Scientists Have Figured Out How To Preserve Hand Skin At Work

2023 Author: Abraham Higgins | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-30 04:59

Scientists have figured out how to preserve hand skin at work

The skin on the hands can be inflamed in a wide variety of professions: nurses, construction workers, hairdressers, agricultural workers, restaurant staff, and workers in the paint, printing and metalworking industries. Scientists wondered how gloves, creams and other preventive measures help from this problem.

/ FOTODOM /

It is difficult to say how effective creams, moisturizers, or other preventative measures are in protecting hands from micro injuries, blisters, infections, and irritations while working. This is evidenced by the results of the largest study on this topic.

Scientific work has focused on occupational contact dermatitis that occurs in workers who regularly come into contact with water, detergents, chemicals and other irritants. As you know, the disease can develop even when wearing gloves during the working day. At risk are nurses, construction workers, hairdressers, agricultural workers, restaurant staff, and workers in the paint, printing and metal industries.

Scientists analyzed data from nine previous studies, involving a total of 2,888 people. They considered the effectiveness of various preventive measures, including protective gloves, creams, moisturizers, employee training, Although moisturizers (and, to a lesser extent, barrier creams) have been linked to a lower risk of dermatitis, the study says there was insufficient evidence for this.

“We are in daily contact with many different chemicals and other factors that either physically destroy the skin barrier or deplete the skin's natural hydration factors. As a result, inflammation develops, manifesting as redness, dryness and roughness of the skin of the hands,”says Dr. Saxon Smith, research editorial and dermatologist at the University of Sydney, Australia.

He also claims that the most common moisturizers can replace moisture loss when the skin is exposed to strong chemicals, detergents, or other substances that can damage the skin. Corticosteroids and some other immunosuppressive drugs can help relieve work-induced inflammation of the skin.

Smith also believes that gloves and barrier creams can reduce exposure and reduce direct skin contact with irritants. But chemicals sometimes seep into gloves and through protective creams, which may explain why research has shown that they are less effective than moisturizers at preventing dermatitis.

In the four studies analyzed on sunscreens, 29% of people who used them to prevent hand irritation still developed dermatitis, compared with 33% of workers who did not use sunscreens.

In three studies of moisturizers, 13% of people who used them to prevent skin problems still developed them, compared to 19% who did not use moisturizers.

Two other studies analyzed looked at a combination of sunscreens and moisturizers. 8% of people using both prophylaxis developed hand dermatitis, compared with 13% of those who did not.

Based on the results of the study, it is not yet clear whether staff safety training in skin protection has any effect on reducing the risk of hand irritation, this analysis shows.

Only a few study participants reported side effects from moisturizers and sunscreens (usually itching or redness of the skin).

The results highlight the need to educate workers across a wide range of industries about effective ways to prevent skin problems that may be associated with their work.