These anti-germ hacks have gone viral.
NYC board-certified dermatologist Charles Puza, who studied at Harvard and Duke universities, is sharing four tips for getting sick less often.
To avoid germs, Puza recommends wiping the top of aluminum cans before drinking from them, forgoing lemon wedges in drinks at restaurants, not touching door handles and disinfecting your phone often.
“These are lifesaving doctor tips,” Puza says in his Sunday TikTok, which has attracted over 14,000 views.
Wipe the top of aluminum cans
“Did you know that most tops of cans are contaminated with bacteria and mold?” Puza says. “I always clean them before I put my mouth on them.”
A variety of bacteria was found on the lids of 180 beverage cans collected from different retail shops for a 2022 analysis.
“Beverage cans are present in different environments and are handled by different people and thus can be a potential source of infection for the consumers. It is highly recommended that beverage cans should be cleaned before drinking,” the researchers wrote in the Journal of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics.
They found the most effective way to clean the can was to rinse it with tap water and wipe it with a dry tissue.
Discard lemon wedges from drinks
Nobody wants a dirty lemon martini.
“Lemons are some of the dirtiest items in the kitchen. Don’t put those in your water,” Puza says.
A 2007 study tested lemon wedges served with water or soda at 21 restaurants in Paterson, New Jersey, finding that nearly 70% contained microbial growth. A total of 25 microorganisms were identified on the samples.
“People are touching the lemon in your glass, handling it, cutting it, placing it in a container or a cup, or a glass; and then picking up those slices at a later point in time and dropping them into a drink and putting them on the rim of a glass,” Philip Tierno, a clinical professor of microbiology and pathology at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine and author of “The Secret Life of Germs,” told Elle in 2016. “You can easily see how those lemon slices and lemon wedges can be contaminated.”
Don’t touch door handles
“Does anyone else fear door handles?” Puza asks. “Most of them are full of bacteria, which is why I never, ever touch them.”
Door handles in high-traffic areas are known to harbor bacteria and viruses. If you don’t want to touch them, there are tools that attach to a keychain that can open public door handles and press elevator buttons. At home, you should wash door handles with dish soap and warm water.
Disinfect your phone
We take our cell phones everywhere, including the bathroom, which means there are loads of germs on them.
Before you swipe, you need to wipe. An article on the Verizon website recommends doing so by turning off and unplugging your phone, scrubbing your hands for at least 20 seconds and then wiping the outside of the phone, including the screen, with an anti-bacterial wipe.
If you don’t have a wipe, Verizon advises cleaning your phone with a soft cloth and an alcohol-based disinfectant cleaner containing 70% isopropyl — the proper concentration to kill germs on the phone’s surface.
Puza says he cleans his phone at least twice a day.
