Washing hands is an important habit which helps get rid of illness-causing germs and keeps you healthy. It also removes dirt and stops microorganisms from spreading to other people.
Handwashing prevents people from picking infections, flu and other diseases like diarrhoea, food poisoning and passing on the same to others. The Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that handwashing is one of the best ways to protect ourselves and our family from falling sick.
When to wash your hands?
You should wash your hands often to stay healthy. It’s an easy way to protect yourself against infection and illness spread.
– Before and after preparing food – Before and after eating food – After using toilets or changing baby diapers – After coughing, sneezing or blowing nose – After touching garbage or any other waste material – After touching raw vegetables or meat – After touching animals, their feed or wastes – Before and after treating any kind of wounds – Before and after caring for any sick person at home
How to wash your hands properly? “The Five Steps”
STEP 1 – Wet your Hands: The first step in hand washing technique is to wet the hands with clean & running water, can be warm or cold.
STEP 2 – Apply Soap & Lather well: Apply enough soap to cover your hand and rub them together to lather in between the fingers, back of the hand and under the nails. Don’t forget the thumbs too.
STEP 3 – Scrub for 20 secs: WHO says that we should wash hands for at least 20 secs. Or till the time it takes to sing “Happy Birthday” song twice.
WHO recommends the following steps to properly scrub your hands:
– Rub both hands palm to palm. – Right palm over left dorsum with interlaced fingers and vice versa. – Palm to palm with fingers interlaced. – Back of fingers to opposing palms with fingers interlocked. – Rotational rubbing of left thumb clasped in right palm. – Rotational rubbing, backwards and forwards with clasped fingers of right hand in left palm and vice versa.
STEP 4 – Rinse your Hands: Rinsing should be done under clean and running water.
STEP 5 – Dry your Hands: Use a clean single use, disposable tissue to dry your hands or air dry them and close the faucet with the tissue itself.
“Science” Behind the 5 Steps of Washing Hands
Step 1 Wet your Hands: Running water is important as hands may become re-contaminated with stagnant water.
Step 2 Apply Soap & Lather: Washing hands with soap & water is proven to be more effective than water alone because the surfactants in soap help remove soil, dirt/dust along with microbes.
Step 3 Scrub for 20 secs: Rubbing hands for at least 20 secs causes friction and friction is important to remove germs from hands. as opposed to rubbing for a shorter time period.
Step 4 Rinse: Rinsing helps to remove the dirt/ grease/ germs from hands which have been lifted by the friction of rubbing.
Step 5 Dry: It’s important to dry the hands after washing as germs can be easily transferred to and from wet hands.
During this COVID-19 outbreak, WHO recommends washing hands frequently with soap and water to kill the virus that may be on your hands.
Follow us @Datt Mediproducts to keep updated about the latest facts and tips and to stay healthy.
Some swelling in both legs after a long day of standing or sitting is common and usually nothing to worry about. But when one leg is noticeably more swollen than the other, it’s worth understanding why — and knowing when it’s a signal to see a doctor rather than just rest and elevate.
Common Reasons One Leg May Swell More Than the Other
One-sided leg swelling can have several causes, ranging from prolonged standing or reduced movement to conditions such as chronic venous insufficiency, lymphedema, infection, or deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Sudden or unexplained swelling should be medically evaluated, particularly when it is accompanied by pain, warmth, redness, or other concerning symptoms.
1. Impaired Circulation
When the veins in one leg are less efficient at moving blood back toward the heart, fluid collects in that leg’s tissue — this shows up as more noticeable swelling on that side.
Consistently favoring one leg — standing with weight shifted to one side, sitting cross-legged, or always sleeping on the same side — can slow circulation on that one side over time & cause mild swelling in one leg or ankle. However persistent swelling should be evaluated by a medical professional.
Small daily patterns that contribute:
Standing with weight shifted onto one leg
Sitting cross-legged for extended periods
Sleeping consistently on one side
Staying mobile and, where appropriate, using compression bandages can help counter this.
3. Past Injury or Surgery
Scar tissue or structural changes from a past injury, surgery, or procedure involving lymph nodes can reduce normal fluid drainage in that limb — making it swell more easily than the other.
Examples include:
Fractures or ligament injuries
Knee, hip, or ankle surgery
Medical procedures involving lymph nodes
If lymphatic drainage is part of what you’re managing, our guide on lymphedema care and management covers this in depth. Recovery-stage support from the orthopedic products range may also help during this period.
4. Reduced movement or muscle activity
When one leg is less active than the other, the muscles in that leg may not contract as frequently. Normally, muscle contractions especially in the calf — help push blood and fluid back toward the heart. If movement is reduced because of pain, weakness, limited mobility, prolonged sitting, or favoring one leg, this muscle-pump action can become less effective, allowing fluid to accumulate in the tissues and making the leg appear more swollen.
Reduced movement can occur after an injury or surgery, or when someone has difficulty walking normally. In these situations, swelling may be temporary. However, persistent, significant, or sudden one-sided swelling should not automatically be attributed to inactivity, as other causes such as a blood clot or infection may need to be ruled out.
5. Medical Conditions That Can Cause One-Sided Swelling
Uneven leg swelling can also be caused by several medical conditions that affect the lymphatic system, veins, or tissues of the leg.
Some important possibilities include:
Lymphedema: This occurs when the lymphatic system cannot drain fluid effectively, causing fluid to build up in the tissues. It can affect one leg or both and may cause persistent swelling, heaviness, tightness, or thickening of the skin.
Infection or inflammation: An infection such as cellulitis can cause localized swelling along with redness, warmth, tenderness, and sometimes fever. Inflammation from an injury or another underlying condition can also cause swelling in one leg.
Chronic venous insufficiency: When the veins have difficulty returning blood from the legs to the heart, blood can pool in the lower leg. This may cause swelling, heaviness, aching, skin discoloration, or changes around the ankles. Symptoms may become more noticeable after prolonged standing or sitting.
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): A DVT is a blood clot in a deep vein, usually in the leg. It can cause sudden or new swelling in one leg, sometimes accompanied by pain, tenderness, warmth, or redness. DVT is important to recognize because a clot can potentially travel to the lungs and cause a pulmonary embolism.
When Uneven Leg Swelling Needs Medical Attention
Occasional mild swelling after a long day is usually fine. Get it checked promptly if the swelling is sudden, painful, or comes with redness, warmth, or breathing symptoms — these can indicate a blood clot or other condition needing urgent care.
See a doctor or other healthcare professional if the swelling is:
Sudden and painful
Accompanied by redness or warmth
Associated with tenderness in the leg
Linked to shortness of breath or chest discomfort
Worsening over time or not improving with rest and elevation
Skin changed or unexplained discomfort.
If you experience shortness of breath or chest pain alongside sudden leg swelling, treat it as an emergency and seek immediate medical care — this combination can indicate a blood clot that has traveled to the lungs.
Managing Mild Leg Swelling
For swelling linked to circulation or posture rather than injury, movement, elevation, and — where appropriate — graduated compression are the most effective everyday tools.
Helpful daily practices:
Elevating the legs during rest
Moving regularly after long periods of sitting or standing
Our comparison of compression bandages vs. compression stockings can also help you understand which option may be appropriate for different situations.
Supporting Healthy Circulation
Mild, occasional asymmetrical swelling isn’t unusual — but persistent one-sided swelling should always be assessed by a healthcare professional to rule out more serious causes. Paying attention to posture, movement, and circulation day to day goes a long way toward keeping both legs comfortable.
Back pain rarely comes from one dramatic moment. More often, it builds slowly — from how you sit, how you lift, and how much you move (or don’t) during an ordinary day.
The good news: because these habits are small and repeated, small corrections add up fast. Here are the five biggest everyday culprits, and what to actually do about each one.
1. Poor Posture During Screen Time
Slouching while looking at a screen pulls your head forward and loads your spine with extra weight it wasn’t built to carry in that position — over hours, this causes fatigue, stiffness, and pain.
Fix it:
Sit with your spine neutral and shoulders relaxed, not hunched forward
Raise screens to eye level so you’re not bending your neck down
Use an ergonomic chair or a lumbar support cushion
Stand or stretch every 30–45 minutes
If you're managing an existing strain or a support during long desk hours, a soft posture corrector can help retrain alignment. For a deeper look at why this matters beyond just back pain, see the health benefits of good posture.
2. Incorrect Lifting Techniques
Bending at the waist to lift — instead of bending your knees — puts sudden, concentrated pressure on your lower back. Do this repeatedly and you risk a genuine muscle strain, not just soreness.
Fix it:
Bend your knees, not your back
Keep the object close to your body
Keep your back straight through the lift
Never twist your torso while carrying weight
If a strain has already happened, our guide on muscle strain causes and recovery covers what actually supports healing — and what can slow it down. Muscle strains are also common in athletes, particularly in sports involving sprinting, jumping, kicking, and other explosive movements. For a broader look at sports-related orthopedic injuries, see our guide on orthopedic injuries in athletes.
3. Sitting for Long Periods Without Movement
Long, unbroken sitting stiffens the back and hips and slows circulation — and reduced blood flow means more muscle fatigue and discomfort, even without any single “wrong” movement.
Fix it:
Stand or walk for a few minutes every hour
Add simple back and leg stretches through the day
Use a standing desk if it’s available to you
Circulation-focused support can also help here. Compression bandages are sometimes used to support circulation during long periods of inactivity, particularly for the legs.
4. Weak Core Muscles
Your abdominal and lower-back muscles share the job of stabilizing your spine. When they’re weak, your spine has to work harder on its own — and that imbalance shows up as fatigue and pain over time.
Fix it — simple strengthening moves:
Bridges
Planks
Pelvic tilts
These don't need to be intense. Consistency matters more than difficulty here.
5. Lifestyle Factors That Strain the Spine
Extra body weight, an unsupportive mattress, and chronic stress all add ongoing load to your spine — none of these show up as a single injury, but together they compound.
Fix it:
Maintain a healthy body weight
Choose a mattress that supports spinal alignment
Build in relaxation techniques to ease muscle tension
If back pain has become a longer-term, ongoing issue rather than an occasional twinge, our guide on the role of exercise in chronic pain management covers how movement, not prolonged rest, can be part of a better long-term strategy.
A physiotherapist can also assess what’s contributing to your pain and help you build an exercise and recovery plan suited to your needs. For lower back-specific support, a lumbo-sacral support may provide additional support during certain activities or periods of recovery.
When Back Pain Needs Medical Attention
Occasional discomfort that improves with posture changes and movement is common and usually not serious. See a doctor if:
Pain becomes severe or persistent
Movement becomes noticeably difficult
Pain spreads down into your legs or elsewhere
A healthcare professional can properly evaluate the cause and recommend the right treatment or rehab plan — self-managing is fine for mild, short-term discomfort, but not for these signs.
Supporting a Healthier Back
Most back pain isn’t caused by one bad moment — it’s built from small daily habits. Fixing your posture, lifting correctly, moving more, and strengthening your core will do more for your spine than almost anything else. For extra support during recovery or long days, browse the full orthopaedic products range.
