hand washing = sore hands, any good products available?

[emmy]

Hi

I've just bought a new puppy and so I am always washing my hands, this has resulted in sore hands that have started to split and bleed - I went through exactly the same thing when I had my children and was always washing my hands.

I'm wondering seeing as I will be going into a profession whereby handwashing is v. frequent and v. important, is there any product that I can use to protect my hands and stop them from getting so sore?

Thanks :)

[Farkinott, RN]

Maybe you are overdoing the hygiene at home! Seriously, we build better defences by living with few germs. I've lived with a few germs in my time but that's another story!

Hospital hygiene is another matter. I have taken a much more serious viewpint since i hae been in a postion where I am visiting clients in other units. I neither want to take bugs from my unit to them or bring their bugs back to mine.

I you can't find anything to wash your hands with at home containing the necessary emollients try Dove!

Good luck cos I remember (and still carry the scars) of working in colder environs where i would get splits in the ends of my fingers and over my knuckles. Every handwash was a new experieince in pain, as you know.

At home a quality soft soap suffices and at work I only wash in the green Microshield or Triclosan. Stay away from the pink glad Hands cos that will dry your hands out in seconds!

[emmy]

Maybe you are overdoing the hygiene at home! Seriously, we build better defences by living with few germs.

I don't think washing my hands after clearing up dogs mess is overdoing the hygiene, you should take a look at my house at the moment - covered in dust :) my assignments take priority over housework at the moment :chuckle

I think the main problem has to do with the weather, we had a cold spell and the hot tap was very hot and the cold tap was very cold, seems to make my hands really bad. Weather has warmed and my hands are not bleeding and I'm still having to wash them the same amount go figure.

[UNInurse]

I've found Hemp oil from the Bodyshop fantastic - not too slimy, and really moisturising....but it does wash off after about 2 washes.

[emmy]

Thanks for the suggestion UNInurse and welcome to allnurses :)

[nursedawn67, LPN]

I like the gold bond ultimate healing cream, it's in a gold and white tube..works great.

[WendyP61]

It seems we can mention brand names, so here goes:

Jurlique make a lavender hand cream that is wonderfully soothing. Downside is the price, at around $23-$25 a tube - so it's not something you'd go slapping on throughout the day! It smells divine, as does their rose hand cream, and I would go as far as to say it drives the most tenacious odours out of the old nose hairs.

Another product I've tried is from the Heinz "Baby Basics" range - called Sudocrem, that contains zinc oxide. Again, it's not something you'd use during a shift, rather to soothe the hands while you are sleeping.

I started using the latter product after my hands were virtually destroyed by an orphan kitten I was raising - clawed, gnawed and weeed on. I figured if the Heinz stuff was good for nappy rash, bed sores, eczema and abrasions it might help kitty-ravaged hands. Put it on at night and use cotton gloves - it's very thick and gluggy white cream.

Cheers,

[renerian, BSN, RN]

This manufacturer just made a new citrus type product for hard to heal hands. It stays on well and does last alot longer than most products. I have cracked hands most of the time. It healed them up in about a week. I will check the name and post it later.

Do you carry that product line there?

renerian

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

The Sally Hansen stuff is wonderful!

[fejao]

I know this is an old thread but I thought I would mention this. My hand were in a terrible mess on my surgical placement due to constant washing and use of alcohol gel, so much so I was taking painkillers to ease the pain. I saw a product in a nuring journal called Derma Shield. Its quite expensive but lasts ages and my hands started to clear up within a few days and now I use it all the time and never have a problem. http://www.dermashield.co.uk.

Fejao x

[bukko]

Looking over old posts on this old thread I don't see any mention of one possible cause of the sore hands -- latex medical gloves.

I wash my hands so often at work that I could qualify as obsessive-compulsive. At times, especially in cold weather, the skin on my knuckles and fingertips spontaneously splits and bleeds. But I've found it's not so much the soap as the gloves. My hospital provides non-powdered, non-latex gloves for workers whose hands are sensitive to the standard brand. I keep my pockets stuffed full with the special sort and I'm usually OK. But occasionally I'll get caught in a sticky situation in a patient's room with none of my brand, so I'll have to grab a pair from the boxes on the wall. My fingers will be burning and bleeding the next day.

So if your hands hurt, don't necessarily blame the soap. (The waterless, alcohol-based formulas also kill me, though.) Try some hypo-allergenic gloves. The clear vinyl ones are the best, but they're expensive. Are non-latex gloves commonly available in Australia?

And if your hands are falling apart, A&D Ointment, a sort of Vaseline with Vitamins A and D blended in that we use as an incontinence barrier, is a great night treatment. Just make sure to wear white cotton gloves over it, unless you enjoy greasy sheets...

[fejao]

May I add that our trust removed all clear vinyl gloves from the bays, because they are not approved for use with patients as they are only to be used for cleaning duties. They said only latex and thoes groovy purple gloves are to be used when dealing with patients as the vinyl gloves are a infection control risk.

Fejao x

[KrisRNwannabe]

http://www.drugstore.com/templates/brand/default.asp?brand=8756&trx=SBB-0-AB&trxp1=8756

My sisters hands crack really bad. she uses this stuff called zims crack cream. above is a link to drugstore.com it really helps her hands

Kris