Hand sanitiser overuse!

[RainbowRiver]

I'm sure I have a slight addiction to the stuff! I cannot go anywhere with out a bottle of it, I have it placed through out the house and hate when others don't have it. I'm worse if I need to visit a hospital and forever pumping it lol

However, I've tried cutting down on the amount I use as my hands are now terribly dry and rough. What's the best hand cream to help repair them?

please tell me I'm not the only one with this addiction to sanitiser?!

[nickle730]

Microshield make a moisturiser...

They are the same company which make the sanitiser and antiseptic soap wash used in most of hospitals. Just feeding your addiction... But seriously, hand sanitisers kill all the bacteria on your hands, including the good ones. Soap and water is a far better option on an everyday basis, save the sanitiser for when you are out and don't have access to a sink when you need to wash your hands.

[Eenee]

Ok so I'm a huge germophobe especially when pregnant but hate using that stuff. As it is absorbed into your body so can't be doing you any good either. Maybe try baby wipes when you go out to wipe hands when you dont have access to soap and water and around the house just good ol soap and water. I'm an obsessive frequent hand washer and so my hands get quite dry also, coconut oil is great but also I find moogoo moisturisers are great too. For bad cracks I use the phytocare brand of paw paw cream that is petrochemical free and particularly put that on at night so I'm not washing it off straight away.

[nickle730]

Eenee, the sanitiser actually evaporates rather then being absorbed. You wouldn't absorb any more sanitiser than you would soap. But the baby wipes are a good idea!

[Mum2SweetCs]

I usually rinse out some baby wipes (coz i dont like the stuff on them) and put it in a portable soap bar holder and bring that with me to the shops.

The hand sanitiser smells give me a headache lol

[Eenee]

Sure you do, things are absorbed very readily through the skin so although it does evaporate some still absorbs through your skin. Especially if you note the smell feeling it leaves behind on your skin. It's why transdermal patches for certain medication administration work so great and also why I use chemical free soaps etc oh yeah I'm a chemical fearer also lol

[Eenee]

I usually rinse out some baby wipes (coz i dont like the stuff on them) and put it in a portable soap bar holder and bring that with me to the shops.

The hand sanitiser smells give me a headache lol

Lol I just buy the expensive organic baby wipes with less nasties in them. Another thing you could try if you do that is those flush able nappy liners you can get in a big roll (they are strong enough when wet) that way you just need to wet them before you go.

[nickle730]

Results
The median of absorbed ethanol after hygienic hand disinfection was 1365 mg (A), 630 mg (B), and 358 mg (C). The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 2.3% (A), 1.1% (B), and 0.9% (C). After surgical hand disinfection, the median of absorbed ethanol was 1067 mg (A), 1542 mg (B), and 477 mg (C). The proportion of absorbed ethanol was 0.7% (A), 1.1% (B), and 0.5% (C). The highest median acetaldehyde concentration after 20 hygienic hand disinfections was 0.57 mg/L (hand-rub C, after 30 min), after 10 surgical hand disinfections 3.99 mg/L (hand-rub A, after 20 minutes).

Conclusion
The overall dermal and pulmonary absorption of ethanol was well below toxic levels in humans and allows the conclusion that the use of the evaluated ethanol-based hand-rubs is safe.


Peer reviewed study, sanitiser has been found safe for used in humans (even with excessive application; these results were taken after 30 applications over the course of 1 hour!). Transdermal drug administration is only effective for a limited number of drugs as the skin provides such an effective barrier. Transdermal administration relies on the molecular structure of the drug being very small. Alcohol/ethanol does have a very small molecular structure and is sometimes used as a 'carrier' for drugs with a slightly larger molecular structure to be administered transdermally BUT transdermal drug delivery relies on prolonged contact with the skin. By the time alcohol from a hand sanitiser could be absorbed into the skin it will have evaporated due to ambient exposure. The time it will take for the sanitiser to evaporate is dependent on both the conditions and the amount of sanitiser used.

It does stink though!

[Mum2SweetCs]

Another thing you could try if you do that is those flush able nappy liners you can get in a big roll (they are strong enough when wet) that way you just need to wet them before you go.

Why didnt i think of that!!! Lol i still have a bunch from when i tried mcns

[JLeigh29]

I use chux cloths in a ziplock bag for DS when we go out. They're washable, or I just throw them away if they look too gungy. That was what I used for baby wipes too - detest the thought of chemicals on a baby's privates!

[AnyDream]

Ok. Self-confessed fellow hand-sanitiser lover here.

BUT: Thing 1. When you're at home and you've got a nice moisturising liquid hand wash and a lovely clean towel to dry with afterwards, actually washing your hands will remove any germies. Thorough handwashing technique will beat hand sanitiser anytime.

Thing 2. Nothing wrong with a bottle in your handbag for those times when you can't avoid touching the door handle on the way out of the public toilets... or when there's no soap ... or when the person using the ATM in front of you has coughed all over the place... or when you just really need some sanitiser to cleanse psychological ick factor (LOL).

Thing 3. For times when you really *need* the sanitiser, use one with a more moisturising effect. I use the Aqium gel - because it seems to have some kind of moisturising thing in there. It's one of the reasons it is used widely in hospitals.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Nickle, I love you. Get merry through handwashing. That is the best study EV-ah.

Off to raid the emergency bottle in my handbag now, then banish all soap!

[meow]

Doesn't hand sanitiser have more ingredients that ethanol? What about the absorption of the other ingredients?

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Wine does too but we don't worry about non-ethanol consumption there.

Mine is 62% ethanol (woo!) The rest water, propan-2-ol, some moisturisers inc vit e, lipids and glycerin. And a fragrance, for some reason. All of these are fairly normal stuff for hands.

[Eenee]

Doesn't hand sanitiser have more ingredients that ethanol? What about the absorption of the other ingredients?

Yep and like most things they don't list all ingredients on the bottle.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Yep and like most things they don't list all ingredients on the bottle.

Really? Legally, inactive ingredients making up more than .1% and active more than .01% must be listed. So all our cleansing products (and more) are not doing this? Why has no-one analysed this and/or reported to the authorities?

Oh yes, because any extras fall within those tiny tolerances and are near enough not there at all. Rainwater contains more additional chemicals than do hand creams but we din't melt when caught with no brolly.

[meow]

Wine does too but we don't worry about non-ethanol consumption there.

I do. I choose my wine based on the ingredients.

[RainbowRiver]

I used to love Aquim brand all the time (the Mega large bottle!), then I discovered I loved the Aldi brand smell more lol

I like the Microshield one too.

Its an addiction I need to stop haha