“Avoid touching your face especially when a contagious virus is spreading,” says Denise Pate, M.D., an internal medicine physician with the Medical Offices of Manhattan in NYC. “Viruses can easily transmit by touching contaminated surfaces followed by your face like eyes, nose, and mouth.”Â
And besides the face-wiping potential of a sweat session, just sitting around living life in general offers lots of urges to touch all parts of your head. If you stopped and counted how many times you unconsciously touch your face throughout the day, not even looking at when you had a legitimate itch to scratch, eye to rub, or ear lobe to pull, it would shock you.
A 2015 study published in the American Journal of Infection Control found that, on average, we put our hands and fingers all over our face over 20 times an hour. And then imagine them covered in bacteria and viruses and it’s no wonder why top health experts like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention list limiting face-touching as a key way to keep the coronavirus out of your body.
Considering how much the average person paws their face all day long, is it even possible to completely eliminate touching it? “We have it as a habit,” says Spencer Nadolsky, D.O., a board-certified family and obesity physician with Renaissance Periodization and the author of The Fat Loss Prescription and The Natural Way to Beat Diabetes. “We have itches on our faces often as it is a sensitive area, so it’s hard to break that habit.”Â
So probably not, say most experts, especially with for the involuntary swipes and scratches that we put our face through without even realizing we are doing it, not to mention the amount of times you fingers get near your face while performing daily tasks like brushing teeth, shaving, combing hair, and putting in contacts.
“Technically, yes you can stop touching your face,” says Nadolsky. “[But] practically it likely won’t happen.”
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Try to Limit Face-Touching
Clearly it’s important to limit your hands’ face time to keep any active viruses on your palms or fingers from gaining a foothold inside your body. But as it’s something pretty much everyone does all day long, how can you put the brakes on your self-phalangation? “Face-touching is a habit elicited by most people,” says Pate. “During times of this viral outbreak it is time to alter our behaviors and to minimize that behavior as often as possible.” She suggests writing notes to yourself or marking down every time you are about to touch your face to help you notice just how much you are doing it.
Other strategies include finding other things for your hands to do, like playing with faded fad fidget spinners or other little objects that work to keep your fingers busy and off of your face. Though wearing a mask and gloves really isn’t recommended for most people not infected or working on the viral front lines, donning them can provide a potent tactile and psychological barrier between you and your hands. Being covered in unfamiliar materials can make your move to touch or itch your face more obvious and correctable.
Fitness-focused guys can turn to grip strengtheners or stress balls to work on forearm and hand strength. Also, when working out, try wearing a sweat band to help keep your face and eyes from being inundated with sweat you want to wipe away.Â
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The No. 1 Face-Touching Tip
Ultimately though, there are really no practical or conventional strategies that you can use to truly limit face-touching, says Pate. “It’s more about the mindfulness of washing your hands. Simply keeping your hands clean will suffice.” Set reminders on your phone or place notes around the house that prompt you to wash your hands often, especially after going out into the world or interacting with neighbors or delivery people.
“Not touching your face is pretty tough,” says Nadolsky, “[but] if you do have to touch your face, then wash your hands well beforehand.” If you wash your hands with soap and water appropriately—a full 20 seconds of thoroughly washing fingers, back of hands, palms, and under fingernails—it’s the best way to keep the virus away and then you can touch your face. Next best would be to lather your hands with sanitizer, says Pate.Â
And don’t forget to clean your phone (which may often touch your face) and other frequently touched areas around you, she says. “It’s everyone’s responsibility to remain vigilant in properly maintaining these commonly touched surfaces clean. If not, the unconscious habit of face touching will transmit the virus to yourself and the people you come in contact with.”
