If you’ve been diagnosed with hand eczema (also called hand dermatitis), you know how much it can interfere with your daily life. After all, your hands are exposed to all sorts of things throughout the day. Some of these substances and situations can cause eczema symptoms to flare. That’s why it’s important to know what to do — and what not to do — if you develop eczema on your hands.

Hand eczema is common. It affects approximately 14.5 percent of people worldwide and accounts for 20 percent to 35 percent of all cases of eczema. Although all forms of eczema lead to discolored, itchy skin, eczema that affects the hands can appear somewhat differently.

Keep reading to learn about symptoms of eczema on the hands and tips for avoiding triggers and managing discomfort.

How Can Eczema Affect the Hands?

Hand eczema can affect your palms, the backs of your hands, and your fingers. It can cause the skin on your hands to crack, blister, or become so dry that it starts to flake or peel. As one MyEczemaTeam member shared, “My hands are very bad. I can’t open them fully due to cracks.” The accompanying burning or pain may worsen when you use your hands in daily activities.

One particular type of eczema that affects the hands is known as dyshidrotic eczema (also called pompholyx). This condition causes sudden and often intense itching followed by the appearance of small blisters, usually on the palms or sides of a person’s fingers. The blisters are deep and filled with fluid, and they usually last for a few weeks before they dry up and the affected skin peels off. Such peeling can leave your skin particularly tender and can lead to cracks, which can, in turn, make you susceptible to skin infections.

Ways To Manage Hand Eczema

Talk to your dermatologist to develop a personal eczema treatment plan. Understanding what triggers hand eczema may help you better manage your condition. There are also several at-home approaches you can take to protect your skin and soothe dry, cracked, or painful areas during flares.

Here’s what you need to know to start developing a plan to treat hand eczema.

Avoid Your Triggers

As the National Eczema Association notes, the best way of treating eczema on the hands is to avoid what triggers your symptoms in the first place. According to one MyEczemaTeam member with hand eczema, “I’m avoiding a relapse by staying away from what I’m allergic to.”

Many different circumstances can cause eczema symptoms to flare. These triggers can vary from person to person. Some people respond to extreme temperatures, while others develop symptoms after they wash with certain soaps, especially antibacterial soaps or work in their gardens. Weather changes can aggravate symptoms, too. As one MyEczemaTeam member wrote, “In the winter, my hands crack open and bleed. For years, I didn’t know it was eczema.”

It’s sometimes easier to avoid eczema triggers than to treat symptoms once they develop. So knowing what circumstances and substances trigger eczema on your hands can have a big impact on your symptoms. That said, identifying your unique triggers may take time. Tracking changes in your symptoms in a journal may help you identify what activities, products, or seasons made your hand eczema worse.

Find an Effective Moisturizer

Finding the right moisturizer can help you avoid dryness, soothe your discomfort, and allow your hands to heal. The best moisturizers for people with hand eczema are those with high oil content. Ointments that contain high oil content, such as mineral oil and petroleum jelly, help your skin maintain its barrier, retain moisture, and protect itself from irritating triggers to reduce dryness and eczema flares. On the other hand, lotions with a higher water content can dehydrate your skin and worsen your eczema symptoms. You may need to experiment to find out what works best for you. It’s a good idea to test new creams or ointments on a small area of your skin to gauge your reaction before applying them all over your hands. It’s important to apply moisturizer after you wash your hands with soaps or alcohol-based hand sanitizers that dry out the skin.

Wear Gloves To Protect Your Hands

Hand eczema is especially common for people whose work requires them to use their hands frequently. This type of contact dermatitis even has a name: occupational skin disease. People who work in hairdressing, healthcare, cleaning, and other jobs that involve working with irritant chemicals may find that their hands burn, crack, or peel. As one MyEczemaTeam member who works as a hairstylist described, “Every day is a struggle with eczema on the palms of my hands. Itching, burning, tingling … I can’t stand it.”

If work or daily tasks trigger eczema on your hands, you may be allergic to chemicals or materials that you touch during the day. Talk to your dermatologist about patch testing for allergens if you suspect this may be the case.

You can also try wearing gloves. Simple cotton gloves can protect your hands when you fold laundry, for instance. The National Eczema Association recommends opting for vinyl gloves with cotton liners if a task requires your hands to get wet. Disposable gloves are helpful when dealing with foods that may irritate your skin. While washing the dishes, it is better to wear pure cotton gloves underneath dishwashing gloves to reduce sweating, which can also exacerbate eczema.

Many MyEczemaTeam members use gloves to protect their hands every day. As one recommended, “You can get dishwashing gloves without latex. Also, wear cotton gloves underneath the dish gloves.” Another shared the importance of gloves, saying, “I've been doing OK, but I washed dishes without gloves, so my hands are a mess!”

Use Fragrance-Free Products

Some people with hand eczema find that the fragrances in body products trigger their eczema. With that in mind, choose fragrance-free versions of everything you can. That includes dish soap as well as skin care products like hand soap, body soap, and moisturizer. The same goes for other cleansers like shampoo, detergent, and more. As one MyEczemaTeam member recommended, “Stay clear of any fragrances or perfumes in ALL products — including your laundry detergent, fabric softener, dish detergent, and cleaning products.”

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends choosing products labeled “fragrance-free,” but avoiding products labeled as “unscented.” The latter term may mean a fragrance has been used to mask the product’s original scent. Bland and simple products have less potential to trigger flares.

Avoid Hot Water

Hot water may temporarily soothe your skin condition, but hot water is also drying, and many people find that it makes their eczema worse. As one member wrote, “Hot water makes my eczema come out. If I use cool water, I won’t break out, but if I use hot water, I’ll have breakouts on different parts of my body.” Whenever you wash your hands or submerge them in water, make sure that you use lukewarm water instead of hot.

Keeping your daily shower or bath short — 5 or 10 minutes — and applying moisturizer immediately afterward will also help keep your skin hydrated. Another member advised reducing the frequency of handwashing: “Don’t wash your hands all day — only when touching things, shaking hands, cooking, or after using the bathroom.”

Protect Skin From Extreme Temperatures

Both cold and hot weather may trigger eczema flare-ups on your hands. “I notice that when the weather is cold, my hands become itchy and tender,” wrote one member, while another shared, “I start itching when I get warm or if the weather is warm or hot.”

In the wintertime, cold outside air will take moisture from your skin. Also, the dry air blown out of most heating units will dry out a person’s skin. It’s best for those who experience hand eczema to avoid extreme temperatures whenever possible. So if you have to go out when it’s very hot or cold outside, take precautions. Keep your hands at a neutral temperature by wearing gloves or staying in the shade.

Use Petroleum Jelly Overnight

If your dry skin or itchy hands are bothersome, try covering them with petroleum jelly at night, then slipping on a pair of cotton or nitrile rubber gloves. The gloves help the petroleum jelly moisturize your skin without staining your sheets or clothes.

One member shared, “I wear nitrile gloves (with the fingers cut off) after I slather the petroleum jelly on at night.”

Talk With Others Who Understand

On MyEczemaTeam, the social network for people with eczema and their loved ones, more than 54,000 members come together to ask questions, give advice, and share their stories with others who understand life with eczema.

Do you have tips for atopic dermatitis on the hands? How do you treat eczema on your hands naturally? Share your experience in the comments below, or start a conversation by posting on MyEczemaTeam.