Chlorhexidine and dematitis (contact)

[Jezzb]

Hi,

I'm currently a nursing student in New Zealand.

During clinical placements in hospitals I have been using chlorhexidine to to wash my hands but have been experienicing contact dermatitis due to using it. It only takes about a day and my hands become itchy and small lumps appear. It resolves itself in about four days if I stop using chlorhexidine.

This only occurs on my hands but understandibly it is very frustrating indeed.

So I was wondering if there is anyone else who expereiences this and how they manage it?

And is there a product that is more suitable to use that won't cause this reaction in the clinical setting?

Thanks

Jeremy

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

Is chlorhexidine common for washing your hands? What type of placement are you in? If you are on a regular floor, you shouldn't have to use chlorhexadine, that would indeed be too irritating and be overkill for the handwashing required. A regular antibacterial handwash or waterless alcohol hand gel should suffice. We use chlorhexadine to scrub pt's for IV starts, etc. I am not sure what the scrub is for staff to prep for OR is.

If such a specialized solution is required, could Hibiclens be an alternative?

I used to suffer from a severe contact dermatitis when latex gloves were the norm, years ago. So bad that they did NOT have time to clear up in between, my hands were in awful shape. A prescription steroid cream (triamcinolone) helped heal them up.

[BanoraWhite]

The hospitals in my area use Chlorhexidine as hand sanitizer (you just put it on like hand lotion and it dries if you get what I mean...). I get the same as you Jeremy, and went to my doctor as I didn't know what was causing it, and he told me just to avoid using it.

If you are just using it as a hand gel, maybe just wash your hands instead where possible, and ask your boss if you can take in your own product you can pop in your pocket as a replacement. Many brands (like Dettol for example) make their own pocket sized versions now.

[ONCRN84]

My reply is the same as Banora. My old hospital had hand sanitizer with it and it made me break out in contact dermatitis. I went to the derm, that's what he suggested was the culprit, and it resolved a couple weeks after I stopped using it.

Good luck to you. It's certainly obnoxious to deal with!

[twentytenRN]

cherrybreeze said:

If such a specialized solution is required, could Hibiclens be an alternative?

Hibiclens is chlorhexidine! I am allergic to this stuff as well. End up with ezcema on my hands. I have to avoid it. Some hospital handsoaps in the dispensers contain chlorhexidine now, I found it out the hard way... very painful hands!

I went and spoke with the infection control/employee health nurse regarding my issues and concerns. The solution was that they ordered some "special" soap for me that I could place at the sink at the nurse's station that didn't contain the chlorhexidine. If all else fails you could bring in a bottle of Dial and keep it in your locker to use during your shift.

[cherrybreeze, ADN, RN]

twentytenRN said:

Hibiclens is chlorhexidine! I am allergic to this stuff as well. End up with ezcema on my hands. I have to avoid it. Some hospital handsoaps in the dispensers contain chlorhexidine now, I found it out the hard way... very painful hands!

I went and spoke with the infection control/employee health nurse regarding my issues and concerns. The solution was that they ordered some "special" soap for me that I could place at the sink at the nurse's station that didn't contain the chlorhexidine. If all else fails you could bring in a bottle of Dial and keep it in your locker to use during your shift.

I apologize, I didn't know they were the same. Our hibiclens all comes in a solution that's bright red, our chlorhexidine swabs, etc, are all a clear solution. My bad.