My Poor Hands have been Washed Raw

[SuesquatchRN]

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.

[southernatheart]

Our infection control specialist told us that if we're having this issue, generally we're putting liquid soap on our hands before wetting them first....and that soap is pretty tough...says if you wet them first that won't happen:) Just a suggestion

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

Hospital soap is very tough on hands.

[LNDis4ME]

Hospital soap is very tough on hands.

I agree. I was wondering about this today: I can recall back to my first couple years as a nurse, and my hands being chapped/raw a lot of the time, especially in the winter. But over the years, that seems to have occurred less and less. Is it possible that our hands do toughen up over time, in the absence of an allergy or sensitivity? Has anyone else experienced this? Of course, my hands are usually pretty dry, and I lotion up all the time, but I can't recall the last time that they were chapped, raw or cracking. So I wonder if eventually, your hands get used to the harsh soap and frequent washing, to some degree.

[bigjay]

Try using cold water for your handwashing. That made a big difference for me, especially since as a male I generally don't use lotion on my hands.

[SarasotaRN2b]

I love vinyl gloves.

Something I never knew was that nitrile gloves can cause problems in those with latex sensitivity.

"Gloves made from nitrile are produced with the same accelerator mercaptobenzathiazole, as some latex gloves. Persons with suspected irritant or allergic contact dermatitis to latex gloves may also react to nitrile."

Ya know, I have a latex sensitivity and when I would mention it, they would give me the nitrile but I still found that my hands would still get irritated. Thanks so much for letting me know I wasn't going crazy and I will definitely look into the vinyl goves.

Kris

[MA Nurse]

I love vinyl gloves.

Something I never knew was that nitrile gloves can cause problems in those with latex sensitivity.

"Gloves made from nitrile are produced with the same accelerator mercaptobenzathiazole, as some latex gloves. Persons with suspected irritant or allergic contact dermatitis to latex gloves may also react to nitrile."

I have a latex allergy and have no problems with nitrile, they're great. IMO, all hospitals should switch to non-latex gloves to be safer.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

Well, my hands are MUCH better, and I have been doing the following:

1) Washing with tepid water

2) Drying incredibly thoroughly

3) Lotioning when I can throughout the day with the compatible stuff the hospital provides

4) A & D Ointment slathered on at night. White cotton gloves over.

Thanks for all of the suggestions!

[Quickbeam, BSN, RN]

Bleeding, blistering hands plagued my early nursing career. I have to agree with upthread about seeing a dermatologist. For me, it made a huge difference. I was allergic to talc in the gloves. Powder free gloves changed my work life! It isn't always a latex issue.