Give Yourself A Hand
All of you who are using purell, and/or scrubbing for twenty seconds, raise your dry and possibly cracked hand!
Our hand hygiene habits are changing and that is good. Because so much irritation has been caused, hands become dry and cracked to the point of being raw in some cases. The good news is you’re doing a good job of implementing the most important step of stopping the spread of germs. Keep up the good work!
The not so good news is that cracked and bleeding hands are more susceptible to infection. Any break in the skin is a portal of entry for pathogens. Coronavirus tends to enter the body through the respiratory system. Still, other pathogens and bacteria can enter through the skin, such as staph infections.
The next step recommended to continue hand hygiene is to moisturize well. Hydrating hands is important. People are less likely to wash their hands to prevent transmission of germs or infection when when skin is dry or broken. Soap and alcohol products do not work as well with irritated skin that is breaking down.
Dr. Craig Shapiro, an attending physician in pediatric infectious diseases at Nemours/Afred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Deleware, states that moisturizing hands does not increase the likihood of picking up or spreading germs, especially if the hands are clean. Moisturing hands does reduce microbial shedding from the skin and is part of good hand hygiene, which will protect people from picking up viruses and reduce the likhood of transmission.
Once you have washed your hands for at least 20 seconds, pat them dry instead of rubbing, which can also irritate the skin. Leave a small amount of dampness on your hands and then moisturize to lock in the water. Once your hands are dry, immediately use a hand cream to seal in the moisture. Look for moisturizers that contain ingredients such as, glycerin, jojoba oil, cocoa butter or aloe. Use hand creams that do not include irritants such as fragrances, aging serums, or alcohol. Actually using handcream after washing your hands is a safe and clean way to prevent dry skin.
Exfoliate your hands weekly, by using a scrub to buff away the dry rough skin. This will keep hands soft and healthy. Wash your hands with moisturizing soap before exfoliating. Wet your hands with lukewarm water, and massage a small amount of scrub over both of your hands, working in circular motions. Rinse off with warm water and apply hand cream. Drug stores, beauty supply stores and many others sell scrubs, moisturizers, and creams. You can even mix up your own all natural hand scrub with ingredients from your kitchen. Combine equal parts of sugar and olive oil and use to scrub your hands.
Some final handy tips. Wear gloves when you will be doing a chore that will have your hands in water or touching cleaning chemicals. Try slathering on hand cream first. The heat from the water will intensify the cream’s activity and you will have soft healthy hands.
Before going to bed, slather vaseline on your hands. Cover you hands with cotton gloves. Your hands will feel rejuevenated when you wake.
This is good information to share with those that you support. Not only can it be a learning experience, it can be a fun activity! I hope this makes you feel that you have the upper hand on total hand hygiene!
