It is actually the most normal thing in the world to wash your hands regularly and thoroughly: Due to the rapid spread of the Covid-19 virus, however, it is recommended to soap your skin for at least 20 seconds and as often as possible – this is the only way to be effective protect against infectious diseases. To increase protection, you can also regularly disinfect your hands. Both subjects the skin to a severe stress test. Because the soap and alcohol-based disinfectants attack your natural protective acid mantle, making it brittle and cracked. Not only does this look unsightly, it can also cause your hands to burn or itch. But there is good news: With the right care, you can get painful skin problems under control again. You can find out which hand creams help here.

According to Prof. Christian Raulin, a dermatologist from Karlsruhe, you should never do without washing and disinfecting your hands regularly. Instead, you should supplement your skin care with an ointment that is as greasy as possible and yet absorbs well. His rule of thumb for correct application is: “Disinfect once, apply lotion five times”. However, the question arises as to which hand cream is recommended? According to the Ökotest, many over-the-counter products contain questionable ingredients such as mineral oil-based fats and waxes, synthetic polymers or the fragrance Lilial – which is suspected of being reproductively harmful. For this reason, 50 hand creams were tested. It was primarily organic cosmetic products that scored “very good”:

test winner

Current price

Cattier White Healing Clay

that. 12 Euros

dr Scheller calendula

that. 10 Euro

Weleda Sanddorn

that. 9 euros

Sebamed Urea

that. 5 euros

Lavera Sensitive

that. 9 euros

There is a good reason why natural cosmetics are often the better choice – also for hand creams: According to the Öko-Test, manufacturers are not allowed to use problematic substances such as PEG, paraffins and silicone in order to get the corresponding certificate. This not only benefits your dry hands, but also your health. When buying, make sure that the hand cream:

You can take preventive measures to prevent your hands from getting dry in the first place. This includes:

As a result, your skin remains supple at all times and is less likely to tear if you have to wash or disinfect your hands more often.

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