Coronavirus: hands ravaged by hydroalcoholic gel, the other suffering of caregivers

She laughs, launches an “ohlala! While doing the math in his head. On the other end of the phone, Marlène Cré, a nursing assistant in the hepato-gastroenterology service at the Corbeil-Essonnes hospital, thinks about how many times a day she cleans her hands. "Maybe thirty times ... or more," she breathes. As soon as we actually make a gesture. Especially if the patients are positive for Covid-19 ”.

As with thousands of caregivers, who no longer count their hours in their respective departments, the consequences of these repeated uses of soap but especially of hydroalcoholic gel are frightening: "redness that appears, itching and burning sensations the evening when you put the cream… ”, describes Marlène Cré.

As Mélissa, a nurse in Toulouse tweeted: "Look at people's hands and forearms, you will know who is a nurse".

The brave hands of the big nursing sister in nursing home ❤️😞 pic.twitter.com/89R1tECv75

Marlène Cré, explains that, during her working hours at the Corbeil hospital, she washes her hands "ten times more" than before the epidemic linked to the coronavirus. Certain testimonies on Twitter evoke hands so damaged that one would believe them "washed with acid".

"Typical marks of an allergy or burns"

Cindy Beaufreton, 29, also a nursing assistant at the Center hospitalier Sud Ile-de-France, describes "typical marks of an allergy or burns from sunburn". At rest this Thursday when we joined her, she explains having applied a large layer of Biafine type cream before bandaging her hand. "And for three days I no longer use a drop of gel otherwise I jump!" "She confides.

But she fears resumption of work on Saturday. "I know it's going to come back," she breathes, lucid. "The problem," she emphasizes, "is that it is absolutely useless to put on moisturizer during the day because after two minutes you have to wash your hands again!" "

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Marlène Cré confirms it: “indeed the problem is that the cream does not have time to act. The protective film goes away with each wash… ”Despite everything, the use of moisturizers, during rest hours, remains the only way to relieve the pain of damaged hands. This is why many calls for solidarity have emerged.

@LaRochePosayFR @AveneFrance @Cerave_fr @Neutrogena would it be possible to appeal to your generosity by soliciting your contribution towards the nursing staff. Our hands are in blood and on fire, the innumerable frictions in the SHA become torture and suffering.

On March 29, a video from the Youtubeuse Léna Situations accelerated the movement. The young woman, followed by 1.4 million people on Instagram and 533,600 on Twitter, appealed to the solidarity of beauty and care brands to recover "some creams to provide a little help to all people in the hospital who discover their dry giga hands by washing them to take care of the overload of patients currently. "

to all the brands and beauty / care agencies that follow me and to my beauty influencer buddies if you have stock. :) pic.twitter.com/M8Eo0ivegq

This initiative was quickly crowned with success. Nocibé and L'Occitane thus offered 25,000 creams, Hello Body 800. More generally, and without necessarily waiting to be contacted by the Youtubeuse, the Pierre Fabre and La Roche-Posay laboratories also took part in this movement united. Bioderma sent 2,500 cleansing and moisturizing products to patients and caregivers of the Henri-Mondor University Hospitals in Paris.

#SuppienAuxSoignants # solidarity

Thanks to @AveneFrance @PierreFabre for donating hand creams for caregivers in the COVID sectors of @chbeziers ✊🏻🙏🏻 pic.twitter.com/dTjLmvY7U9

But for nursing assistants, the hard part is yet to come. "It's not going to get better and better no," says Cindy Beaufreton. I wonder if I will not keep marks all my life… ”. The use of hydroalcoholic gel remains imperative given the number of procedures performed with each patient. The use of gloves is impossible. Question of hygiene and practice.

"We grit our teeth ... and we scratch"

Soap, meanwhile, unfortunately often does not have moisturizing properties in hospitals. "It must contain special components for it to disinfect," says Cindy Beaufreton. And it damages… ”Classic soaps, rich in detergents and foaming products, are actually aggressive for the skin, which is so fragile above the hands. The use of fatty soaps, recommended for skin prone to eczema, could offer a welcome solution.

When testifying, the caregivers we contacted all wished to point out that hospital maintenance personnel were also victims of these epidermal injuries. For the rest, they show themselves to be philosophers. "In any case, there are not 50 solutions," concludes Marlène Cré. We grit our teeth ... and we scratch. Because it really itches! "