Itching on hands is a pretty common skin condition which can be caused due to various reasons. It can be due to dry skin, allergies, infection or other conditions. It is important to treat the condition before it becomes serious.
There are many skin disorders and one of the common symptom of skin disorders is skin irritation. Many times skin irritation can lead to scratching of the irritated skin, which only makes it worse. If you have any such skin problem, then avoid scratching it and get proper treatment. The treatment can be a home remedy or medical treatment prescribed by a dermatologist. Hand’s skin irritation is common occurrence, and can be due to various reasons, one of the common reason include drying of skin. Let us look at the causes and some home care measures.
Causes and Home Care
Dry Skin
This is the major reason why people experience skin irritation. Dry skin can be caused due to various reasons and is often observed in winter season. Excessive washing of hands can deplete moisture from skin, thereby resulting into skin drying. Also, during winters, the humidity level is very low that causes dryness.
Home Care Tips: Keep applying a moisturizer after you have washed your hands. If you have winter dry skin then apply an oily moisturizer three times a day at least.
Contact Dermatitis
Contact dermatitis is a term which refers to skin irritation which is caused by any irritant found in the environment. Apart from skin irritation, it can also cause drying of the hands, redness and swelling of the hands. One can get contact dermatitis from irritant in hand-wash, detergents, food, pollen, clothes, etc. If you tend to get a rash or any of the above mentioned symptom then you have contact dermatitis.
Home Care Tips: Find out what causes contact dermatitis, and avoid or substitute that particular substance with a safe one. You can also rely on aloe vera gel for soothing skin in such a case.
Skin Infection
Infection of the skin which can be due to scabies, fungal or bacterial infection can also lead to skin irritation. In such a case, you will develop other symptoms along with skin irritation like inflammation of skin or rash, sometimes spots or particular symptoms which produce any abnormalities on the skin. Due to infection, it is possible that you might have a fever too.
Home Care Tips: In such a case go seek medical help immediately, before the infection spreads to other body areas too. Also, keep your hands clean by washing them and avoid touching any other body areas. To soothe the irritated skin apply a cold compress.
Other Causes
There are many other disorders which can affect the skin of hands and cause itching and irritation. For example, vitamin B6 overdose can lead to itching of skin, while certain medications can lead to severe itching of hands, legs and other skin regions and also give a rash. If you have any such disorder then contact your skin specialist. The doctor will perform a physical exam, and ask you certain questions regarding your symptoms. Based on this the doctor will diagnose the skin disorder and recommend the appropriate treatment. The treatment in most cases will be of topical application of cream or gel with some oral medication. Oral medication can be anti-allergic medications, antibiotics or any supplements.
If you have common skin problems that can be treated at home then use effective home remedies. However, if you have extreme symptoms like fever or the use of home remedies for a few days doesn’t relieve it, then consult a dermatologist immediately. This way you would be able to avoid any further complications.