Hand Hygiene causing hand eczema

[EternalFeather]

I just started working at a new hospital. 2 nights ago was my first shift on the floor. I noticed since that night and it even got worse later to even now, I started getting eczema in my hands. It is bothersome, dry, painful and annoying and disturbing.

I dont know specifically what is causing this but Im sure it is associated with the hand hygiene. I wash my hands a lot and use the alcohol foams lot.

i cant wash my hands and/or alcohol foam my hands less cause thats not "right" so I dont know. looking for suggestions...

Does anyone experience this?

Any advice??

[klone, MSN, RN]

You should talk to the employee health nurse and see if she can accommodate a different type of hand wash for you.

[EternalFeather]

i hadn't thought of that. I'm going to do that. this has never happened to me before. it is the first time ever.

[quiltynurse56, LPN, LVN]

It may also be the interaction with the gloves you use. I have found the vinyl to be the best, but I still do have issues with many of the hand washing soaps.

[AnnieOaklyRN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Hi,

You may want to look into whether it is actually the gloves you are wearing. My sister had this issue and realized it was the nitrile gloves and not the hand washing.

Go to your employee health and speak to them about supplying you with non nitrile gloves.

Annie

[Bumex, DNP, NP]

I had the same issue when I was a floor nurse. I would notice it on day 3 in a row of whatever I was working and would be similar to your symptoms. Never did figure out if it was gloves or the soap.

[EternalFeather]

I still havent gone to the emoloyee health cause i work nights and I tend to forget to go or I'm too tired to wait for them to come in.

I'm sure it's not the gloves.

I think it's more likely the alcohol foam and not the soap. After a few shifts of working, my hands started to harden dry and chapped even peeling.

I've been avoiding using the foam cause it burns.

I think I'm gonna start bringing my own hand sanitizer and a good hand lotion moisturizer

[AJJKRN]

I still havent gone to the emoloyee health cause i work nights and I tend to forget to go or I'm too tired to wait for them to come in.

I'm sure it's not the gloves.

I think it's more likely the alcohol foam and not the soap. After a few shifts of working, my hands started to harden dry and chapped even peeling.

I've been avoiding using the foam cause it burns.

I think I'm gonna start bringing my own hand sanitizer and a good hand lotion moisturizer

I get contact dermatitis in cooler weather with washing and sanitizing my hands.

Contact dermatitis - Wikipedia

I use the mini lotion sizes of gold bond ultimate healing hand cream from Walmart, target, etc. It's thick but doesn't feel greasy to me and seems to absorb fast. I know we're not supposed to use outside lotions because they can deteriorate the gloves but if I don't my hands will crack and bleed fairly soon.

[Dohardthings]

I have issues with the soap because it is antibacterial and overly drying. I would ask about using Cetaphil instead.

[jennylee321]

If your occupational health department

can provide you with a spray hand sanitizer (has a spray handle like a bottle of windex), this stuff has made a huge difference for me. I haven't had any skin irritation or break down since using it (knock on wood!).

[NurseSpeedy, ADN, LPN, RN]

I have really bad eczema on my hands. Washing with soap instead of hand sanitizer seems to decrease the severity but it's still pretty bad. My dermatologist prescribed a cream to apply and it's available cheap and generic. I can't apply it at work obviously because I'll just wash it off every few minutes, but when I get home I use it and then apply a liberal amount before going to bed. After all the years, it's the only thing that gives relief. Regular hand lotion does absolutely nothing.