly contagious disease. This prevents more people from getting sick. If there are people at home who have a weak immune system, hand disinfection helps protect them from what are actually harmless pathogens. For example, if someone has an autoimmune disease or has had chemotherapy. The defense is then weakened by medication and a cold often hits these people much harder. However, proper hand washing is usually sufficient in the home. It reduces the germs on the skin enough to minimize contagion.

Wash your hands properly

You can read here how to wash your hands properly: How to wash your hands properly

Proper hand disinfection

Before you disinfect your hands yourself, be sure to speak to your family doctor. He can tell you whether you need hygienic hand disinfection and which hand disinfectant is suitable for you. If you buy an incorrectly dosed agent, you could burn yourself or use too little of the agent. Also, be careful not to wash your hands immediately before disinfecting. The water softens the skin and does not improve the effectiveness of hand disinfection. So leave some time in between.

What to consider in advance

Pay attention to the expiry date: do not use any expired funds.
Pay attention to the effect: not every remedy is effective against all viruses, for example.
Use only certified means: your pharmacist will advise you.

Hygienic hand disinfection instructions

Hygienic hand disinfection should proceed as follows:

Your hands must be dry before treatment.
Take about three to five milliliters of hand sanitiser. This corresponds roughly to the volume of a cupped hand.
Rub both hands thoroughly. You do not have to adhere to a particular order.
Make sure that the fingertips, nail folds, thumbs and spaces between the fingers are sufficiently wetted and rubbed in.
The manufacturer of the agent specifies a specific exposure time. Until then, you have to keep your hands moist with the agent. Often the duration is at least 30 seconds.
Do not rinse off the agent with water, but allow it to be completely absorbed.

Hand sanitizer

The main active ingredients in hand disinfectants in Germany are primarily the alcohols ethanol, propanol and isopropanol. The concentrations are between 70 and 95 percent. Often these alcohols are combined. That increases the effect. Their advantage is that they dry well and act quickly against a large number of microorganisms.

In addition, these alcohols are not harmful to human skin. The duration of the treatment depends on which group of pathogens it is and what the composition of the agent is. Non-enveloped viruses such as noroviruses, for example, can only be inactivated with longer exposure times compared to bacteria. The exact microorganisms against which a hand disinfectant works should be taken from the manufacturer's information and the pharmacist should explain it to you.

Take care of stressed hands

If you have to constantly pay attention to hand hygiene, hand disinfection is the method of choice. The alcohols also dissolve fats from the skin, like soaps when washing, but these are sometimes brought back into the skin because you rub your hands with the agent. When washing, on the other hand, the fats are completely washed away and the skin dries out even more. Basically, when disinfecting and washing your hands, it is recommended that you take good care of your hands, for example with moisturizing creams.

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