Dermatitis in Hairdressing

Working in the Hair and Beauty profession can be a rewarding career especially when your clients leave the salon looking and feeling great. However, the tools of your trade ie your hands can often take a battering from the many hours of wet working and exposure to products used in treatments resulting in skin problems like Contact Dermatitis (see our blog on Contact Dermatitis)

In fact the Health and Safety Executive have identified hairdressing as one of the ‘high risk’ groups for work related dermatitis and industry statistics show up to 70% of people in the profession suffer from skin problems.

With hands in and out of water and exposure to shampoos and chemicals used during treatments dermatitis is a common problem. Unfortunately, it is not always practical to wear gloves or apply hand cream when the hands are wet. In fact the majority of hand creams and barrier creams will simply wash off after being applied.

This constant assault on the hands soon results in a damaged skin barrier leading to the loss of natural oils and protection. The skin will start to look red and inflamed followed by cracks and splits around the knuckles and finger tips and shortly after contact dermatitis will appear. This can sometimes be so painful that it is necessary to take time away from work resulting in loss of income.

A solution to this problem may lie in a new technology of skincare called Shielding Lotions. A Shielding Lotion like Gloves In A Bottle works by enhancing the skin’s natural barrier to improve its protective qualities and at the same time helps to prevent the loss of the important oils which keep skin healthy. Gloves In A Bottle bonds with the outer skin layer, is water proof and will remain in place for up to 4 hours before coming away with the shed skin cells. This means that a single application can last most of the morning providing protection and retaining moisture through several treatments. This means that skin conditions like contact dermatitis can be reduced or even eliminated by regular use of Gloves In A Bottle

“Repetitive use of hand sanitizers and hand washing can strip the proteins in the epidermis (top skin layer), leading to a compromise of the skin barrier and, therefore, the risk of infection. Additionally, soaps can give rise to irritant hand dermatitis, which presents as dry, flaky, itchy red skin, particularly in the finger web spaces and on the knuckles.”