Washing your hands with hand sanitizers containing alcohol and with soap, and rinsing your hands with medicinal alcohol is one of the most important recommendations for the prevention of COVID-19.
Washing our hands properly is fundamental. But when we do so more often than usual and we use these products often, we may notice that our skin is developing redness, itchiness, eczema or is becoming very dry. Hospiten Rambla dermatologist, Dr. Lucia Pimentel explains that moisturizing the skin is the secret to keeping our hands healthy. “The ideal thing is to use hand creams, avoiding those that are very perfumed, since using these gels damages the skin’s natural protective barrier of lipids, making it more sensitive”.
Dr. Pimentel says that “using lotions that are thinner, much more liquid or fluid is not the same as using ceramide-rich creams, which are thicker in consistency”. Ceramides are lipids, or fats, that are a natural part of our skin and help to protect it, keeping it moisturized and supple. When these natural lipids are lost, our skin loses moisture and becomes dry and rough.
Hospiten recommends the use of hand creams to prevent skin irritation, or even eczema, or other body lotions if hand cream is not available.
The skin on our hands is much thicker than on other parts of the body, so it is good to use a cream with a high fat content. Above all, creams should be used before the skin becomes irritated, “it is better to deal with redness with moisturizers, where possible every time you wash your hands”, stresses Dr. Pimentel.
Specialties operational
In addition to Dermatology, Hospiten Group services continue to be fully operational at all their centers, including 24-hour E.R., hospitalization, ICU, outpatients, operating rooms, laboratory, radio-diagnostics and the dialysis unit
We have also launched a video-consultation service, free of charge during April, through which patients can ask questions and have access to specialists. The service will enable video-consultations with specialists in pediatrics, gynecology, obstetrics and internal medicine.
In addition, and also free of charge in April, patients with a medical history with Hospiten, can request a video-consultation in general medicine to ask questions about and ask for advice on symptoms, etc. related to COVID-19, as well as about general medicine. To access this service, please contact the call center of the center.