hand washing = sore hands, any good products available?

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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 :)

Try applying vaseline to them at night and either massage it in well or put little gloves on if worried about your linens. There is also a cuticle cream made by Orly that is wonderful on your hands. Used to use it all of the time when I worked NICU and my hands were normal by the time I got home. Used to keep a tub in the car, and put it on as soon as I climbed in.

Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

Sally Hansen has an 18 hour hand cream that comes in an orange tube. That stuff's great.

I don't know about the brand names in your area, but Eucerin cream is good. You might ask a wound care nurse what do they recommend for macerated skin? You need a barrier of some sort to prevent infection. I have this problem too, and it gets worse if I smother my hands in gloves for too long. I had to use a steroid cream for a while because I was not vigilant enough in keeping the barrier on. Also, talk to the infection control nurse or nurses in surgery. They deal with this a lot.

Thanks for all the replies.

I thought there was a product that coated the hand and actually took a few handwashes before it washed off, I took a pharmacy assistants course before I decided to go into nursing and the bloke promoting the product said that nurses used it as they had to wash their hands alot but for the life of me I can't remember what it was called, he described it like an invisable glove that protects the hands from water for a few washes.

Does wearing any kind of cream affect the gloves in any way? Just a thought.

Thanks again :)

Many creams can cause problems with gloves so you need to be careful.

Johnson and Johnson as well as a few others make a protective barrier cream but if you have just cleaned up a puppy mess you are going to be scrubbing and the barrier cream won't help. with that.

I have worked OR for years and my above two rememdies have helped me for the past twenty years plus. I use what I know works!

Thanks Suzanne

I'll give them a go :)

thought i'd put my bib in!

I'm a third-year student doing prac in theatre, and i've found that johnson + johnson make this really nice hand cream that compliments their 'microshield' hand washes.

Specializes in Paed Ortho, PICU, CTICU, Paeds Retrieval.

Our occupational health department has started handing out tubs of aqueous cream to be used as a soap. The initial feedback is that handwashing has increased because no-one is getting sore anymore. Now, if they could only find something that makes getting up in the morning less painful.....!

Bag Balm - used for cow udders and works like a charm for dry, chapped hands.

rub it in at night - little white cotton gloves....just like grandma :)

I love using lanolell on my hands (lanolin) I find that if I use it an hs my hands are pretty much healed when I wake up

Specializes in NICU.

I started using Aquaphor on my hands after we had good success with it in our NICU (works wonders on fragile preemie skin). I use tiny amounts at home during the day and larger amounts at night with cotton gloves or socks on my hands. It seems to heal all the tiny lacerations I get, especially on my knuckles, from frequent handwashing at work with surgical foam soap.

At work I don't use it (it's mainly petroleum jelly, so not so good with latex gloves) so instead I use any of those lotions that offer a protective barrier. One in particular I like - called something like Gloves in a Bottle.

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