What should you know about Dove sensitive skin hand wash?

Hands are exposed to water, cleansers, sanitiser, friction, and household chemicals throughout the day. This can weaken the outer barrier, causing dryness, tightness, scaling, cracks, burning, or itch. A product may feel mild yet still contain an ingredient that does not suit you. Red, itchy, inflamed hands can also reflect atopic dermatitis or contact dermatitis rather than simple dryness.

Wash with lukewarm water and enough cleanser to cover the hands, then rinse away residue and pat dry. Apply a fragrance-free, rich moisturiser immediately, paying attention to knuckles and the spaces between fingers. Wear protective gloves for wet work, with a breathable liner if gloves cause sweating, and avoid fragranced creams on cracked skin. If a new wash causes burning or a rash, stop using it and keep the routine simple until the skin settles.

See a clinician when cracking, redness, scaling, or itch persists despite reducing irritants, or when symptoms repeatedly return at work or home. Prompt assessment is sensible for pus, increasing warmth, marked pain, or spreading redness. Seek urgent help for sudden hand or facial swelling with breathing difficulty. A clinician may ask about soaps, gloves, sanitisers, cleaning products, and occupational exposures.

Ask whether this is irritant or allergic contact dermatitis, whether patch testing could identify a trigger, which moisturiser texture is suitable for cracked hands, and how to protect your skin during repeated washing or wet work.