Soothing Your Skin After Constant Hand Washing – Invite Health Podcast, Episode 77
On today’s episode, I am going to talk about the impact to your hands from washing them so frequently. And we definitely encourage that you are practicing those healthy guidelines and frequently washing your hands. But, as we are sure you know, this can be very harsh on the skin itself. So I want to talk to you about some different techniques that may be beneficial during this time.
Dry, Rough Skin
In a press release from UCLA, researchers were talking about the best ways to care for dry hands after washing them so much. So, a lot of people have not been exposed to this problem before. I certainly can understand myself, because as a medical student, you are continuously washing your hands, even during your surgical rotation. The harsh cleansers and wearing gloves all of the time starts to impact the hands and reduce their natural moisture. For many people, over-washing your hands means you can start to develop cracks in the skin, which isn’t a good thing either because now you are giving bacteria basically an entry point into the body; this is the same thing viruses. That’s why the concern is right now for people to continuously wash their hands. You don’t want to be able to pass this off from one person to the next. Your hands are a primary source of that.
So this press release from UCLA is taking about how the outer-most layer of our skin is composed of oils and wax, and it acts as this protective barrier that helps to guard the natural moisture of the skin. When this natural barrier is broken down because of this continual hand washing, then people can start to experience excessive dry skin. And this is even more so in areas that are currently trending from winter into spring and dealing with fluctuations with humidity. A lot of the alcohol-based hand washes and sanitizers can cause this dry, cracked skin on your hands.
The American Academy of Dermatology has posted their bit of information, as to what people can be doing when your skin is getting dry and cracked. We know that once we have a breakdown in that barrier of the skin, we are now more open to infections, like bacteria and viruses. What they suggest is that you should use a hand ointment or a cream. Creams are more effective, even more so than lotions. This can be extremely beneficial to allow that protective barrier of the skin – that moisture barrier – to reinvigorate itself. But, the problem that neither UCLA or The American Academy of Dermatology have addressed, is if we have skin that is dried out, and we start to put these different hand moisturizers on, are we putting chemicals directly onto our skin?
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Naturally, Effective Ingredients
People are quick to use a lot of creams and lotions and even make up but are not paying attention to the actual harmful chemicals that are contained within those. We want to make sure that when we are trying to reestablish that healthy barrier in the skin, that we are applying only clean nutrients. You want to have this protective layer but you don’t want to do that for the sake of using things that contain ingredients like, petroleum, alcohol, colorants or fragrance.
Many manufacturers by law do not have to tell you what is contained in these ingredients like “fragrances”. We, at Invite Health, understand the long term implications of these chemical exposures. This is why we do not use any type of alcohol, parabens, fragrances, sulfates, or other harsh and dangerous toxic ingredients in our Protective Hand Cream. You must allow the skin to rehydrate itself and reestablish that moisture barrier.
Key Nutrients and Ingredients
- Chardonnay, Cabernet, Merlot can enhance the skins ability to fend of oxidative stress and to allow the skin to react to exposures to harmful things
- Chamomile extract, sage, nettle leaf, Rosemary, Grape fruit extract are naturally occurring herbs that enhance the way that your skin can respond to that dryness
- Natural Vitamin E is one of the most nourishing things for your skin
- Aloe Vera can help reestablish that protective barrier of your skin
Thank you for tuning in to the Invite Health Podcast. You can find all of our episodes for free wherever you listen to podcasts or by visiting www.invitehealth.com/podcast. Make sure you subscribe and leave us a review! Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at Invite Health today. We’ll see you next time on another episode of the Invite Health Podcast.
