Ever since the fear of coronavirus has hit the country, everyone's become way too cautious about keeping themselves safe and clean at all times. One of the many ways is by washing hands thoroughly. But this could also mean that if you keep washing your hands repeatedly, many of you might start experiencing cracked hands due to hot soapy water and regular use of drying alcohol-based hand sanitizers. However, it's alright to use a hand cream after you wash your hands each time.
Dr Lindsay Broadbent of the Centre for Infection and Immunity at Queen’s University Belfast says, “There’s no problem with using hand cream as long as you have dried your hands thoroughly before applying the hand cream, it’s fine.” She even advises people to carry their own tubes along with them wherever they go in order to be extra safe. “It’s generally best not to share, because you don’t know if someone else has washed their hands properly before touching the bottle,” she said. While applying the cream, squeeze a little bit of it on the back of your hand without touching the nozzle. Broadbent says, “The coronavirus wouldn’t survive for long in the hand cream, but it’s good hygiene not to touch the nozzle, as bacteria and fungus could technically survive in there.”
If you start feeling that your hands are getting painfully chapped and you don't have a cream on you, make use of a communal hand lotion without touching the applicator. Dr Stephen Griffin of the antivirals and viral oncology research group at the University of Leeds says, “Wash your hands, then take a paper towel and use that to push the dispenser, so you don’t touch it with your bare hands.”
Hand cream is a good idea as you might be more vulnerable to infections if your skin is bleeding or cracked. He says, “Your first barrier to any germ is your skin.”
