Gloves and Eczema

Wearing gloves to protect yourself from water, soap and other chemicals as well as from the drying effects of things like dusting and folding clothes is important.  I know so many people with terrible eczema on their hands that still immerse their hands in soapy water when washing things.  Even plain water is drying on the skin.

The problem I encountered is that rubber, vinyl and nitrile gloves irritated my skin and made them burn and itch, and cotton gloves just absorbed the moisture out of my skin.  I found that the very cheap, disposable, thin, clear, plastic gloves didn't hurt my skin.  I used the ones with little breathing holes in them when I did dry work so the hands wouldn't sweat too much; and, for wet work I used them under other gloves to protect the skin.  I got them from my local grocery store.  They use them in the bakery and the deli.  I asked them if I could buy them, but they just give them to me for free.

Using cotton gloves under latex, vinyl or nitrile gloves when doing dishes really helps prevent the dish gloves from hurting. Now that I managed to get rid of the eczema on my hands (see the Bacteria Web Page), I can use any kind of gloves without bother. I don't even use gloves sometimes anymore ...

Evaluation of aloe vera gel gloves in the treatment of dry skin associated with occupational exposure.
PMID: 12548256

Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University, The Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Ill 60611-2923, USA.

OBJECTIVE: An examination glove that delivers aloe vera (AV) gel to the gloved hand was studied in 30 adult females with bilateral occupational dry skin with or without irritant contact dermatitis (with or without erythema, fissures, and excoriations). METHODS: All participants were factory assembly-line workers with repeated superficial skin trauma who attributed their dry, irritated, emollient-dependent skin to a common cause (occupational exposure). Participants were sequentially enrolled (after written informed consent, n = 29 evaluable participants) into an open, contralateral comparison study to evaluate efficacy of AV glove use 8 h/day to one hand versus no use to the opposite hand for 30 days, followed by 30 days rest, followed by 10 days of repeated use. Participant's dorsal hands were documented by standardized photos at baseline, during, and at the end of study. RESULTS: Unblinded investigator baseline assessment rated dry skin as mild to moderate (n = 27), or moderate to severe (n = 2). Mean time to noticeable improvement for the AV glove hand was 3.5 days (range: 2-6 days) whereas marked improvement was 10.4 days (range: 7-17 days) for the AV glove hand. No improvement was detected for nonglove hands. Blinded photo assessment was rated independently by dermatology research staff. End-of-study mean global assessment of AV glove hands versus nonglove hands was 1.3 for AV glove hand (0 = no change, 1 = good [10%-89% global improvement], 2 = marked improvement [90%-100% global improvement]) versus 0 for nonglove hand (P <.0001). Mean global end-of-study assessments by the participants = 2.0 for AV glove hand versus 0 for nonglove hand. CONCLUSION: Dry-coated AV gloves that provide for gradual delivery of AV gel to skin produced a uniformly positive outcome of improved skin integrity, decreased appearance of fine wrinkling, and decreased erythema in the management of occupational dry skin and irritant contact dermatitis.