Not long ago, a physician friend who works in a busy hospital and sees dozens of patients mentioned that he rarely washes his hands at work anymore.

Instead, he — like millions of Americans — relies on antibacterial hand gels to prevent catching or spreading unwanted bacteria and viruses.

I thought about this as I read this article about hand gels at CNN which begins with a story about George W. Bush giving a bottle of hand sanitizer to Barack Obama during the early stages of his campaign. 

The article discusses the pros and cons of alcohol-based hand sanitizers as compared to soap and water. This seemed particularly relevant right now, since nearly everyone I know is suffering from minor coughs and colds. Since the best way to stave off unwanted bugs is diligent hand washing, my hands are very raw and very clean.   

As it turns out, I should also use a hand sanitizer for a while. In terms of germ-fighting capabilities, hand gels are the clear winner. They're best at killing unseen bacteria and viruses, while hand washing is the only way to actually clean our hands of dirt, oils, smudges and residues.

Hand gels are recommended when you're in highly trafficked and highly-germ ridden places, such as hospitals, airplanes and kindergartens. It's probably also a good idea to keep some around in case a co-worker comes down with a cold.  

In those cases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends hand sanitizers if the alcohol content is above 60 percent.

For the most situations, however, the CDC recommends washing hands with soap and running water for 20 seconds. They recommend hand sanitizers as a complement to regular hand washing. The agency does advise the use of alcohol hand rubs when you're unable to wash your hands.

Personally, I'm a soap-and-water type. I'll stick to a low-tech bar of oatmeal soap as long as no one around me is obviously contagious.

Still, I do keep a sample size bottle of the stuff in my car and my gym bag for unexpected (and often messy) situations. Since I'm not much of a germ-o-phobe, I figure washing my hands the old fashioned way takes care of decontaminating me.

That said, however, I'd rely on hand sanitizer if I spent a lot of time on planes, subways or other busy places. I'd also reconsider if I taught first-grade, worked in a hospital, or similar. And of course, if I ever decide to run for President.