Health Services
It is estimated that 1,000 nurses develop work-related contact eczema each year and that this rate is nearly seven times higher than the average for all professions.
Causes
Contact with cleaning products, ‘wet work’ or frequent contact with water and contact with latex gloves are common culprits. Increasingly, the frequent use of alcohol gels to prevent transmission of hospital acquired infections is associated with hand eczema among hospital staff.
Tips to protect your hands against eczema
If you work in the health service professions, there are simple things you can do to help protect your hands against eczema:
- If possible, use machinery and tools to clean equipment, rather than your hands
- When you wash your hands, make sure you have rinsed them thoroughly
- Dry your hands thoroughly with a soft, disposable paper towel
- Protect your hands by moisturising them regularly with an emollient (soothing and softening skin product), but use a product that is free from fragrances and preservatives - the fewer ingredients, the better
- If latex gloves trigger your hand eczema, use suitable hypoallergenic gloves instead
If you haven’t done so already, why not complete the to find out more about your hand eczema, and to let us know what type of work you do?
We will update the website to show how many people in different professions suffer from hand eczema. You could help other people in your profession find out whether their job is commonly linked to hand eczema and reassure them that they are not alone.