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Stop Touching Your Face: COVID-19 Protection
Stop Touching Your Face: COVID-19 Protection

Video: Stop Touching Your Face: COVID-19 Protection

Video: Stop Touching Your Face: COVID-19 Protection
Video: Coronavirus: Why we touch our faces and how to stop it - BBC 2024, March
Anonim

Studies have shown that the coronavirus can survive on surfaces from a few hours to several days. So the infection is not only spread from person to person through droplets or aerosols, but also through touch. This is why public health officials encourage us all to wash our hands. Why is this important? Once the virus particles have been transferred to our hands, all we have to do is touch our face, so that they infiltrate the facial mucous membranes (nose, mouth and eyes) infecting us. So, to protect yourself, it is essential to stop touching your face.

How to stop touching your face to minimize the risk of contagion?

tips to stop touching your face tired eyes office
tips to stop touching your face tired eyes office

The eyes, nose and mouth are the three main entry points for COVID-19. These are the areas of the face that we are most used to touching. Sometimes we bite our nails, scratch our nose, wipe our eyes or simply try to hide a yawn with our hands. We tend to touch our face more when we are stressed, embarrassed or anxious. Touching the face is a habit that satisfies us and soothes us from momentary annoyances, and perhaps that is why it is very difficult to keep from doing it. But it is however not impossible.

5 tips to stop touching your face

keep a log watch your bad habits
keep a log watch your bad habits

What are the symptoms of coronavirus and how can you distinguish them from those of the flu?

What is the lifespan of the coronavirus on different surfaces?

Protective masks against the coronavirus: an effective measure or a false sense of security?

The first key moment to let go of mania is to become aware. We must observe: how and why we do it, the situation in which we find ourselves, the desire that preceded the gesture. Self-monitoring is very important and its effectiveness is closely linked to keeping a logbook.

Breaking a bad habit takes patience and effort. Since there is no time to wait, it could be effective to develop a new habit that will replace the old one. For example, instead of touching your face, you can try to touch your shoulder or the back of your head. Either way, you have to do your best to be successful!

stress ball trick stop touching your face
stress ball trick stop touching your face

Keep your hands occupied to avoid bringing them to your face. You can, for example, squeeze a stress ball which is very effective in channeling stress that could be causing your bad habit. Alternatively, when you're at the office, you can use an eraser, fiddle with a pen, put away clips and clips, or make a rubber band.

crossing your arms so you don't touch your face
crossing your arms so you don't touch your face

Adopt replacement gestures. We are talking here about gestures incompatible with the movements necessary to touch the face. For example, when you feel the urge to touch your face, you can cross your arms in front of your chest or keep them behind your back, stretch your arms out at your sides, rest your palms on your thighs. Another good idea would be to do some breathing and meditation exercises that will help you release tension and forget the urge to touch your face.

gestures to stop touching your face
gestures to stop touching your face

To stop constantly touching your face, you have to try to eliminate the provocateurs of this urge. For example:

1. The need to rub the eyes and massage the temples is in most cases due to fatigue, lack of natural light, poor posture at the computer which damages the eyes and pressure at work.. How to proceed ? You should try to take rest more often, ideally outside, on the balcony or roof terrace. It is necessary to arm yourself with an ocular product, indicated for irritated eyes, which will help moisturize the eyelids and the eye area. It is also important to adapt the position of the screen to your posture, and not the other way around. This is beneficial both for maintaining correct posture and for sparing the eyes.

how to stop biting your nails tips
how to stop biting your nails tips

2. Keeping your fingernails short helps stop biting them. You can also try, at least temporarily, to wear bandages on the fingertips. Last solution: paint your nails with a bitter varnish.

3. Use a rubber band or crab clip to keep hair out of your eyes or mouth.

4. When you want to yawn, you should refrain from putting your hand in front of your mouth. Instead of doing this, you can just turn to the nearest wall to yawn without your colleagues noticing.

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