What should you know about viral rash on hands?

Hand rashes may be red, dry, scaly, blistered, cracked, or itchy. Repeated washing, sanitiser, gloves, cleaning products, and metals can cause [Contact Dermatitis](/conditions/contact-dermatitis/). Eczema, psoriasis, heat, medicines, fungal infection, and scabies can also affect the hands. A viral eruption may occur with fever, sore throat, mouth sores, or a rash elsewhere, but appearance alone cannot confirm the cause. Consider [Atopic Dermatitis](/conditions/atopic-dermatitis/) and [Drug Rash](/conditions/drug-eruption/) when the timing supports them.

Wash with lukewarm water and a mild cleanser, pat dry, and apply a bland moisturiser after washing. Use protective gloves for wet work, with a breathable layer underneath if gloves themselves irritate you. Avoid picking blisters or applying leftover steroid, antifungal, or antibiotic creams without advice. Record new soaps, gloves, medicines, foods, travel, and sick contacts. A clinician can check for [Ringworm](/conditions/ringworm/), [Scabies](/conditions/scabies/), or [Heat Rash](/conditions/heat-rash/) when the pattern is atypical.

Arrange medical review if the rash is spreading, painful, cracked, oozing, recurrent, or interfering with hand movement. Seek urgent help for facial swelling, breathing difficulty, a rapidly spreading blistering or peeling rash, purple spots, fever with marked weakness, or a rash after a new medicine. Painful sores in the mouth or eyes alongside a hand rash also need prompt assessment.

Ask whether the pattern suggests infection, dermatitis, psoriasis, fungal disease, scabies, or a medicine reaction. Tell the clinician when it began, whether both hands are affected, what touches the skin, and whether fever, mouth symptoms, itching at night, or a rash elsewhere is present.