Ok seasoned nurses, I have a question!

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I'm am doing the prerequiste classes to get into the LPN program in the spring. Currently I am taking Patient Care Fundamentals and we are doing clinicals at a local nursing home. Since I've started, I wash my hands a million times a day and also use hand santizer. My hands are killing me! They are cracked, dried out and feel like an 80 year olds hands. When I get home I put lots of lotion on my hands, but it doesnt help very much. Please tell me what can I do about this? There's gotta be some magic lotion or something that can help. I dont think my hands will make it, washing them like this for years to come.

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I had a LOT of problems with my hands when I first got in to healthcare. Probably the biggest reason was the fact that back then we still used latex gloves. My hands would get huge cracks on the backs, my knuckles would crack, and on really bad days, they would just weep. They were constantly beet-red, REALLY goofy looking in pictures, since the color cut off at my wrist....

To make matters worse, the NH I worked at had an occ health nurse that decided that I wasn't allergic to the latex, I was allergic to the powder in them, so she gave me powder-free latex gloves. OH MY GOODNESS. This made them even WORSE, because now my hands would sweat in them! I would take the rolls of thin, waterproof tape, and actually tape the cracked areas on my fingers on my days off. That helped. I also eventually got a steroid cream (triamcinolone) to use twice a day. That was probably the best thing I did to fix them.

I didn't think they would EVER look "normal" again...but they do. In the winter, I'll still have some issues with dryness/redness/itching, and I'll go back to using the cream for a while, and it helps. Hopefully in more time your skin will adjust, and not get so "angry" at you for what you put it through!

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Thanks for your help!

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Specializes in Med Surg, Ortho.
I'm am doing the prerequiste classes to get into the LPN program in the spring. Currently I am taking Patient Care Fundamentals and we are doing clinicals at a local nursing home. Since I've started, I wash my hands a million times a day and also use hand santizer. My hands are killing me! They are cracked, dried out and feel like an 80 year olds hands. When I get home I put lots of lotion on my hands, but it doesnt help very much. Please tell me what can I do about this? There's gotta be some magic lotion or something that can help. I dont think my hands will make it, washing them like this for years to come.

Oh my, you sure don't want cracked hands, makes it more a risk for infection to set in.

Do you wash your hands and then use sanitizer after you wash, or do you just switch out and wash at times, and sanitize at times? The reason I ask is you shouldn't wash and then use sanitizer. I only use sanitizer if I can't get to the sink right away to wash. I prefer to wash because the sanitizer has so much of the alcohol which dries the hands, plus I don't feel like it cleans as well as good old soap and water.

The nursing home may have a cheap soap that may be a contributing factor. At my hospital, we have a good moisturizing soap. I wash many times each night but I also keep lotion at my computer and put it on my hands several times each night as well. I know some of my fellow nurses keep vaseline at their computers. That stuff is a little too thick for me. I like to use cocoa butter and just squeeze a little dap on top of my hands and rub the top of my hands together. I try to keep it off the palms of my hands. I've heard (not sure if it works) to put vaseline on your hands at night and wear gloves to keep if from rubbing off. Good luck. I hope you find a solution.

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Specializes in PICU/NICU.

I swear by the Eucerin cream- the thick white stuff in the jar. I put TONS of it on before bed and throughout the day when I am not at work.

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Thanks! I will have to try that!

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Thanks to everyone for your suggestions! I will try all of them!

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Specializes in Cardiac step down unit.
I swear by the Eucerin cream- the thick white stuff in the jar. I put TONS of it on before bed and throughout the day when I am not at work.

I have exzema on my hands and I agree with PICNICRN- the thick Eucerin cream in the jar is AWESOME!

I have tried a zillion OTC topicals as well as a good 5 different prescriptions for the exzema and I was able to stop using all of that junk after the Eucerin. I keep some at work and take some to school with me. I use it regularly, tons before bed, and a few times a day at home. If you can get on top of the dryness and cracking (it will take a few weeks) you can make it 99% more manageable.

I really swear by this stuff! I have not had to use any type of topical steroid for a good 6 years and I firmly believe it is because of the Eucerin cream.

Don't get the regular Eucerin lotion though, it has to be the cream.

Kelly

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.

teat guard. you put it on your cow's teats in the winter time to keep them soft and supple -- it's tough when the teats get all dry and cracked and bleed! (no lie -- i grew up on a dairy farm!) they have some stuff called "weather guard" that i used to get from the feed store when i lived in wisconsin, but that stuff that you can get in the drug store in the holstein-patterned black and white tube is almost as good! (it's sold with the hand lotion -- sorry, but i forget what it's called.) it lasts through a few handwashings, too!

some folks swear by bag balm, but it's too greasy for me!

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Specializes in Endoscopy, Environmental Health, MedSurg.

Ok, I know everyone has their lotion preferences (and I agree, Eucerin cream and bag balm are both good options) but I love this one:

http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=WG93tqQPULjyS+zGRHqTnQ**.bsbwilapp04-bsprd-app-101?productId=prod5950023&categoryId=search

I give it to nurse friends for Christmas, with the gloves:

http://www.thebodyshop-usa.com/bodyshop/browse/product_detail.jsp;jsessionid=WG93tqQPULjyS+zGRHqTnQ**.bsbwilapp04-bsprd-app-101?productId=prod160035&categoryId=search

Just smother your hands in the lotion before you go to bed, don the gloves, and when you wake up your hands are super ultra soft.

Also, I had problems with rash for a while, and we don't use latex gloves, but what a co-worker suggested and what worked for me was making sure I washed my hands every time I removed a pair of gloves. I think something in the gloves (not latex or powder) was irritating them, and taking them off and just using the sanitizer didn't remove the irritant.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, WCC.

Yes, udder balm works well but, is greasy (it is the only thing i used through diaper changes on 4 kids though). Years (and years) ago when i worked as a CNA, i used Urea 20 for my hands. I was working night shift and we never used gloves, they were only available at that time for the extremely messy jobs. I only had to apply the lotion twice each night.

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Specializes in Cardiac Telemetry, ED.

Carry a small tube of lotion in your scrub pocket and apply it periodically throughout the shift.

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