FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Touching your face is a reaction that many people have, and often don't think twice about.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) says one of the most significant ways to spread germs is by touching surfaces and then touching your face, eyes or nose.
5NEWS performed a small study - three separate observations - to determine how many times people touch their face in under 30 minutes.
"Well, I don't think about it very often. It has been pointed out to me in the past that I touch my face a lot, especially when I'm nervous. I don't recognize it, but other people do," said Wendy Karcher, a school teacher at Ramay Junior High in Fayetteville.
Karcher was at the public library, tutoring a student from school. She says she pays attention to the cleanliness of her hands and her students.
"One way that my students come into my classroom every day is we shake hands, and as soon as I shake hands with every student, I get a couple pumps of Purell," said Karcher.
We tested our experiment, and Karcher touched her face six times within 20 minutes.
A study done from Australia in 2015 observed 26 students. On average, each student touched their face 23 times per hour.
For Addison Simmons, touching her face acts as a relaxation technique.
"When I'm really nervous and when I'm stressed and anxious. And I like to rest my chin on my hand because it's comfortable," said Simmons, while getting some work done for her job as a logistics analyst.
Simmons is also a junior at the University of Arkansas. She says she only worries about getting sick during certain times of the year.
"When you just get back to school, and everybody's sick because everybody came back from wherever they were," said Simmons grimacing.
We counted 17 touches for Simmons in a 20 minute period, which was over the average from the Australian study.
To put a hint of humor on the subject, in California on Friday, Sara Cody, Santa Clara County Public Health Director, touched her face while addressing Californians not to touch their face.
She made a B-line with her finger, from the paper of her speech to her tongue.
Making it clear, most people don't realize it when they do it.