The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the World Health Organization (WHO) say that frequently washing your hands is vital to preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“Whether it is the rapidly escalating coronavirus pandemic or just any given winter, handwashing is one of the most effective ways to prevent the transmission of infections,” Dr. Adam Friedman, professor of dermatology at George Washington School of Medicine and Health Sciences tells Healthline. “Unfortunately, the very soaps and even wringing hands underwater will also break down the barrier of the skin we are trying to protect.”
According to UCLA Health, there’s one critical step you should do to prevent dry, red, chapped hands. After using hand sanitizer or washing with soap and water, apply a layer of hand cream or moisturizer. The reason this is so critical is that when we zealously over wash our hands, we may create dry cracks in the skin allowing bacteria and other germs to enter.
“Moisturizers don’t add water to the skin, but are fundamental to disorders that disrupt the skin barrier,” says Friedman. He adds that they provide a protective film for the skin while soothing and improving the texture and appearance.
Sara Hogan, M.D., a dermatologist at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica, offers other suggestions to save your skin:
- Use enough mild, fragrance-free soap to remove dirt, but avoid making a thick lather which washes away natural oils. Wash with warm, not hot water, she advises, for at least 20 seconds patting your hands dry with a towel. When your hands are dry, apply a moisturizer immediately. Hogan suggests keeping travel sizes of creams in handbags, on your desk, or any other place within easy reach.
- Avoid products that contain fragrance or hand sanitizers that contain too much alcohol because they can be irritating to chapped, sensitive skin. Also, creams and ointments are better than lotions for moisturizing. Hogan says that the old standby, Vaseline, is still the most effective moisturizer to use.
- When you go to bed at night, apply a thick layer on moisturizer and then put on cotton gloves to increase absorption. You can also buy moisturizing masks for hands which stay on for 20 minutes and are then washed off, she says.