HEALTH – The holidays are approaching, and the COVID-19 epidemic is raising questions that we didn’t ask ourselves the previous summers. How to endure heat with a mask is one. How to use hydroalcoholic gel in direct sunlight is another. And on this subject, some Spanish dermatologists recently alerted about a risk of irritation and hyperpigmentation (spots on the skin).
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In the Spanish daily newspaper The world, the dermatologist Marta Frieyro thus affirms that the high percentage of alcohol in the hydroalcoholic gel could, associated with the sunlight, cause skin burns. She adds that the components of the gels, which remain on the surface of the skin, could lead to “darkening of the skin”.
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Dry skin
What about For Pierre Parneix, doctor of public health and hospital hygiene at the Bordeaux University Hospital joined by The HuffPost, “Alcohol is volatile and as soon as the hands are no longer visibly wet there is no more”. For him, apart from the tendency of gels to dry out the skin, no particular concern to have. If there is a risk of burns, it is according to him because it would be “increased by the dryness of the skin, but in the sun we put protective cream, at least at the beach”.
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Hydroalcoholic gels can dry the skin, that’s a fact. On this point, Pierre Parneix is joined by the vice-president of the Syndicate of Dermatologists, Isabelle Gallay. “The gel will add dryness at a time when the skin is sensitive. However, you just need to hydrate your skin a little more, even more when exposed to the sun, ”she explains to LCI, a French news channel.
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Whether you expose your cleaned hands to hydroalcoholic gel in the sun or not, skin irritations or burning sensations are possible, but sun exposure is not the cause.
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As for the spots on the skin feared by certain Spanish dermatologists, they are indeed possible according to dermatologist Catherine Oliverès-Ghouti, dermatologist and member of the National Syndicate of Dermatologists-Venereologists (SNDV), contacted by 20 Minutes. This reminds us that the problem is the same as with perfumes.
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“It is made up of around 70% alcohol. However, it is a photosensitizing substance: if you expose your hands brushed with hydroalcoholic solution to the beach, then you risk what is called a dermatitis charm, a characteristic burn caused by the reaction of alcohol on the skin with the sun. Clearly, we first develop a burn, the skin is red and irritated, then the stain takes on a brown pigmentation which can last for years ”, she explains.
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Choose your gel well and do not abuse it
Everyone agrees that special attention must be paid to the components of the hydroalcoholic gel that we are about to buy. “People must not make their own hydroalcoholic solutions with hazardous components and, in principle, we must prefer, when they are available, which is now increasingly the case, the products designed by industrialists. hand hygiene with optimal cosmetic properties ”, advises Pierre Parneix. “It all depends on the product used. If it is a gel with a certified formula, there should be no particular concerns. Now I have had the opportunity to see perfumed or ‘original’ hydroalcoholic gels, there indeed this poses more problems. It is often more aggressive, ”says Isabelle Gallay.
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As such, Pierre Parneix gave advice last March on choosing the right gel: “it must contain a single alcohol, possibly two, at least 60% – it’s even more effective at 80 or 85% – glycerin to protect the hands, no perfume because it irritates the hands ”.
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Finally, keep in mind that in the event of prolonged exposure to the sun, at the beach in particular, you do not necessarily need to wash your hands with hydroalcoholic gel.
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“Using hydroalcoholic gel on the beach is useless: there, a priori, you don’t touch any elevator button or door handle, but only your own things and the sand,” says Catherine Oliverès-Ghouti.
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You will understand, continue to be careful and respect as much as possible the barrier gestures, but you can do without hydroalcoholic gel during the few hours that you will spend at the beach.
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