Does your profession require you to wear gloves?
Do you find your hands just don’t feel as nice on days when you’ve worn gloves?
Or even worse do you find your hands are irritated with glove use and that you’ve begun to develop dermatitis and eczema on your hands?
If you answered yes to any of these questions it is probably a good idea to sit down, get comfy and continue reading this article.
Many people all over the world use gloves as part of their everyday work and home life. Glove use is on the rise, as more and more people become concerned about their health and hand care. As glove use and better hygiene practices become more frequent, so too does the likelihood of hand dermatitis.
Even if you suffer from sensitive skin and don the occasional glove for household cleaning you’ve, probably suffered the consequences a couple of days later, in the form of dry, itchy hands.
First things first, if you suffer from any hand annoyance after glove use than we need to eliminate all the possible causes. Because most of the time, the glove is not the cause!
Possible causes for contact hand dermatitis:
1. The most common cause of contact hand dermatitis is irritation from another substance before donning the glove. The soap may be too harsh, too frequently used and thus ends up removing the skins protective layers. For example, the work environment of nurses, doctors, paramedics, industrial workers and other professionals, requires them to change their gloves and wash their hands multiple times throughout just one shift! Over time this frequent glove donning and doffing combined with frequent hand washing can be detrimental to our largest and super important organ.. our skin! To help remedy this situation, we suggest using a less harsh soap made for sensitive skin and to always moisturise after washing your hands.
2. Another possible cause is cross contamination. It is essential to be careful of what you touch with gloves on because you contaminant that surface. Try not to touch normal everyday things such as pens and computers. While wearing gloves don’t touch equipment you would touch without gloves on.
3. A common mistake that could be causing your hand irritation is that while you are removing your gloves, you touch the outside of the glove. It is vital that you are careful when removing gloves, you must ensure that you do not touch the outside of the glove with your bare hands.
4. If you suffer from hand irritation, then it is always important to check that the gloves you are using are not out of date or old stock, as gloves are made out of a rubber which is a natural material they can start to deteriorate after time.
5. Do not reuse disposable gloves! If you need a re-useable glove, we offer many different varieties for a broad range of purposes.
6. If you have ruled out all the other possible causes, it may be because you are allergic to the latex in the gloves. Latex allergies are on the rise, and so is latex contact related hand dermatitis. A superior material option to latex is Nitrile. Nitrile is a stronger higher quality material that does not have the allergy and dermatitis side effects of latex.
7. Finally, if you are still concerned or still experiencing contact dermatitis, it is a good idea to seek professional help from a dermatologist. A dermatologist can test to see what exactly is irritating your skin and why.