SilverSage
Resident Crone
Peeps, I have eczema in my hands, too, in the first 2 fingers and thumb on both hands. I've had it for over 10 years, and have just had to learn to live with it.
Hand washing - water of any kind - is BAD!!!. I know, it's the wrong thing to say right now. In order to keep the hand washing to a minimum, I use gloves as much as I can to keep my hands cleans. When I go to the store, I wear gloves, then dispose of them when I leave the store. When I cook I wear gloves, especially when I'm washing and chopping fresh fruits and veggies. Any time I do something that either requires water, or will require washing afterwards, I wear gloves. It doesn't eliminate the need to wash (of course), but it helps reduce your contact with water.
Be careful of the extreme. Don't just wear them all the time - your hands will sweat and that's as bad as putting them in water. You have to find the balance between keeping them shielded from too much water and dirt and keeping them dry. Sometimes if I am going to have the gloves on for an extended time, I first put on a cotton disposable glove, the the nitrile glove over it.
By the way, stress aggravates ezcema. I know it's especially hard at the moment, but try to de-stress.
Watch out for various creams & lotions. Hidden in the ingredients list is usually alcohol in various forms - often unrecognizable because of the different chemical names. The one thing I've found that I can use that doesn't make it worse is Vaseline Intensive Care Deep Moisture Jelly Cream. It's not the hand lotion, it's actually made with Vaseline. It's a bit greasy, so use sparingly. You can find it at Walmart, Target, Amazon, drug stores, etc.
https://www.vaseline.com/us/en/prod...intensive-care-deep-moisture-jelly-cream.html
Sometimes when I have a finger that's particularly bad and bleeding, I do use a cloth style bandaid, so that it breathes. The bandaids that are plastic make things worse.
The watchwords are CLEAN and DRY!!!!!
I feel your pain. You can get it under control, but it never goes away.
Hand washing - water of any kind - is BAD!!!. I know, it's the wrong thing to say right now. In order to keep the hand washing to a minimum, I use gloves as much as I can to keep my hands cleans. When I go to the store, I wear gloves, then dispose of them when I leave the store. When I cook I wear gloves, especially when I'm washing and chopping fresh fruits and veggies. Any time I do something that either requires water, or will require washing afterwards, I wear gloves. It doesn't eliminate the need to wash (of course), but it helps reduce your contact with water.
Be careful of the extreme. Don't just wear them all the time - your hands will sweat and that's as bad as putting them in water. You have to find the balance between keeping them shielded from too much water and dirt and keeping them dry. Sometimes if I am going to have the gloves on for an extended time, I first put on a cotton disposable glove, the the nitrile glove over it.
By the way, stress aggravates ezcema. I know it's especially hard at the moment, but try to de-stress.
Watch out for various creams & lotions. Hidden in the ingredients list is usually alcohol in various forms - often unrecognizable because of the different chemical names. The one thing I've found that I can use that doesn't make it worse is Vaseline Intensive Care Deep Moisture Jelly Cream. It's not the hand lotion, it's actually made with Vaseline. It's a bit greasy, so use sparingly. You can find it at Walmart, Target, Amazon, drug stores, etc.
https://www.vaseline.com/us/en/prod...intensive-care-deep-moisture-jelly-cream.html
Sometimes when I have a finger that's particularly bad and bleeding, I do use a cloth style bandaid, so that it breathes. The bandaids that are plastic make things worse.
The watchwords are CLEAN and DRY!!!!!
I feel your pain. You can get it under control, but it never goes away.