Re: Random Thought
The water temperatures used to wash your hands are definitely not hot enough to kill any bacteria. However, hot water is better at removing the natural oils excreted from your skin which can contain many of the bacteria. The soap (preferrably antibacterial) is the most effective agent at killing bacteria, though scrubbing well alone with just hot water and no soap is very effective at removing a large number of bacteria from your skin. However, if you rub more than a minute or so (with or without soap), you actually get deep enough into your tissue to INCREASE the number of bacteria on your skin! Seems contradictory, but these are the natural flora bacteria that are always found on your body that help prevent the bad types from causing infections.
Optimal hand-washing utilizes tolerably hot water, antibacterial soap and scrubbing well (on all surfaces, between fingers, backs of hands, wrists, and scraping your fingernails against the palm of your hands to get soap up under there too) for 20-30 seconds. Then use a towel to dry your hands (disposable paper towels are best for preventing bacterial spread even though they're wasteful). Dispose of this paper towel then get another dry paper towel to use to turn off the sink and/or open the door (so you don't re-contaminate yourself with bacteria from when you or others touched these surfaces).
Brushing your teeth is not hugely bacteriocidal...it's more for polishing off stains, removing plaque/tartar where bacteria can hide and removing sugars that eat away at enamel. If you want to kill bacteria, you need to use scope or another mouthwash with high amounts of alcohol or other bacteriocidal agents for at least 30 seconds.
Yay for healthcare knowledge! WOO!
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