My Poor Hands have been Washed Raw

catlynLPN · Oct 12, 2007

Help! At this point it hurts to put soap on them. I just used some heavy duty Eucerin cream.
What do you do during the day? Like I have time to lotion, y'know?
Ouch.

Many years ago I had some kind of allergic reaction to some soap.

My hands looked like raw meat. They were so sore and tender.

I went to a dermatologist and he gave me an RX for an ointment.

I'm not going to give you the name of the ointment as that's giving too much medical advice, but my own personal advice is go see a dermatologist.

Latex gloves now give me a bit of trouble but they finally went to all vinyl gloves on my job, so it's better now.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 12, 2007

Thanks, all, for the suggestions!

I can probably find Avon glove-compatible stuff easily.

Oh, and the gloves are nitrile.

elthia · Oct 13, 2007

I found that using foaming alcohol washes will have my hands chapped and bleeding in less than 2 hours. I can use alcohol gels all day long with no problem. Don't ask why. I think it's the water content, but I'm not sure. We have foam at work, I carry a bottle of gel with me and tell pt's I'm allergic if they ask why I'm not using the stuff on the wall.

When I use soap/water I have to be very careful to dry thoroughly. No rings. I used to use eucerin on my hands before bed, but I have a bad habit of touching my face in my sleep, and started have bad acne breakouts from it. :uhoh21:

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Oct 13, 2007

There are 2 lotions I can personally recommend. The first might shock you a little. I grew up around farm animals, my grandparents had jersey milking cows. They were milked 2-3 times a day. Their teets would crack from the machines that were used for the milking. There is a product, that actually sells for human use, it is FANTASTIC, I swear by it, called Udderly Smooth. The website is http://www.udderlysmooth.com Our family used it for years on the cows. I use it now on my hands as a nursing student.
A preceptor in our rotations swears by some lotion called Gloves in a Bottle, I used it a few times and it actually kept my hands from getting to the cracking stage, I have fierce issues with latex and powdered gloves.
So prevention use the second, restoration, use the first.

Your post made me smile, for my late father used Udderly Smooth for years on his own hands. It was a mainstay in the center of the kitchen table where our family gathered for meals and coffee. He would grin and drawl: "Pass me some of that 'Cow Cream'. My son got a kick out of it, giggling: "'Cow Cream?' That's funny, Paw-Paw!"

Ah, the memories.....

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2007

Well, I made some gloves last night by cutting out sme finger and thumb holes in a pir of old white socks. Slathered thick cream on them. They're a little better.

I can get "beauty gloves" here. We also have an Agway. Maybe they have that Cow Cream.

:)

EmmaG, RN · Oct 13, 2007

Sally's (or most beauty supply) sells white cotton gloves and they're pretty cheap. Maybe you could slather up your hands and wear those at night. :)

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2007

Sally's (or most beauty supply) sells white cotton gloves and they're pretty cheap. Maybe you could slather up your hands and wear those at night. :)

The nearest Sally's is 75 miles away. Rite-Aid or Wal*Mart.

:)

Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN · Oct 13, 2007

I know Wal-Mart had them, typically near their Simply Basic lotions and body washes.

SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN · Oct 13, 2007

I know Wal-Mart had them, typically near their Simply Basic lotions and body washes.

Rite-Aid did. AND they had "Udderly Smooth."

The socks with finger holes were okay, but not the best solution.

:)

nurseangel47 · Oct 13, 2007

Walmart and other sundry stores market a remarkable product called udder cream...it's in a container with print similar to a cow's hide, the white background w/black spots all over. Might be called Moo cream, don't remember. That or wearing cotton gloves over slathering of vaseline all night is wonderful relief. Gives those raw hands the entire "shift" off from any friction at all! Even the bed sheets!

nurseangel47 · Oct 13, 2007

Come to think, it just might be the Udderly Smooth lotion or cream that someone else has posted...didn't read it before I posted, sorry!

LNDis4ME · Oct 13, 2007

Another thing that may help is to not use HOT/WARM water to wash and rinse...should be cool to lukewarm at the most. I don't recall where I learned that little tidbit from, but I have tried it and it does seem to make a difference in keeping them from getting raw/chapped.