by Kim Miller, RDH, BSDH
[email protected]
Love your hands with Hu-Friedy's new Hand Essentials, which are medical grade hand care products that include sanitizers, moisturizers, and soaps. According to Hu-Friedy, your hands are your two most precious instruments. Practicing good hand hygiene can be hard on your hands and lead to skin reactions requiring special attention.
The most common reaction is irritant contact dermatitis. Symptoms include dryness, irritation, itching, and, in severe cases, cracking and bleeding. A diagnosis of allergic contact dermatitis is rare even though the symptoms are similar. This condition indicates an allergy to one or more ingredients in the products you're using.1 Give these products a try instead:
Sterillium Comfort Gel Hand Antiseptic is proven to increase skin hydration in just two weeks. It is nonirritating and latex and nonlatex glove compatible.
Skin Repair Cream contains a patented blend of ingredients called Olivamine that delivers all nutrients necessary for optimal skin health including amino acid L-proline to help build collagen; vitamins B3 and B6 support the skin's ability to use amino acids efficiently.
Lotion Soap contains mild cleansing agents and natural skin conditioners. The soap is pH-balanced to help maintain proper skin moisture ratio.
Hand hygiene products must also be able to eliminate transient flora and microorganisms that colonize the superficial layers of the skin.2 Hand Essentials Antibacterial Soap contains .5% triclosan, and the Instant Hand Antiseptic contains 70% ethyl alcohol, making both of these products effective against transient bacteria.
Trick et al. did a comparative study of three hand hygiene agents (62% ethyl alcohol hand rub, medicated hand wipe, and hand washing with plain soap and water). The results showed that – compared to plain soap and water and medicated hand wipes – hand contamination with any transient micro-organism was significantly less likely after using an alcohol-based hand rub that reliably kills or inactivates pathogens on the hands.3
Visit www.handessentials.com and request a free sample. Check out the free CE on hand hygiene as well as resources, white papers, and product overviews.
Love your heart by visiting www.americanheart.org and participating in a local event designed to increase awareness for the prevention of heart disease. Love your patients' hearts by taking their blood pressure at every recall visit.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in both men and women in the United States, with women accounting for about 50% of those deaths. Heart disease does not restrict itself to the aging woman; it's the third leading cause of death among women 25-44 years and the second leading cause of death among women 45-64 years.4
The most common heart disease in America is coronary heart disease, often manifested as a heart attack, which is a major cause of disability. It's estimated that in 2009, 785,000 Americans had a new coronary attack and about 470,000 will have a recurrent attack. An American has a coronary event about every 25 seconds, and one person will die every minute from one.4
Many cases of heart disease can be prevented! For information on the prevention of heart disease and stroke, visit the CDC's Division for Heart Disease and Stroke Prevention. Additionally, in-office blood tests for CRP and HbA1c are available from www.healthyheartdentistry.com.
References
1 World Health Organization Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, page 61.
2 World Health Organization Guidelines on Hand Hygiene in Health Care, page 39.
3 Impact of Ring Wearing on Hand Contamination and Comparison of Hand Hygiene Agents in a Hospital, William E. Trick et al., Clinical Infectious Diseases: Vol. 36, No. 11 (Jun. 1, 2003), pp. 1383-1390.
4 American Heart Association Web site: americanheart.org.
Kim Miller, RDH, BSDH, graduated from Loma Linda University in 1981. Kim is the co-founder of PerioFrogz.com and a partner with the JP Institute as well as a national speaker, author, and hands-on trainer.
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