Aloe vera cream improves hand dermatitis in health care workers

Aloe vera cream showed success in treating dermatitis in health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a poster presented at the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology virtual congress.

“Hand hygiene is particularly critical for frontline health care workers who are overstretched and for whom this key routine task must be easy to complete and effective,” Raffaele Iandoli, MD, and colleagues wrote. “However, prolonged contact with personal protective equipment may cause various dermatoses and make the work of doctors and nurses more difficult.”

Twelve subjects who had irritant contact dermatitis or allergic contact dermatitis used an aloe vera cream for 30 days while continuing use of PPE and alcohol-based hand cleaners.

After 30 days, all subjects experienced improvement in hand moisture and pruritus.

“The aloe vera plant has been successfully used for various purposes in dermatology because of its anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, antiviral, antiseptic and wound-healing properties,” the authors wrote. “In our study, we show its efficacy in improving skin moisture and integrity in 12 health care workers with hand disease.”