How can I stop washing my hands s much? DX

[LuckyNumber]

Hello everyone,
Since someone in my family was sick nearly a week ago, my hands have become bone dry. Luckily, the rest of the family and me haven't gotten sick yet There are so many cracks and lumps from using hot water, and it's starting to bleed around my knuckles. Also, winter's nearly over where I live (one day to go - yes!), but there's still lots of wind which only makes it worse. I'm going to start using moisturizer, but I really need to nip the problem in the bud. Do any of you know how I can reduce the amount of times I wash my hands?

Thanks.

[olschesky]

gold bond makes a moisturizing hand sanitizing cream that kills noro.....much better than washing your hands all the time. I've never been a big hand washer, but I do use the lotion and also just keep your hands away from your face......no need to wash so much. it becomes more of a ritual than anything else and I know I don't need any more rituals in my life........

[Dairyfreelife]

Are you on any medications?

[LuckyNumber]

No, luckily my phobia 'mild' enough not to take any medication.

[butterfly91]

Use moisturiser everytime u wash your hands or a soap with moistuiser in, i use to wash my hands alot, but i've cut down now, only wash them when before i prepare food and eat, and my hands look and feel so much better

[Dairyfreelife]

It sounds like you are washing your hands too much, so maybe try to just keep your hands away from your face and only disinfect/wash your hands after you leave the store/shopping center/school, before, during and after you prepare food and before you eat. When I was at a couple schools, they had a policy about washing your hands after as well due to severe peanut allergies. I tend to wash them more in the winter as well (late summer right now) due to the high amounts of colds, flu season and all the other lovely bugs that spread around in the winter when everyone's confined to the indoors. The biggest issue I have isn't so much over washing as it is the dry heat from the heater in the winter. The house gets very dry and I do try to use a vaporizer, but it can get the room too damp and I don't want mold to develop. If you have vents in the room, try putting a cup of water over them. The heat lets out the moisture and lets the humidity increase, but not too much.
I recommend you put Vaseline on your hands at night and put on gloves. By morning your hands will feel great. I learned this trick a couple years ago and it's helped prevent or heal many a cracked hand during those awful, dry winter months.

[Mama76]

I wash when I come home from somewhere, when I prepare food for others (my kids), when I change a diaper or go to the restroom myself, wipe noses, touch food that is gross like raw meat. I don't even wash here at home (when nobody is sick at least) before I eat necessarily, depends on what I have been doing. I don't touch my face (although that goes out the window when your toddler sticks her fingers in your mouth because it is funny). I consider my house to be a safe place to not have to wash all the time, when everyone is healthy.

This may bother some people, sorry, but when my oldest was first potty training his hands were so dry from washing all the time and I gave him some ground rules for at home (he is a rule follower) that if he went to the bathroom just to pee he could leave the seat up all the time, not flush, and he never "aimed" with his hands anyway, and he wouldn't have to wash because he didn't touch anything. As he matured he naturally learned to close the door, put the seat up, flush, and wash every time, so it was a good temporary solution for us.

I really agree that too much antibacterial soap/hand sanitizer is part of everyone's low immune systems (killing all good bacteria that will kill germs for us) and why people get so sick these days. We only use regular (not anti-bac) soap with moisturizer. I do tend to use hand sanitizer in the car a lot, I am sort of obsessed, but I don't make my kids do it unless they are definitely dirty and want to eat something, hate to pass on my OCD more than I need to. We just have a rule to not touch our faces. And really, my 7 year old still sucks his thumb all day, at school, etc. and is not more sick than anyone else in this house.

[wonderstruck9]

I struggle a lot with compulsive handwashing when my OCD/emetophobia are relapsing. Invest in a high quality heavy moisturizer until you can cut back on your hand washing. I use a brand called Cerave, and it's the heaviest creme they have. It works miracles on my hands which are constantly cracking and itching from overwashing.

[Grace47]

I often over wash my hands. I am also a crafter and a do it yourselfer, so my hands just need to be washed a lot. I try to wear gloves as often as I can to reduce the hand washing. I wear them when I clean the bathroom, paint, etc which not only protects my hands from dangerous chemicals, but also keeps my hands and fingernails clean. Keep a cheap bottle of coconut handcream on hand because I have found it works really well. Did I mention, I have naturally dry skin too? Yeah, compulsive hand washing and skin that's already dry - not a good combination. I hope your hands are healed up soon.

[LuckyNumber]

My hands have nearly healed now. I've been using Lucas Paw paw Cream on my hands (it's in Australia... not sure if it's overseas) plus moisteriser together, and it has helped so much.