My DS hands are red & cracking - what do I do???

[WellThisIsShit]

That’s it really, my DS is 9yrs old and his hands are red & cracking from all the washing with harsh soaps and gels.

He cried when I tried to soothe by applying e45 tonight when I saw how bad they’d got.

I ended up having to wash it off and put cold flannels on both sides where the redness is... he was in pain and really upset until his hands air dried and I managed to distract.

What do I do??? He needs to wash his hands and if he goes outside to school or anywhere else they all have stringent rules about washing hands and applying alcoholic hand gel multiple times a day... argh?!

What if he just can’t do it?

Am kicking self as if I’d caught it a day or so ago i could have moisturized and stopped it getting this bad....

(Just to make things worse I’m in a vulnerable group as I’m a single mum who has cancer... )

My DS is younger but he freaks out about any cream, moisturiser or lip balm (he hates the slimy feeling) so when he has sore red skin (frequently) I creep in and slather it on when he's asleep! It means he doesn't automatically wipe it straight off and kids skin is so good at repairing itself it doesn't take long to be better.

Honestly though, I wouldn't keep him off school for having sore hands.

Body shop hemp hand cream works miracles. thick layer on before bed

Zeroderm works x

Body shop hemp or lush helping hands work for me. I would keep him off on Monday to give his hands a chance to heal. I think it's the alcohol gel, i had the same problem when my baby was in nicu. It dkes heal quickly when you give your skin a break though. Have moisturiser by the sink and use it after every wash. If it's v bad, thick layer and gloves at night. Sudocrem sounds good. Hope his hands get better soon.

Fragrance free child's farm moisturiser is the best I have used (eczema exasperated by hand washing since I was little).

@theflushedzebra not really to do with sore hands, but okay..

Stop using that horrible hand gel - it's so bad for your skin, causes bleeding and open wounds are an easy route for the virus

You might be surprised how quickly they repair- good slather of moisturiser. Alcohol gel into cracked skin is agony. The moisturiser will hurts but try to distract him- wet flannels will dry it out further.

Under the current circumstances I would keep him off school for this, until they have healed up. He will have to continually use hand gel and wash his hands with soap during the school day, which will aggravate it and be very painful.

Also, as others have said, he will be highly susceptible to infections if he has open sores on his hands.

I'd keep him off and give his hands a chance to heal. He won't have to wash them as often if he's at home and picking up all sorts through cracked hands would worry me.

I'd also slather his hands in a good, intensive moisturizer with gloves over the top at night.

If they've already cracked I'd use sudocrem or vaseline first with gloves over the top if you have any and then switch to regular moisturizer.

I alternate between aveeno cream and o'Keefe working hands. I have to use something after every wash or hand gel use otherwise they crack and bleed again. Before this I tended to use Dermol the soap substitute a lot more in the house but I don't know if you can buy that over the counter and I doubt it's good enough for protection against the virus.

Aveeno hand cream is fantastic and sorted DDs hands, whereas some others made it worse.

Another trick that I find really helps damaged skin is to get a sock, put two or three handfuls of porridge oats in, and tie a knot in it. You can add this to a bath, or let it soak in a bowl of warm water and stick your hands in for a few minutes. Very soothing. I sometimes used an oat sock in the shower to soothe dry skin.

And do you think he could be excused the hand gel if he’s already washed his hands well? It feels a bit like overkill which I was rather appreciating due to my own circumstances, but not realizing the damaging happening to DS’s hands from it all.

Has he been handwashing immediately followed by alcohol gel? Becasue that's completely unnecessary. Hand gel only if you cannot properly hand wash. So if you're home all weekend there shouldn't be a drop of hand gel being used since you can just handwash.
Encourage hand cream after washing/gelling just make sure if he does take some to school to not share it with others.

You can get prescriptions for antiseptic moisturiser. I have pompholyx so when it flares up I can’t wash my hands at all or use hand sanitiser gel and can only use the cream they prescribe. During those times, I obviously reduce touching things as much as possible for everyone’s benefit.

Mine were like this last week. O'keefes working hands has transformed them! They're so soft after 1 week. I keep it in the kitchen and just put a blob on 3/4 times a day.

To be honest, if washing his hands is resulting in cracked skin is it counter productive. The skin is a barrier to protect your body from germs getting into your bloodstream and if it is compromised, you are at greater risk of catching viruses from things you touch.

If you can get some cotton gloves, put mountains of cream on before bed and get him to wear the gloves overnight.

Lansinoh (the stuff you use for breastfeeding) is also really good and provides a protective layer over the affected areas

We put savlon on at night before bed. Using it like hand cream. Then again when dd comes home from school. Once that's absorbed then neutrogena hand cream regularly until the evening savlon layer. It's been very effective.

I find neutrogena intensive hand cream (unscented) to be the best thing. It’s very thick and you don’t need much. If it’s very bad I add a bit of steroid cream in and wear gloves. I have to be careful about which soap I’m using, the white carex is the only one I can handle, the blue one splits my hands. If things are really bad I use an emollient cream or something like dermol to wash with, but I’m not sure how well that works in terms of covid hand washing

DD is the same - I sneak in when she’d asleep and put a thick layer of E45 on. It’s helped enough that she’s no longer so bad that applying cream stings...

when my hands get like that I use a steroid cream and hamp bodyshop hand cream. You can buy a low level steroid cream from chemists.

Personally if he was mine and I if could he would be self isolating for a temperature for 7 days to give his hands a chance to get better.

Considering your own issues I would be keeping him off school now to protect yourself OP

The other thing to make sure he does properly is dry his hands. I've been missing the backs of my hands and just doing a quick dab and now my one finger is horrible.

This is also happening to my son but I've caught it early with him. It's easy to forget the back of your hand and just dry the palms.

I suffer from hand eczema. O'Keefes is a total no-no for me if skin is already broken. I'm also not using sanitiser gels as the alcohol makes my hands worse. I'm currently using Epaderm as my emollient directly after washing my hands, and 1% hydrocortisone on broken skin twice per day.

@WellThisIsShit

Almost all liquid handsoaps contain an allergy-triggering preservative called methylisoyhiazolinone.

www.contactdermatitisinstitute.com/methylisothiazolinone.php

Most hard bar soaps are ok but some will contain it too. It's a common allergen and causes dermatitis and itchiness with flaking and cracking. Switch to a sensitive/pure bar soap and you'll likely solve the problem

I suspect this will be a really common issue as handwashing increases - I carry a soap in a tin as can't use the liquid soap in most public toilets

My DD has the same problem. She has sensitive skin and I had already sent her in with a small bar of pure soap so she didn't have to use their antibac handwash. School are making them wash hands six times per day and properly scrub. Like a previous poster said, the nurse said apply vaseline and use gloves. All other creams we tried seem to sting. It has really helped.