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Hello everyone,
I just thought I would share my story since I was never able to find any resources from an optometrist/clinician's point of view when this happened to me.
Throughout my whole life, I have never had sensitive skin, although I do have run-of-the-mill seasonal allergies to pollen and grass, which only affect my skin if I actually go roll around in grass. I have also always been a very avid hand-washer, and never had any skin issues with that.
It all changed when I started clinic last summer. Some combination of increased hand-washing, handling DPAs, and using alcohol pads to sterilize instruments several times a day left me with hands that were absolutely desiccated.
It started out like an allergic reaction -- my fingers would feel a little itchy and red, but from there it got really bad. My skin was drying, flaking, and eventually cracking and bleeding. I spent a tons of money on lotion, wore non-latex gloves when I handled the offending agents, but nothing really helped.
It was only slightly painful, but it was so unsightly that it was really affecting my quality of life. The worst thing was that no one else in my class was having this problem, so no one had any solutions.
My doctor told me I had eczema, and she prescribed a topical steroid and told me to use TheraSeal (lotion that is the amazing price of $19.00/bottle) when I was in clinic.
The steroid helped a lot to reduce the inflammation and heal the cracked skin. But every time I went to clinic, the process would reverse. The TheraSeal did not help. It is supposed to protect skin from harsh chemicals, but my hands always felt five times drier after I put it on. Eventually I stopped using it.
An attending told me to use Aquaphor, which has been the biggest solution for me.
My current routine: Triamcinolone cream bid, Aquaphor as needed. When I am at clinic I keep a bottle of Aquaphor in my pocket and apply it to my hands about once an hour. It is has the viscosity of vasoline, so I don't usually put it on in the exam room since it gets a little messy and takes some time to absorb, but any time between pts or waiting for an attending works fine.
So finally, three quarters into clinic, my hands are finally healing. I have a lot of scars from where my skin broke, but no more broken, bleeding, unsightly skin. I hope that if any other clinicians find themselves with this problem, my story will help them a little.
I just thought I would share my story since I was never able to find any resources from an optometrist/clinician's point of view when this happened to me.
Throughout my whole life, I have never had sensitive skin, although I do have run-of-the-mill seasonal allergies to pollen and grass, which only affect my skin if I actually go roll around in grass. I have also always been a very avid hand-washer, and never had any skin issues with that.
It all changed when I started clinic last summer. Some combination of increased hand-washing, handling DPAs, and using alcohol pads to sterilize instruments several times a day left me with hands that were absolutely desiccated.
It started out like an allergic reaction -- my fingers would feel a little itchy and red, but from there it got really bad. My skin was drying, flaking, and eventually cracking and bleeding. I spent a tons of money on lotion, wore non-latex gloves when I handled the offending agents, but nothing really helped.
It was only slightly painful, but it was so unsightly that it was really affecting my quality of life. The worst thing was that no one else in my class was having this problem, so no one had any solutions.
My doctor told me I had eczema, and she prescribed a topical steroid and told me to use TheraSeal (lotion that is the amazing price of $19.00/bottle) when I was in clinic.
The steroid helped a lot to reduce the inflammation and heal the cracked skin. But every time I went to clinic, the process would reverse. The TheraSeal did not help. It is supposed to protect skin from harsh chemicals, but my hands always felt five times drier after I put it on. Eventually I stopped using it.
An attending told me to use Aquaphor, which has been the biggest solution for me.
My current routine: Triamcinolone cream bid, Aquaphor as needed. When I am at clinic I keep a bottle of Aquaphor in my pocket and apply it to my hands about once an hour. It is has the viscosity of vasoline, so I don't usually put it on in the exam room since it gets a little messy and takes some time to absorb, but any time between pts or waiting for an attending works fine.
So finally, three quarters into clinic, my hands are finally healing. I have a lot of scars from where my skin broke, but no more broken, bleeding, unsightly skin. I hope that if any other clinicians find themselves with this problem, my story will help them a little.
