Reason why we can’t stop touching our faces

We’ve been warned that touching our face can aid the spread of the coronavirus, but stopping the habit is easier said than done.

Rubbing our eyes, scratching our noses, touching our mouths – these are habits we’re all guilty of, even US President Donald Trump.

But as the global coronavirus outbreak heightens, health officials have warned that touching our faces can aid the spread of the deadly disease.

“Eyes, nose, mouth – all those mucous membranes are the portal into the body for a virus like COVID-19 or SARS,” University of NSW professor of epidemiology, healthcare infection and infectious diseases control Dr Mary-Louise McLaws said.

A public health official last Friday advised at a press conference that people “start working on not touching your face, because one main way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose or eyes”.

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Sara Cody, Directora del Departamento de Salud Pública de Santa Clara, en California, se relame el dedo mientras advierte que no hay que llevarse las manos a la cara y boca para evitar la transmisión del #COVID19 🙄🔊#coronavirus pic.twitter.com/AUvab7y2e7

— Madre Semestrosa (@MSemestrosa) March 5, 2020

But moments later, Santa Clara County’s Public Health Department director Dr Sara Cody proved just how difficult the habit is to break by licking her finger before turning the page of her notes.

Dr Sara Cody, a US public health official touched her own face, immediately after telling the public not to as it aided in the spread of coronavirus. Picture: Twitter

“Unless you handcuff yourself, I think you are going to touch your face,” Dr Norman Swan said on an episode of ABC’s Coronacast podcast.

“They’ve done studies where they’ve videoed people, and actually monitored how often they touch their face without even thinking and realising it, and it happens frequently. And even when they know they’re being filmed for that reason, their hands still go to their face.”

It’s not an easy habit to stop – in fact, the more you think about it, the more your eyes will twitch and your nose will become itchy.

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this has been me since the CDC said not to touch your face pic.twitter.com/C3mUiZmzdq

— Aparna Nancherla (@aparnapkin) March 5, 2020

**Behaves normally**

**reads you shouldn't touch your face because of the Coronavirus***

**SPENDS THE REST OF THE DAY WITH ONE HAND IN MY MOUTH AND THE OTHER IN MY EYE OH MY GOD HAVE I ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS?!?**

— amber ruffin (@ambermruffin) March 3, 2020

In a 2015 study on face touching, documenting the alarming number of times we do it, Dr McLaws found that over the course of an hour, a group of 26 students touched their faces, on average, 23 times.

Nearly half of the touches were to the eyes, nose or mouth – what infectious disease researchers call “the T-zone”.

“I was really surprised,” Dr McLaws told The New York Times. “By touching your mucous membranes, you’re giving a virus 11 opportunities every hour if you’ve touched something infectious.”

Dr McLaws said that even at a conference this week, in a matter of minutes she counted a dozen times that she saw someone touching their mucous membranes.

“It is a very common practice. We rub our eyes, scratch our nose, touch our mouth – the general community needs to be aware of how often they are touching their face.”

While health officials like the World Health Organisation (WHO) have suggested that avoiding face touching could help you prevent contracting coronavirus, some researchers say that a more forceful warning about face touching needs to be issued.

“The CDC (America’s Centres for Disease Control and Prevention) and the WHO will say something like ‘avoid’ touching your eyes, nose and mouth,” creator of HenrytheHand.com – which promotes hand and face hygiene – Dr William P Sawyer said.

“The advice should be ‘absolutely do not touch them!’ If you never touch your facial mucous membranes, you’re less likely to be sick again from any viral respiratory infection.”

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However, in a time when there is growing social panic about the coronavirus, breaking the habit is easier said than done as face touching can often be a stress response.

In 2014, German researchers analysed the brain’s electrical activity before and after spontaneous face touching, and their findings suggested that we touch our faces as a way to relieve stress.

Even US President Donald Trump has been struggling in his attempts to stop the habit, telling a meeting of airline chief executives this week, “I haven’t touched my face in weeks! Been weeks. I miss it.”

Following the advice from authorities to try not to touch your face, people have taken to social media with fears that their inability to stop the habit will cause them to catch the virus.

“It is absolutely human nature,” instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, Dr Timothy Scarella, told NBC. “I think that to ask people not to touch their face is kind of ridiculous. It just can’t happen.”

According to Dr Vanessa Raabe, assistant professor in medicine at NYU Langone Health, here are four tricks to help you break the habit:

• Keep a box of tissues handy – When you feel the urge to scratch an itch, rub your nose or adjust your glasses, grab a tissue and use that instead of your fingers.

• Identify triggers – Pause throughout the day to notice compulsive behaviour. Once you’re more aware of when and why you’re touching your face, addressing the root cause an be an effective solution.

• Keep your hands busy – Keeping your hands occupied with a stress ball or other object can reduce instances of touching your face and minimise triggers, though don’t forget to regularly clean and sanitise that object.

• Chill – As long as your hands are clean, touching your face isn’t going to mark the end of the world.