Touching your face is a reflex action, but beware of the risk

Are you wondering why you cannot avoid touching your face? Well, this is beyond you.

One observational study conducted in 2015 analysed the behaviour of medical students in Australia.

Mary-Louse McLaws, an infection control expert at the University of North South Wales, Sydney, and her colleagues found that the students touched their faces an average of 23 times an hour.

Given that medical students should be more aware of the risks than others, this is quite a concern.

But why do we touch our faces so much, and how can we cut it out?

While most species touch their faces as a grooming exercise or as a way to sway pests away, humans and some of our fellow primates do it for all sorts of other reasons, too.

Psychologist Faith Simiyu says the face of a person is a very crucial body part in our day to day life.

“When you meet someone, it is the first place they look at because through the face we know if the person is normal or not,” said Simiyu, adding that there are some medical conditions like Downs Syndrome that can be identified by the features on the face and hence gives one an informed decision on how to handle a situation.

“The face helps in telling one’s moods. Emotions are expressed through the face hence communication. With all these functions, I say it is almost impossible to avoid touching the face,” said Simiyu.

She adds that to some people, image is everything. They always want to look good so that they can get recognition or accepted in a particular setting.

"So, unconsciously, they find themselves touching the face to check on the rashes developing or that stubborn pimple that might affect their looks," said Simiyu.

The research has also shown that skin-to-skin contact results in the release of the hormone oxytocin, which can help to increase calm and reduce stress.

“At other times, we use face touching subconsciously to flirt or to act like the curtains on a stage, closing up one act of the social drama, ushering in the next,” it says.

Other experts believe that self-touching is a way to help control our emotions and attention span.

But our eyes, nose and mouth are also key gateways for bacteria and viruses to enter our bodies.

Researchers in 2012 watched a sample of randomly selected people in public spaces in Florianopolis, Brazil, and on a subway in Washington DC, US. They found that the people they observed, who were not aware they were being watched, touched surfaces and then reached for their nose or mouth more than three times each hour.

But in the wake of a Covid-19 outbreak, it is important to put advice to practice and avoid touching our faces.

According to Simiyu, this tendency to self-touch is perhaps where face masks offer a useful form of protection. While medical masks do not necessarily stop the virus completely, they make it harder to touch the nose and mouth.

"Wearing a mask can reduce the tendency for people to touch their faces, which is a major source of infection without proper hand hygiene, but the precautions on using the masks be followed strictly,” saying Simiyu.

She says Covid-19 has posed a great challenge on how people are going to handle the situation since telling people to stop something that they do unconsciously is a classic problem.

Notes to self

She added that the fact that we know the consequences that come with touching our faces during this period is just enough reason to start practicing the caution. "Notes to self" reminding not to touch the face can also be helpful.

“We should always remember that touching our faces increases the chance of contracting the virus and just stop minding our face,” says Simiyu, adding that if we recognise situations that trigger the touching, we can act upon them.

World Health Organisation strictly recommends frequent hand washing, maintaining a distance from others and avoiding physical contact such as shaking hands.