So I’d think that applying lotion and then, say, opening the bathroom door with lotiony hands will re-contaminate your hands. Doing it just before sitting at your desk for a while or going to bed might be a better time, so your hands can dry when you’re not going to be walking around touching stuff.
I wonder about dryness and its effect on immune cells. Dryness can also kill certain immune cells, which can ultimately lead to a better environment for germs than if you had left the wound moist. My original source for this is a book on historical medicine that I can no longer remember, but a 20 minute literature check finds that modern wound care emphasizes keeping wounds moist (but not too moist, and not in all circumstances), both to prevent infection and promote faster healing:
I could imagine that handwashing is a similarly horseshoe shaped problem- too moist and you increase your hands’ habitability for germs, too dry and you make it easier for germs to permeate your skin.
The CDC recommends drying hands, because wet hands spread and receive microbes more easily. (Although that’s microbes generally and they’re not sure about disease-causing germs in particular). https://www.cdc.gov/handwashing/show-me-the-science-handwashing.html
So I’d think that applying lotion and then, say, opening the bathroom door with lotiony hands will re-contaminate your hands. Doing it just before sitting at your desk for a while or going to bed might be a better time, so your hands can dry when you’re not going to be walking around touching stuff.
I wonder about dryness and its effect on immune cells. Dryness can also kill certain immune cells, which can ultimately lead to a better environment for germs than if you had left the wound moist. My original source for this is a book on historical medicine that I can no longer remember, but a 20 minute literature check finds that modern wound care emphasizes keeping wounds moist (but not too moist, and not in all circumstances), both to prevent infection and promote faster healing:
Clinical and Financial Advantages of Moist Wound Management
Moisture and healing: beyond the jargon
Formation of the Scab and the Rate of Epithelization of Superficial Wounds in the Skin of the Young Domestic Pig
PREPARING THE WOUND BED 2003: FOCUS ON INFECTION AND INFLAMMATION
I could imagine that handwashing is a similarly horseshoe shaped problem- too moist and you increase your hands’ habitability for germs, too dry and you make it easier for germs to permeate your skin.