Surely I'm not the only one who....

[perceptionreality]

gets dry and sore hands from washing under water a lot (like for washing that's not just washing your hands iyswim)? When dd3 was little my hands got very rough on both sides from the continual washing of bottles.

I have eczema so use rubber gloves for washing up but even then I seem allergic to the rubber so my hands are getting redder and more sore.

I have a friend who says I'm stupid and should just not use gloves because water is a moisturiser(!)

Sorry, not an important topic I know but I'm begining to think I'm going mad as that concept makes no sense to me.

No I agree- used to think my mum was being Ott with her hand cream obsession til had same issue as you with constant hand washing.

Gentle soap and some hand cream (I like pumps of double base which is like e45) by sink to use after.

Yep, my hands are awful right now!

Neutrogena un scented <a class="break-all" href="http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=neutrogena+concentrated&um=1&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1366&bih=655&tbm=isch&tbnid=p62D1NrDrB1TpM:&imgrefurl=www.pharmacy1stop.com/shop/Neutrogena-concentrated-hand-cream.html&docid=psHElxmmnS_n3M&imgurl=www.pharmacy1stop.com/shop/files/sxdetail/3574660258288_IMAGE2.jpg&w=320&h=320&ei=m7H9Tr3tIpHY8QPZ6uXsCg&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=632&vpy=300&dur=1275&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=83&ty=178&sig=100402596933063908371&page=1&tbnh=147&tbnw=147&start=0&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:18,s:0" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">hand cream is the absolute bollocks for this :o

Water is SO not a moisturiser. I don't have problem skin as such (unlike DH and both DC) but always moisturise my hands after washing.

Ah double base, I had forgotten about that! Thank you for reminding me.

I read in a 1970s housewifey book that you should coat up your hands like a channel swimmer with hand cream and stick them in rubber gloves in the smallest size possible (or you'll drop stuff). That stops irritation and the heat helps the cream soak in.

The only problem is that the inside of the gloves gets cold and slimy. Not sure on that one.

Water is a moisturiser

It evaporates and is very drying. I always used to wonder about the point of hand-cream until I got older.

I don't have a dishwasher, wash-up many times a day and walk everywhere too, so my hands get pretty sore in the winter months.

Bio oil is good as is getting DH to wash up everything in the evenings.

I have the same problem to the extent that i get very cracked cuticles.

You can buy cotten lined rubber gloves, they cost more but are worth not having sore hands.

I use the body shop's Hemp ranch, which smells terrible but works for me.

I coat my hands as Sue suggests.

My hands get shockingly bad in the winter: all dry and scaly across the knuckles and between my fingers - too many years of hand-scrubbing water troughs in fields!

Neutrogena Norwegian Formula is the only thing that works for me.

Not the only one. When DS was a baby the combination of cooking/cleaning/gardening (sole parent), plus having a pet cat, plus all the nappy-changing and dribble-mopping (me probably, not the baby) meant I was washing my hands all the time and got very nasty dermatitis. Went to see my GP, mentioned the constant hand-washing and, for an awkward moment there, I think he was wondering if I was an OCD candidate. He prescribed a particularly good cream to treat the dermatitis and the rest of the time I would slather hands with E45 cream and use those thin surgical gloves.

Are Anglian water your providers by any chance? I have this problem too, it's partially soap and partially the water supply.

Wear gloves for doing the dishes and cleaning.

Palmers cocoa butter (the one in the tub, not lotion) before bed all over your hands will soothe and soften them too.

The cure is easy. Use rubber gloves but also get cheap hire cotton gloves from chemist.

Put thick layer of any cheap moisturiser/ hand cream and then add the white gloves ( inside out if they have rough seams). Top with rubber gloves.

Wash up. Remove gloves and admire soft hands.

The skin beside my thumbnails keeps splitting on both hands (right at the top). That's from nappy changing and bum washing as last week DD was teething and had a sore and runny bum- TMI, sorry! I found some lanolin cream I bought earlier in the year when constant BF was giving me sore nips, and it has worked a treat.

Oh yeeees, I know all about this! Especially over Christmas - all that dishwasher overspill, handwashing the "nice" wine glasses etc. Mine get so dry they hurt!

Your friend is talking absolute bollocks. Yes water is moisture but it isn't "moisturising" for your skin - your skin needs natural oils to moisturise it. Too much soaking, plus soap, strips the natural oils out. If you're just about anywhere in the south the water is really, really hard too.

I love the Neutrongena Norwegian formula. Avon is good too, they do a special "Age defying" one which is nice. Anything with Shea Butter is luuuurvly. Good old Atrixo is also the biz.

Have something by the sink.

Also - lots of people have reactions to latex in gloves. Look for non-latex, and cotton lined as someone else has suggested. Both the drying and the latex reaction gets worse as you get older.

My hands get terribly dry/cracked/sore especially in winter. They haven't been too bad these past few years.

Once the soreness starts its really difficult to get on top of it. Rubber gloves make my hands sweat so that would make it worse.

Can you minimise the number of times you get them wet for a few days to give them a chance to heal?
Try disposable gloves for the little jobs. So you don't have to wash your hands afterwards.
Keep washing up to a minimum. Could you live off ready meals for a few days. Use disposable plates and cuttlery.
Don't do any unnecessary cleaning. I mean, don't do the stuff you do out of habit, only if it absolutely needs doing. Or could you get a cleaner in for a few hours just as a one off.

Once they've healed it's easier to stop them getting as bad by using something like Double Base.

Me too. Have a baby, therfore bottles and am allergic to acrylic, thus wool jumpers to handwash.

cutlery

neither of those look right to me.

I get this in the winter. The only thing that helps me is swapping soap for aqueous cream when washing my hands and applying flexitol to my hands.

Yes we do live in a hard water area unfortunately. The cotton gloves inside sounds like a great idea - thank you! I do use hand cream and the skin heals but never seems to get completely better.

My friend's reasoning is that if you drink water and it's hydrating then it must also be hydrating for your skin. Very odd!

I have this problem too and the type of washing up liquid I use makes a huge difference. Fairy is the worst and Surcare is the best IME.

I can't use rubber gloves as I don't have same sensation in them and keep dropping things.

Have yet to find a good moisturiser .

Haven't read all posts so please excuse me if someone else has already suggested it. But hemp hand cream from the bodyshop is brilliant for dry hands!

My hands get badly cracked in winter. Combination of having to use gloves for nappy changes (childminder), washing my hands so often and the cold weather.

Both neutrogena and the body shop hemp work for me.

What I also do is to smother my hands thick with cream last thing at night, put on cotton gloves and leave them on all night. It's all absorbed by the morning and my hands are all lovely and soft :)

Strangely, salt water is very good for eczema. Not suggesting you should wash up in salt water, but you could try soaking your hands in it as well as using the creams and gloves other posters have suggested.

My DS's eczema was always better at the seaside because of the salt water.

I suppose a holiday abroad by the sea is too drastic a solution, though

I'm the same. I have very inflamed hands at the moment due to excessive washing to try and NOT get the D&V circulating my house (lucky so far!) and also probably made worse by excessive eating of naughty foods.

I second cotton gloves under rubber gloves. Also, if you can find it, MediHoney creams are excellent - they are not medicated and they smell a bit naff but the honey in them is really soothing. I guess you could just use Manuka honey itself, but it is expensive and sticky!

I find that there's something in some hand-washes that irritates my hands quite badly - it seems to be something in anti-bacterial hand washes especially. I'm fine with ordinary soap.