THE COVID-19 CHRONICLES : How to stop touching your face

In light of the current global situation, I thought it would be a good idea to write some tips to help patients stop touching their faces.

Why you ask?

Well I can almost guarantee that you do it WAY more then you thought. In fact, a study of office workers, showed they averaged 15.7 face touches per hour.

Even Academic’s (you think they would know better) in New South Wales, Australia, discovered their hands found their way unconsciously to their faces an average of 23 times an hour. Almost half of the face touches involved the mouth, nose, or eyes, which are the easiest pathways for viruses and bacteria to enter our bodies.

Now we know this isn’t the only way for COVID-19 to be transmitted. Like many other respiratory infections, It can also pass via droplet spray. When an infected person sneezes or coughs the droplets are then inhaled into the lungs of others.

So why do we touch our faces so much?

Touching our faces may act as a kind of self-soothing mechanism. Some research has shown that skin-to-skin contact results in the release of the hormone oxytocin, which can help to increase calm and reduce stress. We are also constantly on our phones, either too our ears or by our faces, which makes transmission of germs and disease from our hands to our faces a lot easier.

What can we do?

Touching our faces has a lot to do with habits. These face touching triggers include brushing your hair out of your face (2010 Justin Bieber anyone?), picking at a pimple or scratching an itch on your nose, it is best to identify your own trigger and again be mindful on when you have the urge.

1. Be mindful. Start by using a scented hand to help remind yourself to keep your hands away from your face. The smell will draw your attention to the location of your hands.

2. Another tool is to try to keep your hands busy. If you’re at home watching TV, try folding laundry. In a meeting? Try or putting your hands in your pockets, or place them on the table.

3. If you work with your hands, try wearing gloves. This will also act as a reminder to keep your hands away from your face and allow you to just take them off when work is done.

4. Also, It’s no good cleaning your hands only to go pick up your “dirty” cellphone. Take some time and clean the surface of your phone. It is also a surface at which COVID-19 can be spread.

Remember, your eyes, nose, and mouth are the easiest paths for a virus to enter the body. All it takes is touching these areas with your hands after you’ve come in contact with the disease on a surface you touched. The methods we discussed linked with a rigorous hand washing regiment, will drastically reduce your chances of contracting COVID-19 from touching your face.

I also urge you to think before wearing a mask, yes it is an effective way to stop you touching your face, but as these are in short supply, please leave them for the medical professionals who desperately need them.

Cheers,

Team Hughes Chiropractic

(Blog post is written from a combination of my experiences and the various research I have read over time, hence collective knowledge with no specific reference to particular articles).