There is a guy in our church that many affectionately refer to as Fist Bump. He doesn’t shake hands with anyone, but gladly offers a closed fist to lightly bump yours. No one that I know of thinks ill of him for not shaking hands and understands that he probably does it for health reasons.

I’m seriously considering adopting the same practice although I’ve always been known as a hugger of both men and women, but may have to give that up in addition to giving up shaking hands.

Why?

Due to my partial disabilities and work schedule, I don’t leave the house very often. In the past week and half, I’ve been out of the house only 2 times and both times, I went to church and then home. I shook hands with a number of people and made sure I washed my hands as soon as I got home.

However, as I’m writing this, I seem to have a bug with a 102ºF fever. The only place I could have gotten it was from others at church. Many people are so dedicated to attending church that they often go even if they aren’t feeling well.

This is a common problem with many churches. Next time you go, listen to how many people cough, sneeze, sniff or blow their nose.

I should know better than to shake so many hands (I didn’t hug anyone these last 2 times attending church). Due to living in constant pain and having sleep problems, my immune system is very weak and I’m very susceptible to catching almost anything. When the news says there is a bug or illness going around, especially in the schools, I tend to stay home and watch the church service via livestream over the internet.

Many of us who are gaining silver in our hair (instead of our wallets) and wrinkles on you face, find that our immune systems are not what they used to be and we have to take added precautions to prevent ourselves from getting sick.

Like I said, as soon as I got home, I washed my hands, but did you know that the way most people wash their hands is insufficient to prevent the spread of disease?

There are two common mistakes that most people make when washing their hands and I have to admit, that I’m guilty of both.

The first mistake is that they don’t wash their hands long enough to properly scrub off the majority of germs.

The second mistake is drying their hands on a dirty towel. How many of you use the same hand towel several times before putting it in the laundry? No one wants to think about having to wash every towel after every use, but if you didn’t wash your hands long enough, you are infecting the towel when you dry off. For health reasons, it might be best to use paper towels for regular hand drying as you use them once and toss them in the trash.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention gives the following recommendations:

• Wet hands with clean water.
• Rub hands together to create a lather. Be sure to lather the back of your hands and between your fingers. Don’t forget to clean under your nails as bacteria like E. coli can hide in the crevices.
• Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds, which is like singing the happy birthday song twice.
• Rinse your hands with clean water.
• Dry hands on a clean towel, which means it’s been used no more than three times before getting tossed in the hamper.

They also recommend when to wash your hands:

• Before, during and after touching food
• Before mealtime
• Before and after interacting with someone who is sick
• Before and after bandaging wounds
• Post sneezing, coughing or blowing your nose
• After using the bathroom
• If you’ve changed diapers
• Whenever you’ve played with your pup or other animals
• After touching garbage

It’s not always possible to follow these recommendations, so, I am planning on becoming another Fist Bump and stop shaking hands. When you offer a closed fist for gentle bump, it’s the back of the fingers which are not as likely to be covered with all of the germs on the palms and front of the fingers.

As weird as it sounds, I recommend that many people, especially seniors and those with weaker immune systems, to stop shaking hands and go to a gentle fist bump. It just may be enough to keep you from getting sick as often.