How many times a day do you wash your hands? (not meant to be OCD related)

[cyanarasamba]

And can anyone recommend a good hand cream?

Never had problems before having DS (11months) but now I seem to constantly have my hands in water and it's playing havoc with my skin! I use gloves for cleaning/washing up but even so on a typical day...

After going to the loo - 5
After changing a nappy - 5
Before cooking or handling food for DS - 3
Before putting in contact lenses - 1
Before bathing DS's sticky eyes - 2
Bathtime for DS - 1

That's 17 times - seems excessive, non? Off to chip at the scales on my knuckles..

Know what you mean!

Dove handcream is good, absorbs really nicely

I work in a clinical role on a hospital ward so I wash my hands a LOT! I suffer from dry skin due to this aswell. I found body shop almond hand cream very good.

I'm a nurse so I wash mine about 50 million times a day

No seriously I worked this afternoon so washed my hands after each patient ie about 24 times, as well as all the washing at home, so maybe another dozen or so times.

My poor hands are like crisps, but I find Avon's silicone hand cream very good. Also my daughter's aqueous cream (cheap as chips for a huuuuge tub.)

i agree i wash my hand as much as you do, i always use attrix cream before bedtime.
once it was that bad i put cream on and put rubber gloves on too

Far far far too many.

After the loo, 5.
After putting the rubbish out, 2.
After feeding the pet, 2
Before eating, 3
After eating, 3
Before I put away the washing up, 2
After the washing up, 2
Before I cook food, 2
Probably many more but that's 21 to start with!

Forgot about after wi[ing the kids bottoms, add another 3?
and before I make packed lunch.

many

i have 2 children in nappies and, regardless, hate having less-than-clean hands

my knuckles are very dry

unsurprisingly

I'd assumed healthcare professionals used the alcohol gels I saw on the maternity ward - are these not effective or not liked?

ooh i was just thinking this today.. i work as a nanny and have 2 kids of my own, and my hands are so sore from being washed that the skin is cracking and bleeding.

Have been using body shop body butter on them and also Neutragena extra dry hand cream.

i worked out about 20 times a day, i hate to have flour/chalk (yuck yuck yuck) on my hands, or tuna, or the tiniest bit of catfood gravy...

Olive oil is really good if they get very bad. Slop some on, rub in, leave for a minute or two, then wipe off the excess.

I had dreadfully dry hands and callous things on my knuckles when DS was in nappies and tried everything. Even now I use hand cream about 3-4 times a day in winter.

I was my hands as little as I can get away with. After the loo and before cooking, that's about it. Never wash before or after eating, and wear gloves for everything, otherwise my hands would just be raw.

Cyanara - I hate the alcohol gel at work, it is intensely drying and I end up with such cracked, chapped skin it is more of an infection risk.

I just wash a lot.

Neutragena Norwegian formula. Boots sell it. Only need a tiny amount and it's not greasy at all so you can get on with things right away.

I like diprobase ointment (not the cream) I'ts like vaseline, but is one of the few things that I can apply freely without causing extra cracks and dry skin from dermatitis. I also use steroid cream (HC45) for a few days just to get on top of it when they are really bad.

Gloves are important in this weather, but I always forget.

FrayedKnot - is that permission for me to drop my standards?? Yess!!!

Put it this way, I'm never going to be a clean the bathroom everyday kinda gal. But I just don't see how I can wash less with a clear conscience.

I suppose the current sticky eye situation makes things more tricky. And there was the suspected tapeworm in the nappy incident which made me pull my socks right up .