Excessive handwashing

[Wilma Jenks]

My child washes her hands constantly. They are raw and painful. I bought perfume free soap for her to use, but it's probably the water that is erritating her hands too. She wears gloves so her hands don't get dirty, but its' not working too well. Any suggestion?

[laure]

My child washes her hands constantly. They are raw and painful. I bought perfume free soap for her to use, but it's probably the water that is erritating her hands too. She wears gloves so her hands don't get dirty, but its' not working too well. Any suggestion?

 

I sneak in and put Eucerin cream on my daughter's hands after she is asleep. Keeps them from actually bleeding, as much as she washes them.

[Wilma Jenks]

Thanks. That's a great idea, except she wakes so easliy. I will give it a try though.

[Wilma Jenks]

Thanks. That's a great idea, except she wakes so easliy. I will give it a try though.

[MomWithOCDSon]

For the immediate issue, you might try one or both of the following: replace your liquid handsoap with moisturizing soap alternative, like a face wash for sensitive skin, and/or invest in one of those automatic liquid soap dispensers ($30-$35 at Bed, Bath & Beyond, less with one of their frequent 20% off coupons) which will dispense a nominal amount of soap per wash, so it is less likely that your child will overuse the soap and potentially fail to rinse all of it off successfully. I would also teach her to "pat" her hands dry on a thick, soft towel rather than rubbing them dry.

 

For the long haul, though, your DD would probably benefit from some ERP (exposure response prevention) exercises so that she doesn't continue to hurt herself from excessive washing. If she isn't getting some ERP via a good therapist now, you might investigate that option. ERP will help her "retrain her brain" in terms of the contamination fears and habituate to the idea that continual and repetitive washing isn't necessary or, in the end, truly helpful.

[airial95]

My child washes her hands constantly. They are raw and painful. I bought perfume free soap for her to use, but it's probably the water that is erritating her hands too. She wears gloves so her hands don't get dirty, but its' not working too well. Any suggestion?

 

I'm not a frilly girl, so I don't know what they're called, but don't they make moisturizing gloves that will help too? I'm thinking if she's wearing gloves from time to time now, this might be an option.

[KaraM]

We just went through this, too. I asked about the same thing a few weeks ago.

 

We had her stop using liquid hand soap or bar soap and had her start using the Cetaphil liquid skin cleaner (like Nancy mentioned - it's a very gentle, moisturizing skin cleaner).She would put the Eucerin intensive treatment (forget the name at the moment and don't have one near me), but it's more like a thick jelly than a lotion or cream - very greasy. After putting that on, she would put ont cotton gloves that we got at CVS (I think in the bandage section). They come two pair to a box.

 

All of this helped. Plus we got her to try ERP, first reducing the amount of time or number of squirts, then reducing to washing only after using the toilet or before eating. I'm happy to say that her hands are now about 95% better.

 

Thankfully, she seems to be doing better overall, too, so that may be part of the improvement. The new PANDAS/Bartonella/Lyme treatment combo of Zithro and Bactrim seems to be helping.

 

Good luck. I know it's hard. And it's so visible. Our dd's classmates started asking what was wrong with her hands. Someone said they were 'gross" (actually, I think that may have been my loving son...). She became very self consicous. Eventually, I think this, along with the pain, also helped motivate her to stop.

 

Kara

[Bill]

My child washes her hands constantly. They are raw and painful. I bought perfume free soap for her to use, but it's probably the water that is erritating her hands too. She wears gloves so her hands don't get dirty, but its' not working too well. Any suggestion?

 

 

We found that Shea Butter liquid hand soap was the least irritating for my son.

 

bill