Raw Skin

[sophie_1003]

My brother's girlfriend works in a kitchen and where she has had to cook then wash her hands/wash up then cook again the skin on her hands are raw and beginning to bleed; what can she use to treat this with; she's desperate as she had to go back again tomorrow.

[RATTER15]

She obviously needs to be wearing rubber gloves when doing the washing, a good barrier cream would probably help.

[alexanderd]

Agree with Ratter, rubber gloves are the answer

[someonesgirl]

maybe shes sensitive to what shes washing her hands up with???? try using something else...id say go doctors and get something....or wear gloves....

[RATTER15]

If her hands are bleeding she probably shouldn't be cooking. I don't understand what is causing the bleeding hands?

[bimbo123456]

Probably too late for you now but....if she buys some white cotton gloves (Boots sell them). Put a load of Vaseline on her hands and put the gloves on when she goes to sleep. Not exactly romantic but it will help her hands to heal. surely she is given gloves for washing up? It may be that she has a latex allergy, if this is the case. Wearing the same cotten gloves inside the rubber gloves helps absorb the sweat and will also moisturise. I do sympathise with this young lady. Before someone recommended this to me I had the most awful dermatitis.

[ummmm]

Probably just cracked RATTER.

Tell her to go to the chemist. They have special gloves and creams...

[sophie_1003]

I imagine she has gloves for washing up but obviously she has to wash her hands a lot and would probably not be allowed to use a barrier cream when handling the food. They're bleeding because the skin is so raw Ratter, and no she shouldn't be cooking which is why she's worried about tomorrow!

[~Wingnut~]

I'm a school cook and even tho I do say so myself go over the top when it comes to washing my hands (esp when handling eggs or raw meat) and my hands are as soft as a babys bum! She maybe isn't drying her hands properly (which is easy to do in a busy kitchen) and now has dermatitis or as others have said is having a reaction to the hand wash or washing up liquid so needs to bring it up with her manager. She really shouldn't be handling food if her hands are as bad as you are saying.

[~Wingnut~]

Ignore my last bit as it sounds patronising! (sorry had a couple of glasses of wine!)

She should speak to her manager as it sounds like dermatitis and they should be able to advise :o)

[sophie_1003]

Have just got new information- she is also having to use an anti-bacterial gel; I've said it is likely to be this causing it as I found that when I used the gel at school my hands went very dry. Would she be required to use this as a health and safety requirement or should washing her hands be enough?

[ladyalex]

I'd put money on it that it's the gel that is causing her problems.

She needs to speak to her manager about it. If she has no joy with her manager, then Human Resources or Occupational Health if they have them. If not, maybe her union if she has one.
She will not be the only person to have this problem.

[pastafreak]

Anti bac gels have a lot of alcohol in them which is very drying. If she washes her hands using the procedure below, she'll be fine.

http://www.google.co....WWBw&ved=0CIoBEPUBMAk

[tamborine]

there are gloves for the purpose, her employer should provide them.

http://www.justgloves...uvci6kCFQoa4Qod2gt-jw

[nohorn]

I had the same thing years ago when I was a teenager a I washed dishes 4+ hours a day. That was before automatic dishwashers were common. OK when I wore rubber gloves it made the problem worse. My hands would perspire, or drips of water went into gloves. The pain was unbearable. I had to stop washing dishes immediately until things healed up. Nowadays, there is a product called "Gloves in A Bottle. You put that on, let it dry, then use rubber gloves. Or it will protect your skin when you put your hands into water for a limited amount of time. The bottom line is you can only abuse your skin so much before you have problems.

[ooh-la-la]

i used to have really dry skin in lots of areas including my face and hands, and now i swear by aqueous cream, if she's using washing up gloves tell her to to put some on her hands first without fully rubbing it in and then put the washing up gloves on. I do this when i do my weekly cleen and my hands actully feel softer when i've finished!! i also use fairy clean and care washing up liquid to do the washing up and find that that's a lot kinder to my skin than the nomral washing up liquid. Hope she's seeling a bit better today

[sophie_1003]

Thanks for all the answers; her hands were a bit better; before she managed to cut herself!

[welshlibranr]

Norwegien hand cram is good, but she needs to wear gloves when washing dishes etc too to give her hands time to heal!.....

[an_eagle]

wearing rubber gloves will be very helpful...

[sophie_1003]

I don't think it's so much the washing up that is causing problems, it's the fact she is having to wash her hands so much and use anti bacterial gel (although she says that it is a moisturising one) in addition to this and then obviously when cooking her hands are exposed to lots of heat. She used aloe vera (straight from the plant) and think this has helped somewhat. Unfortunately her managers are not the best and as it's only a small hotel she can't go above them and is not yet in a union.

[dannylee]

She should use gloves for work in the kitchen, and the correct way to wear them, in addition, she should buy hand cream to protect herself. Recommend a pair of kitchen gloves for her to check: https://www.zxmedppe.com/wholesale-black-nitrile-gloves/