by Thomas Grey

Created on: November 14, 2009

As an Registered Nurse that works in an environment with people who have severely compromised immune systems I am a strong proponent for not only ending handshaking during flu season, but altogether. My personal preference would be to replace handshakes with hand-bumps. Hand-bumps, in my estimation, are the far more hygienic choice.

A hand-bump is performed when two people lightly "bump" their hands together while keeping their fists closed. Thus, the hand surfaces that contact are normally drier-which means a less "dark" and "wet" environment that bacteria and virus' enjoy.

The obvious problem with the hand-bumping solution is that the ritual of handshaking has been around for centuries and is the accepted norm of greeting in many societies. As a matter of fact, Wikipedia states that hand shaking has been around since the 2nd century BC. ( http://en.wikipedia/wiki/Handshake ) Additionally, if someone should profer a hand for you to shake, you must shake that hand without hesitation-else it be seen as a slight or insult. Sadly, establishing the hand-bump as the accepted norm will probably never occur.

No matter what type of ritual hand-greeting is used one should practice good hand hygiene to decrease the risk of contracting an infection. The CDC recommends washing hands with soap and water, preferably warm, for at least 20 seconds. Briskly rub your hands together and be sure to wash all surfaces. Use an air dryer or paper towel to dry and, if able, turn off the water with a paper towel. Get into the habit of washing your hands whenever they are visibly soiled; when you arrive home; before you eat a meal; before and after preparing a meal; and after going to the bathroom.

Ladies, you would be amazed and probably disgusted to see just how few men I see washing their hands after using public restrooms. I shudder when I am forced to open restroom doors with my hands. If I were king, I would enact a law that all public restroom entry doors were on a hinges that swung both ways so people could open doors without using their hands. Lacking the swinging doors, I use a paper towel to open the door and then have fun shooting the paper towel into the waste basket, which is rarely by the door.

Another strategy to utilize to reduce contracting sickness, and when there is a lack of soap and water, is to wash with alcohol based hand sanitizers. Buy a large refill bottle to keep at home and refill small bottles which you can keep in your car, purse, etc. Using the gel is easy- apply some to your hands and rub until dry.

One last bit of advice...whether you handshake or hand-bump (teach your friends to bump!) be mindful that having a virus or bacteria on your hands will not automatically make you ill. The problem is touching your face (mouth, lips, etc.) with hands that are unclean-this allows a portal of entry for the nasty little bugs.

Thanks for reading my first Helium article (Hooray for me!).

LINKS:

http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/

Learn more about this author, Thomas Grey.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.