In the dry and cold season of autumn and winter, many people will have "chapped hands and feet", that is, local dry cracks in the skin and pain and discomfort, what is the cause of this? How should it be prevented?
"Chapped hands and feet" refers to the dry and cracked skin of the hands and feet due to various causes.
The skin of the hands and feet, especially the cuticle of the skin in the metatarsal part of the hands and feet, is thicker, and there are no local sebaceous glands (only small sweat glands), and in the winter, because the sweat secretion of the local skin is reduced, the moisture content in the cuticle in the skin is also correspondingly reduced, and the skin is prone to dryness.
If you do not pay attention to the care of skin moisturizing in the dry season of autumn and winter, and then superimpose various mechanical or physical frictional stimuli, or are exposed to various chemical stimuli (such as strong acid-base substances, degreasing effect of organic solvents, etc.), or have some "keratinized skin diseases" such as ichthyosis, palmar keratosis, keratinized eczema, keratinized tinea pedis/ tinea pedis, the cuticles of the skin will appear "reactive thickening", and the "toughness" and "elasticity" of the skin will be more normal and obvious" Decline (i.e. become "hard, thick and brittle")".
When the skin appears above", if the skin of the hands and feet has intense local activity, or is subjected to greater traction and friction, it may cause local skin cracking, especially at the end of the fingers, the knuckle joints of the hands and feet, the lateral edges of the palms, the heels and other parts that are susceptible to force and friction.
Chapped hands and feet often cause pain and discomfort in the skin, affecting normal life and work, so in daily life should pay attention to the combination of prevention and treatment, you can take the following measures:
1, in the autumn and winter to pay attention to keep the skin moisturized, after cleaning the skin to apply emollients in time (oily emollient is the best), and pay attention to do a good job of skin warmth.
2, to avoid long-term contact with a variety of irritating chemicals, detergents (including soap, shower gel, dish soap, etc.); if it is a professional factor that requires long-term contact with some irritating physical and chemical products, it is necessary to strengthen the protection of the skin and avoid direct contact with these harmful irritating substances by the skin of the hands and feet.
3. If there are various "keratosis skin diseases" mentioned above, such as ichthyosis, palm plantar keratosis, keratosis eczema, keratinized tinea pedis/ tinea pedis, etc., it should be actively treated.
4. In the case of relatively slight chapped hands and feet, some ointments that can soften keratin and promote skin moisturization can be appropriately used, such as urea ointment, allantoin ointment, vaseline, etc., or appropriate use of some anti-inflammatory plasters such as "skin disease ning hard cream", etc.; if the situation of hand and foot chapped is more serious, and even secondary conditions such as skin infections, it is necessary to seek medical treatment in time.
#皮肤科医生谭颖 #