8 better ways to protect your hands from the cold

    And like clockwork, it's once again winter... That feeling of hot cocoa with oat milk, the overwhelmingly festive smell of the Christmas tree, and curling up in your bed. The holy trinity of Winter. While winter is great for all of its festivities, it has a dark side we all should be aware of...

That dark side we speak of is dry hands. We all get it, and sorry friends. It's inevitable. After months of research, the team at The Hand Center at Crawford Plastic Surgery would like to make the winter a little bit more bearable this winter season for your hands and nails.

Wearing Gloves

This is a given, however, if you go outside, just how many people will you see actually wearing gloves? The reason you should start wearing gloves more often is to prevent joint discomfort and trapping the warmth.

Moisturize, Moisturize, Moisturize

If you didn't know by now, we need to let you know that cold weather equals dry skin. The cold weather saps out moisture from your hands. This is especially true during the colder winter months. In order to replenish the lost moisture, you must moisturize, moisturize, moisturize.

Wash your hands less

We know, we know... In this era, we need to wash our hands regularly, and while this is definitely important, it's equally important to make sure you're not over-washing your hands. Washing your hands and sanitizing can actually rob your skin of it's moisture. To combat this, it's recommended to apply lotion after washing your hands.

Wash your hands with warm water

There is a difference between warm and hot water. When you do eventually wash your hands, it's important to use warm water instead of scalding hot water you use for your dishes. 

Avoid Alcohol based Sanitizers

Using alcohol for cleaning surfaces is perfect, because after a few seconds, it dries up the area. Doing this on your skin however, is not advised, as it will not only dry up the surface of your skin, but also sap out some of the moisture in your skin.

Wear rubber gloves when washing dishes

Similar to when washing your hands, doing the dishes can be a bit more harsh to your skin. Why? The chemicals used in dish soap is meant for getting rid of grease, and sticky substances. These chemicals were not meant for your skin. Rubber gloves will protect your hands from these chemicals with the added benefit of separating your hands from the substances lurking in the dirty dishes.

Using Skin Butter

After a long day at work, school, or out and about in winter, you'll be exposed to a combination of dry cold weather, sanitizer, and more. After repeatedly being exposed to these situations, your skin will dry up, and ordinary lotion will not help. Instead, use skin butters rich with vitamins that will keep your skin moisturized for longer, and lock in that moisture.

Consider a Humidifier

As we've talked about before, the major antagonist of your healthy skin during winter is dry air. While lotion is definitely going to help you when you're out and about, how do you fight dry skin when you're at home resting? Humidifier adds moisture into the air which helps prevent your skin from drying up as fast. In order to get the full benefits, you should run the humidifier before you go to sleep.