A guide to handwashing with a skin condition

While washing your hands is important for preventing the spread of viruses and harmful bacteria, it can have some negative effects if you have sensitive skin or a skin condition such as eczema.

Frequent handwashing or use of sanitizers can cause dryness and irritate the skin. This can lead to cracks in the skin barrier.

Eczema is a common inflammatory skin condition that causes itchiness and dry skin, among other symptoms.

You can’t develop hand eczema from handwashing, but frequent handwashing can cause it to flare up. This is because it causes your skin to dry out and can lead to the following symptoms:

• flaky skin
• discoloration
• scaly skin
• inflammation
• blisters
• itchiness
• burning
• cracks
• bleeding

If you have a skin condition that reacts to frequent handwashing, it may become a source of stress and anxiety. This may also cause a flare-up of eczema or psoriasis.

Psoriasis is another skin condition that causes sensitive skin, with itchy rashes, and scaly patches that appear over your whole body, including your hands.

Psoriasis is the result of an overactive immune system that causes excess inflammation around the body. It makes your skin dry and easily irritated, which may worsen with handwashing.

Hand soap for eczema

There is no one specific soap for eczema that stops irritation. This is because everyone has different eczema triggers and will react differently. What works for someone else may not work for you, so it may take some experimenting to find the right option.

Some general things to look out for when choosing a soap include:

• using handwash that says it’s for sensitive skin on the label
• avoiding fragranced soaps
• checking soap labels for allergens you are aware of
• using dye-free soaps
• avoiding alkaline soaps
• using ‘soap-free’ hand wash, which doesn’t contain a common irritant called sodium lauryl sulfate
• avoiding antibacterial soaps as they often contain alcohol, which dries the skin

To help avoid irritation during handwashing with a skin condition, you should also avoid using hot water. Favor lukewarm water instead and rinse thoroughly to ensure you leave no soap residue behind.

Dry, but don’t over-dry

Drying your hands after washing them is important for preventing irritation of sensitive skin. But you should avoid drying too vigorously. This can irritate any flare-ups already there.

According to the American Academy of Dermatology Association (AAD), you can prevent this by gently blotting water from your hands with a clean, dry towel or leaving them to air dry. Whichever way you choose, try to leave your hands a little damp.

Always moisturize

Be sure to moisturize your hands immediately after you take a bath or wash your hands. With your hands a little damp, apply a generous amount of moisturizer. Moisturizer can help keep your hands hydrated and protect the skin barrier.

Still, it’s important to pick the right kind of moisturizer. Moisturizers usually contain more water than oil, meaning when this water evaporates, it can dry out the skin. An oil-based ointment, such as petroleum jelly, is a better treatment for eczema.

The National Eczema Association has a list of moisturizers that work for those with eczema.

Carry hand products with you

As you will want to moisturize every time you wash your hands, it’s important to get into the habit of applying and reapplying moisturizer regularly.

A useful tip is to place moisturizer all around sinks in your home and carry a small tube with you wherever you go.

Remember that it can take a few months for a flare-up to clear. Even if your hands appear eczema-free, it’s important to take special care to avoid a return of symptoms or getting other skin infections.

Medical treatments

The best way to manage symptoms triggered by handwashing is to treat or manage the root cause.

While eczema is not curable, several treatment options are available, including:

• a gentle skin care routine
• topical steroids, such as hydrocortisone (Cortef) for mild eczema and betamethasone (Sernivo) or clobetasol (Olux) for more severe cases.
• antihistamines, such as cetirizine (Zyrtec) and fexofenadine (Allegra)
• oral medications such as methotrexate (Trexall), acitretin (Soriatane), or cyclosporine (Restasis)
• topical or oral janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors such as ruxolitinib (Opzelura) and abrocitinib (Cibinqo)

Lifestyle measures — such as eating an anti-inflammatory diet and reducing your sun exposure — can also help.

It’s important to speak with a doctor, as the best course of treatment will depend on the severity of your skin condition.

Like eczema, psoriasis is also incurable, but manageable with the right treatment. These include:

• topical ointments such as tacrolimus (Protopic) or hydrocortisone (Cortef)
• phototherapy
• systemic medications that help treat the cause from the inside, such as adalimumab (Humira) or acitretin (Soriatane)
• medications that slow skin cell production, such as anthralin (Psoriatec)

The treatment a healthcare professional recommends depends on the severity of the rash and its location, as well as your age and overall health.

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Summary

Handwashing is important for preventing the spread of disease, but it may irritate skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis.

To manage this, it’s important to use gentle and unscented soaps and to not fully or over-dry the skin. Regularly moisturizing can lessen these effects.

Treating the underlying condition is the best way to manage your symptoms.

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