Are your hands often red, cracked, itchy, or even blistered? Our hands get a lot of wear and tear, so it’s no surprise that they bear the brunt of all of our day to day activities. For many of us, extra hand washing and hand sanitizer to prevent spread of COVID-19 has either brought this out as a new issue, or worsened an existing problem.
Hand “eczema” is a loosely used diagnosis, but it’s most often caused by chemicals and activities that irritate and excessively dry your skin, like handling soaps, detergents, alcohol, and other cleaning agents. However, in a significant number of people, an allergic reaction might be playing a part. Sometimes a person will think the answer lies in changing to a different company’s products, but an allergy is to an ingredient and not to a company. So unless you know the ingredient to avoid, you might keep buying “different“ products that each contain the thing you’re allergic to.
If glove protection, extra moisturizer, etc. hasn’t helped your hands to improve, let us help you sort through the possible causes. A biopsy and/or patch (allergy) testing can be considered.
Contact Dr. Lydia Carpenter or any of SBC’s Board Certified providers to help you resolve your hand eczema.